“We left with a scalable plan: How The Workshop helped Coval Technologies accelerate its Southeast Asia market expansion”

"All of us tend to know our companies so well that we think we know it all," admits Mike Ellsworth, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Coval Technologies. "Engaging with a third party forces you to look at your company from the outside and ask the hard questions."

With its headquarters (HQ) in Singapore and a specialised line of high-performance coatings, Coval had ambitious plans for regional expansion. However, the company lacked clarity on how to prioritise markets, engage the right distributors, and manage performance across borders. Instead of relying on assumptions, Ellsworth decided to participate in "The Workshop" presented by EDB — a tailored programme designed to help businesses navigate market expansion in Southeast Asia (SEA).

At first, Ellsworth was sceptical. However, the interactive session focused on revenue growth in Asia-Pacific led by Asia Market Entry CEO Steve Dawson completely changed Coval's approach to regional expansion.

"We weren't sure what to expect from another advisory session," he recalls.
 

In just one hour, the session helped Coval to:

• Reassess its distributor strategy and incentive models, identifying boutique partners with greater alignment. Coval amended its approach to the regional market based on The Workshop findings. It has since begun planning distribution in SEA with a clearer understanding of which partners to prioritise.
• Refine pricing and supply chain costs, including introducing free shipping to boost competitiveness. Issues with the company’s product price and supply chain costs were identified and Coval implemented cost reductions that could be passed along to buyers.
• Adopt a phased go-to-market plan, using third-party agencies and fractional leadership to reduce upfront costs. With only four team members in Asia, supporting distributors at scale remained challenging. The Workshop introduced low-resource, high-impact strategies, such as improved partner enablement and structured sales playbooks.

"The session was very interactive and dealt with our specific issues — not just a general approach to business in the region," Ellsworth says. "It forced us to address fundamental questions before we just started setting up across the region."
 

A targeted approach: Interactive strategy mapping

Through a visualisation strategy-mapping session using tools like Miro boards, Dawson guided Coval's team through a process that analysed their distributor network and identified specific challenges in their sales pipeline.

"What differentiates our approach is its personalised and discovery-driven nature," explains Dawson. "Rather than presenting generic best practices, we create an environment where participants can explore their specific challenges through targeted questions and collaborative analysis."

For Coval, this methodology quickly exposed critical gaps in their approach to distributors in the region. The team identified that smaller, specialised distributors might be more effective in championing their products than larger distributors — a perspective that differed from an initial assumption that larger distributors would deliver better market coverage. The Workshop also revealed how Coval's limited visibility into distributor activities and unclear incentive structures were contributing to inconsistent performance across markets.

Following the session, Coval received a documented strategy with actionable recommendations.
 

"Now, we have a scalable plan for expanding across Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines," Ellsworth explains. "While we completed The Workshop a few months ago, we’re still working through the recommendations."

 

Key insight: Beyond Singapore as a base

One of the most valuable revelations came when Dawson challenged the team to think beyond Singapore as just an operational base.

"With Europe and the US facing increasing economic and geopolitical uncertainty, businesses are looking to diversify and future-proof their global strategies," Dawson notes.

This perspective shift helped Coval recognise Singapore's strategic advantages in ways they hadn't considered before.

"Singapore is our global HQ and we recommend the country for its intellectual property protection, workforce quality, government support and supply chain capabilities," Ellsworth notes. "When everything is considered, Singapore is the place for us to base our company for future expansion."
 

How The Workshop supports market expansion in SEA

Presented by the EDB, The Workshop provides a highly personalised, interactive, and strategic approach—helping businesses pinpoint roadblocks, refine their strategies, and leave with actionable next steps.

The Workshop is especially valuable for businesses that:

• Want to validate SEA as a growth region before committing resources
• Are navigating banking and financing strategies, talent and hiring, incorporation, channel partnerships, distribution or sales team optimisation
• Need to accelerate hiring or refine their value proposition for local markets
• Are considering Singapore as a strategic base for ASEAN expansion

As Ellsworth notes: "The fact that EDB is offering this service is fantastic and one that all Singapore-based companies should take advantage of."
 

Learn more about The Workshop and sign up for a consultation session here.