Katker 2005 Kft. Continues to expand in another foreign market. The Debrecen based company, which has almost a decade and a half history, has opened another outdoor fitness park in Eisenstadt (Kismarton in Hungarian), the capital of the province of Burgenland, with the help of the CED, to the delight of the local sports and health conscious community. We asked Roland Bíró, the commercial director of Katker 2005 Kft., about the initial period of the company, the opportunities offered by the Austrian and regional markets, and their future plans.
Please describe the activities of Katker 2005 Kft. in a few sentences, both in Hungary and abroad, with a view to the entering to the Austrian market!
Katker 2005 Kft. has more than 14 years of experience in the designing, manufacturing and installing of sports and fitness equipment. Our product range includes outdoor and indoor sports and fitness equipment that we have developed and tested with the most renowned sports professionals and teams, such as Manchester United, Sporting Kansas City, or the Hungarian national football team. Over the years, we have implemented more than 1,500 sports and fitness projects in 20 countries. Beside our standard parks, we also have equipment to our customers for gym parks that are individually compiled according to the customer's unique needs, or even with sport-specific solutions. We currently have two headquarters, our European offices are located in Debrecen and Budapest, and our North American headquarters stands in Tampa, USA.
What other opportunities does opening up the Austrian market mean for the company, and what do you think is the significance of this?
Austria has a large purchasing power and an emerging market for outdoor sports and fitness products. In addition, Austria is important for opening up to Western Europe and especially to Germany, as in Germany, which is the most important European country for us, people are more open to companies that are already successful and proven in the Austrian market.
Based on your experience, what advice would you give Hungarian companies that want to enter the Austrian market with success?
The recipe may vary according to the different products and business models, but I think the two most important conditions are to think long-term and invest in and believe in our partner during the first projects, and we need to be fully open to the market and accept that what works in Hungary may not work the same way in Austria.
How did the collaboration with CED started? How could the Eisenstadt office help the process?
Without the Eisenstadt office, our current partnership would not have been possible, as the office contacted and recommended our company to our partner, and continuously supported the contacts and facilitated the series of negotiations, in addition, the construction of our fitness park, which was installed at the end of December, and the coordination of the grand opening were fully taken over by CED. The event was also attended by Dr. Andor Nagy, the Ambassador of Hungary in Vienna; Hans Niessl, the former Prime Minister of Burgenland and Thomas Steiner, the Mayor of Eisenstadt.
What are your plans for this year? Are there other target markets where the company is expected to appear with the help of CED?
We want to set up and finalize our reselling network in all of Europe in 2022. T reach this, with the help of CED, we would like to find our right partners in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Croatia and Slovenia with whom we can have a long term cooperation. I believe that finding a partner in Austria can be a good example and a way to reproduce this process in the surrounding countries too.