What is Soft Landing?
Soft landing, within the context of business operations, refers to a controlled launch into a new market. The purpose of these types of programs is to support start-ups and companies who are looking to actively grow and scale their business; with the support of local resources. By having an existing partner already operating within the market, start-ups/companies increase their chances of finding success abroad.
How do Soft Landing programs work?
Although the exact process varies from company to company, the process of a soft landing always begins with the desire of a foreign company to expand into a new market. Soft landing programs, which put the foreign company wishing to expand and a local partner into contact, act as a means to expedite the process in which the foreign company can develop. Once the expanding company’s partner is familiar with their own values, ideals, and motives, they begin to gather the resources required to test the market. Once these resources have been gathered and it is confirmed that there is a market for their product, the next step is to design and support a go-to-market-strategy.
The foreign company then has the opportunity to, if they see fit, send a team to their new target market; where meetings are arranged and workshops with experts are organized in order to further connect them with potential clients and users in the ecosystem. Ultimately, scaling internationally is quite an undertaking, and although this process is eased by soft landing programs, those currently existing only account for the basics. At Unknown University of Applied Sciences, our Master of Science in Scaling Up covers all the fundamentals of soft landing in addition to providing access to an ever growing network.
How can Unknown University of Applied Sciences help you grow and scale your business?
Our Master of Science program is not only an introduction to a new market; we help entrepreneurs develop all the skills needed to successfully grow their business internationally. At Unknown University of Applied Sciences we employ a “learn by doing” method, and with our Master’s program we teach entrepreneurs to scale their business by growing it. Our program is taught by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs, as our coaches utilize their own experiences of successfully scaling their own start-ups. Unknown University of Applied Sciences also offers an impressive network of experts and investors; our diverse ecosystem and the willingness of our learning/business coaches to link entrepreneurs to their own connections can accelerate the scaling process. Unknown University of Applied Sciences helps entrepreneurs take their business to the next level by teaching courses that assist with topics such as: financing (by helping them find investors), methods to grow their team, and introducing new products and services aimed at the local market; all while earning a fully accredited Master’s degree.
How is Unknown University of Applied Sciences location a hotspot for scaling businesses?
Unknown University of Applied Sciences offers a flexible working space at our campus located at The Collab in The Student Hotel in the city center of Amsterdam; home to a global community of ambitious creatives, entrepreneurs and start-ups. Amsterdam itself is one of the most promising start-up/tech ecosystems of Europe. The Startup Genome reports that “startups founded since 2000 in the city have a combined value of more than $86B (approx €73.5B), up from just $12B (approx €10.2B) in 2015,” which makes it the third-largest in Europe. With access to one of Europe’s greatest up and coming start-up scenes along with Unknown University of Applied Sciences Master’s program, entrepreneurs can expect to scale their businesses and target brand new markets with ease and confidence.
