We talked to an IT-entrepreneur from Khujand and learned about the process of entering a new market.
Firdavs Yormatov, 32, Khujand, director of Tajsoft Group, @firdavs.yormatov
About me
I am the founder of Tajsoft Group IT company. I also lead several innovative startup projects.
I have more than 10 years of experience in the IT industry. I have been involved in overall management of IT organizations, corporate development, product development, business operations and strategy.
Our company since 2011 has been developing websites, mobile applications, software for business automation and business processes in outsourcing format all over the world: from neighboring Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to Europe and USA.
At the moment we have more than 450 projects and orders in different directions.
How we decided to scale up
The purpose of scaling the company is the desire to spread and provide customers with the products we have developed, which have no analogues in the field of business process automation.
We also want to show our abilities outside the country, as there are many talented and qualified software engineers in Tajikistan.
Scaling process
We chose the Uzbek market because it is a big country with great opportunities for learning and advancement in the IT sphere. For us, this is a step towards expanding beyond the CIS countries.
In the future, we want to open a branch in Dubai. This is a huge market and a hub with international companies and global brands.
To begin with, we analyzed the Uzbek market. It suited us in terms of document flow, organization, and finances. We also realized that it would be easy for us to export products and software, as the culture of our countries coincides.
Recommendations
There are a lot of events and IT events in Uzbekistan every day. This is a great opportunity to analyze the market, see its segmentation and understand how suitable it is for distributing your products or services.
Another advantage of Uzbekistan is that this country is geographically close to Tajikistan. You can come here in person, test hypotheses, so that in the end you can implement exactly those features that will prove to be the most viable.
There are always a lot of opportunities and clients in the IT sphere. In order not to miss them, it is important to develop communication skills: to be able to talk about yourself and your product in such a way as to interest people.
