business travel tips

A lot of people are interested in the international market. There are lots of customers available overseas. However, there are challenges as well.

Different government laws and cultures can interfere with the success of your company if they are not understood.

There are many businesses that have successfully entered the international arena after starting at home.

1. Take Advantage Of The Internet

It is often easiest to take your business global if you use the web. Many currency exchanges and retailers do a lot of the legal work for you.

Platforms to consider using to make your business a global operation include Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Baidu, Paypal, and eBay.

These websites have done a lot of the hard work for you by getting an overseas market. Your business can set up an account and consider how they will be selling their products and services.

Market strategy often requires thinking about the public image of your company online.

2. Learn The Language And Culture

A good way to learn a new language is to use free resources on the internet. Sadly, there are often different social norms in various cultures.

What is seen as normal in industrial Westernized cultures may be offensive to more conservative Eastern cultures?

One powerful tool for figuring out other people’s preferences is high context and low context.

U.S. culture is usually low context. Low context cultures are very direct and they highly value the individual. Traditional power structures are ignored as outdated.

Asian culture is often high context. High context cultures value respect and being careful in how you say something.

Indirect body language and personal character are very important. The group is more important than the individual.

Market strategy for high context cultures should value people more highly than is common in low context cultures.

3. Hire Skilled People In The Target Country

There is nothing like having locals who work for your company in the target country. Locals adapt more easily, and they are more highly trusted by the native people.

Another thing to think about is starting a joint venture. Some countries require that you do a joint venture operation where there is still strong local ownership of the operation.

This makes your company more popular with the local government. It also lowers the likelihood of a misunderstanding.

If a good share of the management of your joint venture is local people, they can help correct problems that arise during normal business operations.

It is common in international business to see big global companies working with a local partner to create a better organization for the target market.

Local policies are not ignored when the joint venture native partner is in the chain of command. Expansion becomes easier.

Locals do not distrust you if your joint venture partner is the group leading the market entrance.

Conclusion

Becoming a big company often requires getting outside of your native culture.

This is particularly true if your country is small. While sometimes hard, international business is fun and it lets different groups of people learn more about each other.

Market expansion is ensured when local policies are known and respected.

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