Having a business that is moving towards global growth is where the business is moving towards worldwide trade and growth. But for smaller businesses, the prospect of ‘going global’ can be quite a daunting process as it is going to be a big undertaking and could disrupt normal services quite significantly. So it can be easy to see why many businesses put it off, even though it could improve the whole business and take it to the next level. So it is imperative that business owners understand the impact of expanding their business globally, so they can look at all of the options and see what would work best for their business.
So if you have a goal to one day have a global business, then you need to look at the things you can be doing to prepare your business for global growth. Here are some of the steps that you should be looking at, then you can decide what will work for you.
Perform Due Diligence
In order to see what the impact of going global will be, you need to perform the due diligence for your business. It will weigh up the options for you and help you to decide what the impact will be for your business. For starters, starting out in a different country will bring with it all sorts of different challenges. Will your product or service work in different countries? Does it hold up against local competitors in the new country? Who else is doing what you do in the country that you’re thinking of launching in? Knowing the demand or how big the market is in the country you plan to go to, will help you to project just how much time you will need to make the business viable over there. So from there, you can decide if it will be worth it in the end.
Develop a Business Plan
When launching in a new market, you essentially do need to put together a brand new business plan. You have a proven business model at the moment, but it can all change when you extend it to a global market. Set short term goals, as well as longer term goals. Think about budget and what you’re going to use for every aspect of the business from product development to marketing.
Look at Using Better Technology
As has been established, a global business is a brand new ball game. So you need to be using the best tech for it, that will work and run smoothly, as well as being cost-effective. Think about something as simple as talking to colleagues that are overseas. At the moment, are your offices set up to do that in a quick and cost-effective manner? If not, then those are the kinds of thing that you need to be looking at. Take something like VoIP Solutions for businesses as an example. Using the internet to make high-speed voice calls could end up making your business much more effective when trying to reach the global market. The same goes for new tech in product development and even for training staff. Looking at ways to improve what you already have in place, for a global team, will help the process run smoothly and be more cost-effective when you get it done right in the first place.
Getting Product Ready To Market
By now you will have done your research and found that the product will work in the global market. But it isn’t just as simple as bringing your product over and setting up a shop. One of the first things that you need to do is to review government guidelines for selling and check their regulations. There may be country specific regulations, as well as certain certificates that are needed for compliance. What will you need to get for your product? It can change from country to country too, particularly with governing bodies like the European Union, where set rules and guidelines are set for all countries under its governance.
From there, you also need to check about local terms and translations. Even from a US product going to the UK, there are some words and spellings that are different. You want the product to have the impact that you imagine, and to do so; it needs to have the right translations and terms to get the product’s message across. Look into copyright and trademarks too. Is there a quite a similar product in the country you’re trying to get into already? If so, a trademark or similar is a great idea to show you’re not infringing on another business. Does the product meet local trading standards? Make sure that it is tested thoroughly, as well as looking into the distribution network in the local area. Then the roll out can be as smooth as possible.
Getting the Business Ready
If your product is ready and has been looked into, then you can just get going with it all, right? Wrong! There are still plenty of things that need to be checked in order for your business to be ready to be rolled out globally. One thing that your business needs to be flexible with is with language, customs, and other regulations. You might plan things in one way but actually have to do things in another way. You can’t just go into the global expansion with a ‘one size fits all’ kind of mentality. It might get some things going in the first place. But after all, it can have some more negative long term effects.
You are going to have employees or distributors set up around the world. So you need to have procedures and policies in place for them. They need to know how they will get paid to how to call in when they’re sick. So again, check with local authorities and know what it legal or expected in those countries. Even things like maternity or paternity leave can vary widely from country to country, and you need to make sure that your business is complying with the legal requirements of the country that it is in. When this is all taken into consideration, you can have a much more successful launch.
