When it comes to Globalization, we all are part of it, from the simple fact of shopping online to the idea of internationalize your business and think big. There are some crucial points when thinking about internationalize SMEs.
What makes a market attractive?
There are some important factors to take into consideration when considering a market’s potential and some strategic options available for international marketing. Firstly, you will need to see if there is any demand and if there is already an existing market, if there is one, you proceed to analyze if the demand is being served and what is the current competition’s status. Then, you will have to evaluate the psychic distance and more specifically similarities and differences in the foreign market; once answered the previous questions, you will see more clearly if the product or service you are attempting to sell is a good fit for that specific market.
Another important point to evaluate is the accessibility, it refers to the barriers to entry, and when talking about barriers, there are many but one of the most important are cultural aspects, in this part of your research process, you have to consider particular details such as the language spoken in that country, cultural and religious practices, literacy rate, attitude to foreign products, among others.
Once that job is done, you should start to talk about profitability and potential for growth, and even before you enter that market, you have to answer the questions “Why are we consider the market? And “What is the potential for emerging demand? Yes! That is part of expansion objective.
How can I expand my business in a foreign market?
It is not an easy job but is it not impossible, failure arises from the inability to find right market niches, unwillingness to adapt products to local needs, lack of uniqueness in the products, vacillating commitment, picking not so good local partners and incapacity to manage local stakeholders, and many others.
In that way, when it comes to international marketing and its strategies, you have to choose among different approaches and find the best suit for your business.
The Industrial Network approach is based on creating networking channels and engaging with production distributors, basically, relationships will be one of the key success points. The more you establish and develop relationships with customers, distributors and suppliers, the better it will be for your business. On the other hand, the Business Strategy approach focuses on the idea of market opportunity, firm resources and managerial philosophy. If you rather to use this one, you have to be extra careful with your marketing attractiveness researches, internal analysis of your company, and don’t forget the barriers to entry.
You may need to choose different approaches and implement them in different areas, which is most likely to happen, at the end of the day, you need to decide which strategies work better for you.
Last but not least, there is a crucial factor to consider when it comes to sell abroad, human resources capabilities and skills as vital intangible resources. The actual skills and competencies of the organization’s employees made a significant difference in the development of a strategy.
If you interested in expand your business’ horizons, or any other type of activity related to marketing strategies, contact Piedmont Avenue Consulting, Inc. at 510-761-5895 to schedule a free consultation with Marketing expert David Mitroff, Ph.D., and visit our website to get more information.
