The successful market entry of Belcolor Ltd Flooring into China

In 2012, Belcolor Ltd. Flooring was a Swiss Small & Medium Scale Enterprise (SME) offering parquet flooring solutions primarily for the Swiss real estate market. While having focused traditionally on its role as a trading company and intermediary between private as well as corporate end customers and local craftsmen, the changing market conditions forced Dr Stefan Krummenacher, CEO of Belcolor Ltd Flooring, to rethink the company's existing business model. Given his experiences in other manufacturing industries such as Schindler Elevator Corporation and Forbo Flooring Systems, he was clear that his company could only survive if it would achieve two changes at the same time. Firstly, it needed to transform itself slowly from a pure trading company (with low margins and eroding market values) to a high-end niche manufacturer. Secondly, Belcolor Ltd Flooring needed to open up new markets for its niche manufacturing activities focussing on parquet flooring solutions. Stefan strongly believed that China offered most potential for the company's new manufacturing products but as a small SME he was not sure how to handle such a market entry challenge.

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