The company built on the expertise of long-standing contractors in the South American country to target its “fervoured” economy, said president Randy Woods.
The company previously had a small office of non-linear creations Canada in the Brazilian city of Florianópolis. It has now taken a much larger office for the newly incorporated non-linear creations Brazil, which Mr. Woods said allows them to do work for Brazilian companies rather than just engaging Brazilian contractors to work on the company’s projects for North American clients.
“It means we are actively building a client base in one of the fastest growing economies in the world,” he said.
Brazil’s GDP grew 7.5 per cent in 2010, according to the CIA World Factbook, before moderating to 2.7 per cent in 2011. While the economy slowed, Brazil surpassed the United Kingdom to become the seventh-largest market in the world in terms of GDP, the CIA stated.
Multinationals are paying attention and establishing presences in the country, Mr. Woods said. Additionally, Brazilians are looking abroad to expand their own companies.
“There’s a real demand for our services, so we’re very slowly doing sales and marketing for expansion,” he said. Website usability and search engines are two areas in particular demand, said Mr. Woods, adding both are mandatory features for companies wanting to attract new customers.
Non-linear creations entered the Brazilian market two or three years ago through an employee connection, Mr. Woods said. At the time, the company was struggling to find talent and the employee, who is from Brazil, introduced the principals to contractors they knew.
The contractors, who mainly did development work, ended up being so useful that many of them were hired on as employees as a part of the Brazilian expansion.
The Brazilian office now has somewhere between seven and 10 people in it; the number is in flux because recruitment is ongoing, Mr. Woods said.
In the near future, the company plans to expand its services to more Portuguese-speaking clients and also hopes to add Spanish capabilities to target nearby countries, Mr. Woods said.
Non-linear’s revenues have grown between 15 to 20 per cent annually during the last five years, Mr. Woods said. The company has 72 employees overall (82 including contractors), and 28 people in Ottawa.
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