Want To Scale Your Business For International Expansion?

Are you looking to join those at the top of the business pyramid? Is it time to finally ascend your company to the next level? Are you ready for international expansion? The biggest players in business are those that cater to the global market. If you want to play at their level, you need to scale your business for international expansion.

If you are scaling your business, you have to be aware of what else you need to consider. The person you are now is the person who managed to bring the company to where it is today. But if you want to expand your business to the next level and beyond, you can’t stick to being the same person you are now. You need to think like an international business owner. It’s time to evolve. You need to upgrade your knowledge, your skills, and your mindset.

Scaling your business brings on many unknowns. Knowing what things you still have to learn in order to get where you want to go, is critical to achieving success. These are factors such as different target audiences, needs, desires, and the jargon that they use. 

On top of understanding your target audience’s desires, you also need a strong team to help you scale. This means knowing how to find people that are just as passionate and driven as you are. The more ‘A players’ you have in your company, the faster you can scale your business. Finding team members that you can trust and delegate tasks to on your behalf will give you a competitive advantage over everyone else.

If you’re looking to expand into different markets, there’s a lot to consider. Here are our best tips on how to scale your business for international expansion:

The International Market is Composed of Many Diverse Regions

One of the biggest mistakes CEO’s make is generalizing the international market. This means thinking that your audience’s needs and interests in one country will be the same as another. Before you decide to scale your business for international expansion, you must first focus on the local market. 

The international market is segregated based on region. These regions consist of geographic areas such as Canada, the US, India, China, Japan, Russia, and Europe. Each of these regions has their own set of cultural differences that make them unique. As a result, they also have their own customs, needs, and dislikes that differ from other regions.

To efficiently scale your company for international expansion, you need to look at each of these regions as their own separate marketplace. This means doing in-depth research to understand everything there is to know about a certain region. Once you get a better understanding of the marketplace that resides in that region, you can begin to scale your company for that specific region.

This means tailoring your product towards that specific region’s needs. Just because your product performed well in one region, does not mean the same for another. This is because the needs of the European marketplace for example, differ heavily from the needs of the Chinese market. There are differences in these two countries based on a variety of factors – such as language, culture, geographic location and ethnicity.

If you want to take your company to the next level, you need to understand and be aware of these differences. Knowing these differences allows you to tailor your product to that specific region for maximum results. 

You Don’t Have Just One Target Audience, You Have Multiple Audiences

In order to customize your product to a particular region’s taste and interests, you need to familiarize yourself with their culture. Know their customs, traditions, and the ‘lingo’ that they use. This is where doing your research beforehand becomes critical. 

For example, let’s say your company sells Mac and Cheese and is based in the US. The ad that you’re running has a Caucasian family sitting together at the dining table. Everyone is laughing, talking about their day, and enjoying their dinner of Mac and Cheese. 

Based on statistics, this ad has performed well and the demand for your Mac and Cheese is growing year after year. Now let’s say you want to expand your company and begin targeting the marketplace in China. Do you think you will see much success if you run the same type of ads in this new region? Most likely the answer is no.

This is because your US-based ads target a different niche audience. In China, the majority of people that live there are of Asian ethnicity, not Caucasian. Immediately, your ad will be a turn off to the Chinese marketplace, because they cannot relate to it. 

As well, most Chinese people prefer to eat rice for dinner, instead of pasta like macaroni. As a result, there is less demand for your product and you will be competing with well-established rice companies for market share.

Lastly, the primary language of China is Mandarin. If your ad is running in English, only a small percentage of people will be able to understand what is going on.

This example illustrates how a different region has many factors to account for. If you don’t focus on localizing your product to that region, you will not gather much interest due to cultural differences.

Focus on Localizing Before You Go International

The same holds true for all international regions. Each country has its own differences and particular niche audience. If you want to succeed internationally, you need to account for all these factors.

The way you market your product will determine its success. Details such as the packaging, the words you use, the images, the colors and what you stand for, all impact how consumers will view your product and brand. Especially when it comes to entering a new marketplace.

This means if you’re looking to scale your company for international expansion, you need to localize your offering. You need to customize your product to that region, and account for all the little factors that will affect how well it succeeds. Being aware of these differences when entering a new region will allow you to scale your company quicker and overcome resistance.

Besides having different needs, different regions also have different business practices. These are things such as different business laws, paperwork requirements, and processes you have to go through. As a result, you may have to make numerous changes to how you market your product or brand before it’s considered acceptable. 

Achieving legal business compliance in a region like Germany comes with many strict requirements and paperwork to be handled. This process may take weeks or even months before you’re given the green light. If you’re looking to expand your company for international expansion, make sure you have additional resources prepared for when unexpected situations arise.

You don’t want to hype your audience up for a big product launch, only to realize it’ll be delayed by two weeks. Do your research beforehand and be aware of how all these minor things can impact your business. 

Behind Every Great Company is an Even Greater Team

Creating a business that is local and successful is a challenge. Finding the right team members to help you scale that business to the international market is exponentially more difficult. If you’re looking to scale your business for international expansion, you’ll need a strong team to support your vision. 

The difference between a good company and a great company is the team standing behind it. In order to scale your company internationally, you need reliable team members who can ensure things run smoothly. As you’ll be entering new and uncharted territory, success will depend on whether or not your team members possess certain traits.

These are traits such as ownership, accountability, being a team player, and being results-driven. Unlike 9-5 employees who are only interested in a paycheck, you want to look for people who can become a valuable asset to your company. Who have an entrepreneurial drive to achieve great things and set new standards. 

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