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Once you’ve successfully established your business in your domestic market, it may be time to start thinking bigger. Expanding internationally can help you reach new customers, increase your sales, and discover new growth opportunities. But breaking into the global market is a major step! Before you move forward, it’s important to get organized and work out all of the nitty-gritty details, from supply chain logistics to international regulations. Here is a quick guide to point you in the right direction.
Tackle Those Technical Issues
Selling and shipping products within the United States is one thing, but you’ll have to make some upgrades to your online presence before expanding to other countries.
- Consider working with MVP.dev to have an app developed for your growing business.
- Use shipping management software to calculate shipping costs and delivery times for your overseas orders.
- Set up your website with localized content so you can reach consumers all over the world.
- Develop a targeted marketing strategy to attract international visitors to your website through ads and social media content.
- Come up with a plan to manage your global supply chain.
Do Your Due Diligence
Besides language and cultural differences, your businesses must also be prepared to comply with new regulations.
- Make sure you structure your business properly before expanding abroad.
- Take the time to learn everything you can about taxes, business regulations, and laws in different countries.
- Learn how packaging standards differ from country to country and consider the added costs involved in complying with these variations.
- If you plan on hiring international employees, consider local employment and payroll laws.
Plan Your Customer Service Approach
As you expand into new markets, it will become more and more difficult to manage customer service inquiries. Plan how you’re going to handle complicated issues like language barriers and product returns.
- Take some time to learn about the cultural differences in your new markets so you’re better prepared to meet the needs of your customers.
- Consider hiring freelance customer service agents who speak many different languages.
- You can also pay for translation services to translate customer service responses that you’re likely to use over and over again. You can always use Google Translate in a pinch for customer support emails.
Ready to go global? Taking your business abroad is a very exciting move, but it can also be a little intimidating. You have a lot to consider before you move forward, so take your time to learn everything you can about marketing, selling, shipping, and hiring employees in other countries. The more planning you do ahead of time, the better your chances of success!
