Expanding a business is an exciting, yet stressful period of your life when you own a business or are an entrepreneur, so internationalising your business can be even more stressful and complex if you don’t know what you’re doing. It is always advised that if you have no experience in this, hire someone who does as it can genuinely feel like a minefield. Not only do you need an extremely detailed business plan to help guide you through the process, but you also need to do thorough research around the county you are hoping to expand to such as language barriers, cultural differences and the competition in that county. In this article, we will go through some of the key aspects of what you need to consider before internationalising your business.
Affordability
One of the most important things that you need to do before internationalising your business is to see how much it is going to cost you and whether you can afford it. Conducting business in other countries can include a range of costs including factors such as office space, travel, shipping, manufacturing and much more. These costs can greatly fluctuate pending on the country you are expanding to and some countries can have their own external costs solely for international business. This includes factors such as customs. Sometimes, whilst bribery is illegal in many countries, it is perfectly legal in others so it is essential that you are working with someone locally who they can help you navigate through these costs.
Tax and employment regulations
Every country is different when it comes to tax and employment regulations, so it essential to learn these before you expand your business. For example, the UK have extremely strict regulations on employee safety with regulations such as the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. Other countries are not so strict on employee safety and other countries are extremely contradictory in their regulations. One example of this is Mexico as they have multiple governing bodies that protect employee safety, but they also contradict themselves, so if you are going to a country like this, then it is essential to have a local nearby to help you.
Your Marketing Techniques
In each area that you plan on expanding, it is essential to understand the culture and the differences. Only when you do this you will be able to market your product or service successfully and effectively. Many people forget to alter their marketing strategy when expanding and then wonder why they aren’t making any conversions. There are different rules, expectations and restrictions on what you can and can’t say. Having someone local work with you will be a great advantage as they will be able to help define what you are aiming to say whilst also meeting the expectations of your potential customers.
Fulfilment
If you have a business that creates products for your customers, then it is essential to ensure that you are able to fulfil each and every order. This needs to be set up before anything as you will need to be continually making business whilst expanding. An example of this would be if you were a car manufacturer and dealer, then not only will you need to have enough cars in that new country to meet fulfilment requirements, but you would also need enough spare parts to be able to fix and maintain the cars. This is an essential part of your business as if you don’t have the right parts or spare parts, then your customers will be wondering why it is taking so long to fix, resulting in people losing trust in the brand before it has had a chance to get off the ground.
Choose The Correct Insurance
Having the most relevant insurance for your business is essential when wanting to run things smoothly. Everything needs to be covered otherwise you could face fines or lose a lot of money if you get fined, sued or stolen. Insurance is certainly worth the investment as it can save you a lot of money down the line. Businesses need protecting at all costs, and if you are expanding to international waters, this is more important than ever. If you have never expanded internationally before, chances are you are going to need some help as you are going to face challenges that you have never faced before.
To ensure that you have the most relevant insurance that covers all aspects of business, it is always worth speaking to an insurance broker as they can help you with getting protection for every aspect of your business. For example, if you were a freelancer, you may need professional indemnity insurance, but if you are a business that deals on a credit basis, you would need credit insurance. There really is a huge range of areas to cover.