February 2008 - Global View Newsletter
INTERNATIONAL EXPANSION: SIMPLE STEPS TO EASE YOUR WAY IN
Small businesses and the entrepreneurial spirit are the foundation of the U.S. Economy. In A Report to the President, published in 2006, Chief Economist & Director of Economic Research, Chad Moutray emphasizes just this. In this report, he writes;
"Of the nearly 26 million firms in the United States, most are very small - 97.5 percent of employer and non-employer firms have fewer than 20 employees. Yet cumulatively, these firms account for half of our non-farm real gross domestic product, and they have generated 60 to 80 percent of the net new jobs over the past decade. Entrepreneurs rightly command enormous respect, and their contributions to the U.S. economy are followed by academics and policymakers alike."
Many small and start-up firms face the same challenges on the road to success. Cash flow is nearly always one of those monsters. The conundrum is, "I've got to make more sales to generate more cash flow, but to make more sales, I need cash flow for advertising or production or development," and so on. Success can be elusive, but it is possible as evidenced by the statement above, even for a small business.
One way to open the door to new clientele is to expand to new markets. The United States, though a powerful market, is only a small portion of the global economy. Chances are if a product or service will work here, it will work somewhere else too. But global expansion must be a monumental task right? Not really, if approached diligently and creatively. Like any other business task, research in product and service regulations, imports, exports, target market determination and the like are crucial factors, but when it comes to dollars and cents, small efforts can bring big returns.
For example, many Southeast Asian nations are hungry to market their products to the United States, but don't have the cultural, business and marketing expertise to do so. The United States is a nation full of talented and creative marketing firms and experienced business development firms. So, why not offer this service to other countries? They want to sell to us, they just don't know how. Who better to teach them than us?
Taking this model, here are some simple steps to ease your way in to a new market with relatively little capital (after you've done your research first!):
1. Review: Evaluate all of your existing material: Brochures, White Papers, Web Sites, Product Instructions, Manuals, Letters of Recommend, Awards, Press Releases, etc.
2. Test: Is there some entry-level material that could be multilingually and culturally adapted to a new market to start the communication efforts? Remember, you don't necessarily have to jump in with both feet first; it's ok to dip your toe in to test the water. Adapt a Press Release and send it to 100 companies; modify the home and service page of your website and do a bit of optimization for that country; write an article on doing business in the United States, localize it and send it to your target market.
3. Speak their Language: When targeting another country take note of what former German Chancellor Willy Brandt once said: "If I'm selling to you, I speak your language. If I'm buying, dann müssen Sie Deutsch sprechen [then you have to speak German]." Basically, if you want to sell your service to them, you have to speak to them, in their language; appropriately, accurately and targeted to them. They may speak your language, but research shows you'll get much farther if you take the initiative first.
4. Support: Partner with a firm like U.S. Translation Company that can accommodate the professional multilingual communication.
5. Evaluate: Once some testing has been done, evaluate the likelihood of income generation. If a small portion of the website has been translated into Japanese and now you are getting a lot of Japanese inquiries, it may be beneficial to convert other materials into Japanese, or invest in a trip to Japan to meet with some of these organizations.
6. Proceed: Evolve the plan in a step-by-step process. Again, for many products and services, you can test and test and test and then when profits are imminent depending on a full force presence, take the plunge with confidence that the expenses will return rewards.
With any business venture, research and testing is the ultimate key to success. But, if you never take the first step, even with the little toe, you'll never know.
For more information on how to ease your way into an international market, contact the experts at U.S. Translation Company for support.
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