Small business owners can no longer afford to shun global business opportunities. Studies show that the United States represents about 5% of the world’s consuming population, which means that 95% of opportunities lie outside the nation’s borders. What’s more is that about 95% of U.S. exporters are small to medium-sized businesses.
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While global opportunities abound, before embarking on any international journey, you need to know where you are going and what to do when you get there. Â For starters, it’s important to do your homework and ask a number of questions to determine if there’s a market of people willing and able to buy your goods.
To find out what is the one thing that small business owners can do to take their businesses abroad or make their businesses more global, BlackEnterprise.com polled members of the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched StartupCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.
Here are their candid answers:
1. Get on a Plane
Get on a plane. I am constantly making introductions and building relationships all over the world. Although technology makes global communication easier, I believe that in-person communication gives you the best opportunity to build your business internationally. Showing up to a meeting 8,000 miles away creates trust and shows commitment.
– Sean Marszalek, SDC Nutrition, Inc.
2. Adjust Your Website
There are really valuable tools that exist to help you change the verbiage on your website to any language. If you want to be a global company or brand, then speak to people in their native tongue. Don’t expect potential customers from overseas to try and translate your value proposition on your website.
3. Open Up Your Marketing
With most major platforms, if you offer a product you can sell internationally, you can target any country and demographic within that country. For example, Facebook lets you do just that. You can also open up your PPC (pay-per-click) in Google globally, which can bring exposure within minutes and biddings high enough for first page rankings.
– Pablo Palatnik, ShadesDaddy.com
4. Determine What “Global” Means to Your Company
First, determine what “global” means to your business. Does it mean acquiring clients outside of your local market? Accessing talent in cost-competitive locations? Sourcing materials overseas? Based on this, you’ll make very different decisions on how to “go global” surrounding what type of partnerships to engage in, and the level of local market involvement you’ll actually need to be successful.
– Patrick Linton, Bolton Remote
5. Prepare Your Website
Make sure your website can reach an international audience. Research country-specific sites, and purchase relevant domain names for the countries that you are targeting. It’s critical to ensure that your website is easily converted to the correct language. Also, utilize market research to understand your target consumer across the global and be cognizant of cultural differences.
6. Adopt a Global Mindset
Alongside all the strategic and tactical things, one of the most foundational is for you (and your employees) to THINK more globally. Thinking and beingmore global typically requires a more open, expanded mindset and approach that go far beyond any boundaries you might have previously been operating within.
– Lea Woodward, Inspiring Ventures
7. Pay to Play
Go international. Find distributors in your channel and start reaching out early in the business. Put your name on the map — and more clearly, on their mind — so when the time is right, they’ll know who you are. If you can afford it, go to international trade shows as well. Pay to play. And, if you believe in your product and your brand, you’ll find those partners to grow your business.
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8. Tap Your Team
Your customer service rep grew up in Portugal. Your designer lived in Paris for three years. Unlock the experience of your team to tailor your offerings to new markets.
9. Do Your Research
Be careful with your personal experience and opinions — we all suffer from a representation bias. Do research, including surveys, with an international audience. Then, narrow down “global” to what it actually means for your product: countries, regions, demographics, etc. Get to know the places you want to reach, especially around influencers — for example, journalists.
– Nacho Gonzalez, Mailtrack.io – The double-check for Gmail
10. Learn Another Language
Learning another language is the first step to doing business in other countries. You have to be able to communicate to build partnerships and develop a global business.
– Lane Campbell, Syntress SCDT
11. Collaborate
The first step to making your business more global is to identify new markets that are relevant to your business. Next, you should collaborate with groups that already influence those markets.
– Mina Chang, Linking the World
12. Localize
It’s wise to hire help from that country or area (Europe) to better understand the market there. These people will come with experience working within that market and break down language barriers. For instance, if you’re expanding to Europe, you might tap into a localized PR agency that already has relationships with local media.
13. Publish Content in Multiple Languages
We publish our website in both Spanish and English. We’ve found that if we provide content — and even speak to people — in their native tongue, it makes them feel as though we respect their culture. You never know, cultural sensitivity could be a deciding factor for prospects on the fence about which provider to work with.
– Nicole Munoz, Start Ranking Now
14. Consider Your Options
Our lives are global nowadays. We regularly share personal and professional information on different platforms for anyone in the world to see. The question is how can we maximize those platforms to build our businesses, both locally and globally. First, define your goals then see what options are the best fit.
– Alfredo Atanacio, Uassist.ME
15. Learn Where You Fit
If you want a global company, hire globally. When looking for employees, branch out of your immediate locality, and you’re sure to get some wonderful new team members. Use their knowledge to help you figure out new markets to expand into. And simply visit new places and figure out what they need. Learn how you fit in.