Taking your brand overseas sure seems appealing and exciting, and most entrepreneurs jump at the chance. However, this global journey can be treacherous. Between establishing a new customer base, becoming familiar with the local culture, finding trustworthy partners, and learning new laws and regulations, the road to becoming an international company is difficult to navigate.
Ask yourself, are you ready for global expansion? Do you have everything in place? Are you sure you are not missing anything? Don’t worry, here is a curated list of everything you need to build a solid foundation.
- A “Deep Dive” Due Diligence
Before going global, it is imperative to understand the full impact the process will have on your business. Do your due diligence by preparing a market segmentation analysis to determine if your product will be a success in the local market, a product gap analysis against local products, a SWOT analysis against the existing competition, and consider market opportunities and sizing.
- A Strategy and Business Plan
Each market and region has its own nuances due to cultural, economic, governmental, and market conditions. It is imperative to develop a localized strategy and business for each region or market that drives local success and remains integrated with overall corporate strategy and objectives. Start by defining the short, medium, and long term strategies set reasonable goals to measure progress and cost benefits, complete the business model and structure, develop a top-down annual budget, and a tactical plan with appropriate timelines.
- Product Readiness
After developing a business strategy, take the necessary steps to market-ready your product and service based on the product gap analysis. You can achieve this by reviewing government and industry-specific regulations to ensure compliance, determining if any localization of the product is needed, initiating a patent and trademark review, and considering a local logistics and distribution network.
- A Go-to-Market Strategy
In order to effectively sell and market your product or service, you require a comprehensive and cohesive strategy that addresses concerns related to sales strategy, delivery, branding, marketing, and pricing, that together creates market differentiators that propel market acceptance and revenue growth. You can overcome these concerns by determining your optimum sales model, sales methodology, whether you will use the parent brand or create a new one, developing a comprehensive marketing plan and KPI, and most importantly - evaluating your pricing model.
- Legal Readiness
Some countries and regions are known for being highly litigious. So, it is essential that you have strong legal processes in place to minimize unnecessary risks. Also, government agencies have very strict requirements that need to be in place prior to operating within the country. Being proactive does require money upfront, but this offsets downstream risks and liabilities.
Ready to Start Selling?
Not yet, there is one last requisite without which nothing can be achieved successfully- knowledge. Be sure to enroll yourself in an online strategic management course to understand the long term relationship building in your new market. These international business programs help you extend the sales life of your products and services by finding new markets. An online strategic international business course can help you select appropriate methodologies related to distribution, finance, marketing, and sales, so you can significantly improve your overall growth potential.
