Going Global: Week three

Our journey of international expansion

When you enter a new market it’s important to understand the landscape you’re diving head first into, for me specifically that means the current landscape of financial literacy in Australia. Of course you can do a lot of this from afar; online sleuthing, emails, Skype, but you only get a true sense of it when you touch down.

For most others this would be considered a competitors analysis, but for me this is not the case. Being a mission driven venture we’re afforded the luxury of not considering everyone working in our space a competitor but a potential partner.

I’ve spoken about this a lot in the past, but the issue of financial illiteracy is a problem that belongs to all of us. Not matter how literate you consider yourself, the fact that illiteracy exists affects you negatively. So in that same vein, a collective problem needs a collective solution.

Banqer will not solve financial illiteracy on it’s own. We rely on a healthy eco-system with lots of different touch points. Others picking up the task where we end, and some even slotting in along side. That’s why the competitive view for us is flawed, as if adopted we’re essentially shooting ourselves in the foot.

There are a number of in-school, at home, and government initiatives here in Australia that are very clearly aligned with our cause, with nobody doing exactly what we’re doing. This really excites me as we saw great success in teaming up with New Zealand’s namesake in financial education, The Young Enterprise Trust. By working together over the last two years we certainly feel like we’ve made an impact far greater than the sum of our parts.

In terms of the state of collaboration in financial literacy in Australia the jury is still out, as my search has been far from extensive enough. I’m still not sure how much is currently taking place, but I can say there is an appetite for it from the various conversations I’ve had this week. And with the rise of social enterprise globally I feel this is a view more should at least explore. We needn’t be fearful of others doing great things in our space. Instead, like I am, try and find ways to enhance your mutual objectives.

I hope in the coming weeks I’ll be announcing some movements in this space as well as offering some progress updates on our in school adoption rates. In the mean time, I’m going to switch to monthly posts with the occasional bonus for any burning news I can’t wait to share. So stay tuned for my next post that should come out in a months time!