Here’s a checklist of inspiration for aspiring exporters. Our collection of 50 favourite export case studies shows that there is no magic ingredient to making it to the world stage, but it certainly helps to get the basics right.
David Mierowsky and Steve Pattinson on Fundi Software
Exporting since: 1998
Key markets: 30 countries on all continents.
With their name taken from Zulu, meaning ‘expert’, Fundi Software is one of very few companies that develops software for IBM’s mission critical, high performance mainframe systems. So while you may never have heard of this little West Australian company, you’ve probably used their product, which is distributed under the IBM brand.
Fundi began in the early days of the information age when founders David Mierowsky and Steve Pattinson set up the company in 1982. However, it wasn’t until 1998 that they began exporting. The power of Fundi’s specialist technical knowledge and the reach of the IBM market and global distribution channel made for a prosperous combination. In 1998, exports comprised less than 5 percent of the company’s revenue, but in the last financial year the turnover from export was more than 99 percent.