The International Expansion
Marc Pakbaz, the author of this paper, has extensive experience in International Expansion. He has more than 30 years of executive experience in Europe, US, Middle East, and Asia. He speaks 3 languages and has helped more than 50 companies to expand to International.
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How many times did you think about it? Should we expand or can we expand our business to be in International Markets?
It seems very complicated and hard to accomplish but sometimes it’s much easier than you think and you can get better results than you expect, if, of course, you respect some rules and regulations.
Have you ever seen a person exactly like you? With the same “likes and dislikes?” With the same tastes or habits? My guess is… the answer is No!
Do you think that people living in your own city, but in different neighborhoods, more or less rich, live, eat, and wear the same? Do they drive the same car? Do they like the same colors?
In your country, people from different regions use different products and have different foods.
How can you expect that people living a few hundred miles or kilometers from you use the same products and pay the same price? That will not happen.
If you want to expand your business to International, you must respect some rules:
- Find the right time
Is it the right time for you and for your company to expand to International? Most entrepreneurs will say NO! “I have too much to do in my local market that I don’t have time to think about it,” say 80% of us. However, very often, expanding to International helps you to know your immediate market better and to grow your own local market. Thinking International will help you to think “big”, to think “different”, to adjust and improve your offer to your immediate market and finally, to make a huge difference between you and your competitors. After all, this is your goal, isn’t it? Your goal is to make a difference between you and your competitors and to offer a better solution to your market.
- Define your product and your market
If it’s a good time (yes, it is) where is our market and what can we offer to this market?
Your product may answer some market needs but not others. For example, the way the French drink wine is not how the Americans enjoy wine. For Americans, drinking wine is still a “luxury.” In the US “wine time” is “relax time” or “party time”. In France, drinking wine at the table is just like drinking water or a soda at the table. It’s not necessarily a luxury moment, even though they may drink a more expensive wine.
Mustard is another example. Ask a French to taste the American mustard, it will seem like sugar to him or her.
Unless you have the power to change or to create a new market, your first step of expansion is to understand your market and to adapt your product to your target market. Don’t expect French people to buy sweet mustard, because they will NOT. A new market is also a new culture, new habits and new tastes.
- Find the right partner
Are you one of those entrepreneurs who don’t like to share and want to control everything and make his/her own decisions? Change your attitude, especially if you want to expand to International markets.
Very often, finding the right local partner is the key to success. You may think you can do it by yourself, but the fact is you can always do it better with the right local partner. Did I say local partner or right local partner? The key of success is not to find a local partner but to find the right local partner. In mathematics; 1+1 always equals 2, in partnership 1+1 can equal 10 or sometimes -10.
Conclusions,
- Make your decision and stay on it.
- Define your offer and your market.
- Find the right people and the right local partner.
- Have a plan and apply it.
- Enjoy your expansion to International Markets and be proud of it.
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