One of the biggest mistakes a small business owner or startups make is to think that your market is too small and the reason why your profit margins won’t be substantial enough and/or that expansion is not possible, but that’s old thinking mentality.
Now a days, entrepreneurs are engaging in the international marketplace thanks to Internet-enabled technologies.
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The secret of successful companies
Countries like the United States, Chile, Spain, and China, are ambitious with their business outreach. They think not in terms of borders or politics, but how to satisfied the needs of any market.
What is Global Expansion?
The planned expansion of a company’s business activities into countries in several regions throughout the world. Global expansion implies more than just making investments in nations outside of the company’s home; the concept includes maintaining an actual business presence in those countries.
So be Ambitious
Aside from the excuse that their market is too small, I also hear concerns about logistics. How can you think of becoming global when you can barely figure out how to make it local. In a way, these arguments make sense if we were in 1996, but with all the technology, startups ecosystems, accelerator firms, and globalization at our hands, that reason to become global can make even more sense economically and logistically than setting up a local strategy.
So, If you want to become global, do the same, you have to win the USA market. A smart entrepreneur can understand that markets are not defined based political borders or languages, they define it in terms “needs” and knows that It is possible to grow globally. For example, if you are in Peru, you can think of a solution that reaches the music market and this is, quite honestly, a global market—especially with digital music.
As in latin American, it makes no sense to feel that you have a division and borders when most of you have more things in common that any other nations. And very importantly to keep in mind for any startup or entrepreneur, if you want your business to become global, you have to win the United States market. One example of this was Spotify, a European company that entered the America market and then it became a global product.
Excuse #1 “Our market is small only when we think of it in terms of physical space.”
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How do you do it–how to go global?
Entrepreneurs are engaging in the international marketplace thanks to Internet-enabled technologies. To successfully convert your business from domestic to international, you’ll need to consider a new set of factors that might not necessarily affect a local-only company.
International business experts shared their insights on what it takes to break down your company’s national borders and run a multi-country operation.
Ask yourself the following questions to determine whether your business is really ready to expand.
1. Is the foreign market I’m looking at compatible with my product market?
Michael Lee, head of international marketing e-commerce platform Alibaba.com, based in China, advice to look at the global market in terms of matching product needs. He said, “Seek out homogeneity — the fewer differences between your country and the one you export to, the easier it will be to do business with that country.
2. Do I have the resources and workforce to focus on expansion?
“An organization should have a strong team solely focused on international growth that is ready to face challenges and fully support the expansion,” said Taki Skouras, co-founder, and CEO of international wireless accessories retailer Cellairis.
I know this required a bit more investment, but when we talk about a dedicated staff does not necessarily means you need to hire people in-house. Panda cloud antivirus, a global company based in Spain has managed to run a successful product by having great informational and clear website set into packages targeting different needs and platforms. Additionally, they hired a call center in El Salvador and Germany with people who speak excellent English –and may other languages- allowing Panda Cloud Antivirus to minimized the cost of sales and customer service. By 2010 Panda Opened its global Headquarters of its new cloud business unit in Silicon Valley, USA.
3. How do I deal with Language, culture, taxes and policies?
Language: I wrote a few articles on how to easily set up your business website for regional geo targeting and language:International SEO Startup Guide, International SEO: Language and Geo-regional URLs, International SEO: Language Targeting Tags Explained, in the International SEO Startup Guide i explain in detail other topics such as international competitor markets how to target the USA, and how to use your analytic tools to take advantage of potential international market growth.
Taxes and policies: e-commerce offers a business the ability to earn substantial revenues without having to maintain any physical presence in the country where its customers reside. Businesses can take advantage of these possibilities and choose to operate with no physical presence in the country where their customers are located, remaining with the current international tax, instead of dual tax.
Blue Media Consulting can assist you with your global expansion by reaching The United States Market. Contact us: info[ at ] bluemediaconsulting.com