Did you know that 99.9% of businesses in the U.S. are small businesses? According to a report by the Small Business Administration, there are over 30 million small businesses in the country. Now, knowing that you are part of a huge community, you might feel comfortable in attracting local customers. However, you also need to aim for growth where you can grab new opportunities. These include transforming your venture into an internationally recognized brand.
Global Brand
Becoming an international brand doesn’t automatically mean that your business has branches in different countries. Going global means that you have customers from different parts of the world. In short, it doesn’t matter where people order your items. As long as you can ship your products to them, you can be regarded as a global brand. The advantages of going global are the following.
- Enjoy new revenue opportunities
- Get the opportunity to work with international business partners
- Strengthen your brand’s reputation
- Stay ahead of the competition
Global Expansion
To ensure that your international expansion becomes successful, you need to make all the preparations. It may take you years before finalizing your expansion process. However, you can rest assured that it will be worth it. Here are a few tips to get started.
- Prepare a global business plan – You need to come up with a robust business plan that will work for your global expansion. You need to determine new goals and prepare new strategies that will make your brand thrive in the international market.
- Research foreign markets – Take note that expanding to international markets means that you will be targeting customers from foreign countries. So, you need to do some research on how to launch your brand to foreign markets. You can also reach out to the U.S. Department of Commerce for assistance.
- Determine how to ship your products abroad – This is one of the most critical challenges that you need to face during global expansion. You need to find the best methods of shipping your products abroad. These may include learning about air cargo systems, executing new product distribution techniques, or partnering up with a foreign brand. Make sure that you select the best methods that will benefit both you and your customers.
- Adjust your prices accordingly – You need to adjust prices depending on the taxes, shipping costs, and exportation fees. You have to ensure that the new rates will not be too cheap nor too expensive. Your business should get more profits after the expansion and not the other way around.
Going global provides you with great benefits. It’s an exciting and thrilling process. However, you need to understand that there will always be huge risks and challenges that go with it. Business growth can mean that you need to go out of your comfort zone. This may feel intimidating at first, but all you need to do is take the first step. As a business owner, you need to take a few risks to improve your brand. This will not only allow your business to expand, but it will also train you and your team to take on bigger challenges in the future.
