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Getting International Business
Feb 28th
| This series is commissioned by UPS. |
Last year we did a series about the trend in micromultinational businesses. These are businesses that are small — some very small with a mere handful of employees — but already operating as multinationals. It used to be that your business had to wait to grow up before going international. Not today. Today you can leapfrog from a startup serving a 50-mile radius, to selling to customers in dozens of countries.
Today that I’d highlight some articles from our archives on the special challenges and opportunities of going international even while a small business.
Background Information
As background on this topic, take a look at:
Considerations Before Going Global – In Preparing Your Business To Go Global, I point out 5 considerations (pros and cons) of taking your business international. Should you or shouldn’t you go global? There’s no one right answer. You have to look at your business and your market, as well as the risks and opportunities. For instance, figuring out how to get paid is one of the key issues facing any international business where money is going across different currencies and different payment legalities. Another key issue: local taxes and regulations in each jurisdiction your business be in or send goods to have to be considered, or you could lose big money. Yet another issue: exporting laws and licenses in your own country — you can get in compliance and sleep easy, or you can wait for the nightmares to start. Get informed, weigh everything, then decide.
Readying Your Website for International Visitors — The Web is a key marketing, sales and distribution channel for international business. In How to Make Your Website Ready for International Business, we examine 4 steps you can make to ensure your website is friendly to and ready for non-domestic and non-English-speaking visitors. From internationalizing your website content, to making it easy for buyers to calculate shipping costs — the steps are now relatively straightforward ones.
Inspiration
If you are looking for inspiration from other businesses that have gone multinational as either young startups or while still relatively small, go no further than these examples:
Challenge: Cost of Compliance — in Tales of Micro-Multinationals: Jadience , we took a look at Jadience, which sells a line of health and skincare products and treatments rooted in Traditional Oriental Medicine. One of their biggest challenges as a small business: complying with industry regulations in many different locales, including the cost of the compliance process.
Opportunity: Expansion Using a Hub and Spoke Model — in Tales of Micro-Multinationals: Worketc, we profiled Worketc, a maker of business software with customers in 23 countries at that time. The company’s Founder, Dan Barnett, says that scaling a micromultinational can be done, but only if you treat each region as its own micro-multinational. You’d need to expand in a hub-and-spoke model, rather than a traditional pyramid organizational structure, he says.
Opportunity: Meeting Client Needs by a Mix of Face-to-Face and Virtual — in Tales of Micro-Multinationals: The Real Time Project, we looked at The Real Time Project, a consulting group that helps organizations deal with the implications of content becoming more real-time. It takes a diverse range of skills including skills in social media, real-time Web protocols, video distribution, and business and branding strategy. It’s unlikely that most companies will have all the necessary skills in people sitting in one room in one location today. A multinational consulting firm helps large brands scale with the right mix of face-to-face and virtual resources.
Getting International Business
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
Gold: A Key Hedge Against International Uncertainty
Nov 30th
This is a guest post by Day Trade Listings.
It seems that you can’t pick up your newspaper or turn on your television without seeing an over extended European country being bailed out, or some new stimulus being implemented.
This week alone has seen a $61 billion government stimulus introduced in Japan and a $117 billion lifeline thrown at struggling Ireland.
With the continued uncertainty of the US economy having a serious effect upon the dollar, now could not be a better time to move out of currency and into good ol’ trusty gold. Gold is traditionally seen as a “safe haven” for investors during harsh economic times, kept by banks for a supposed rainy day.
It appeals because it is an international asset, knowing no governmental and national boundaries. What happens in a national economy or even within the global economy will not reflect upon gold in the same way it would upon a currency.
PIIGS
The economic downturn is being felt all around the globe. As eyes in Europe move from Ireland to the Iberian Peninsula, there is a real and present danger of a collapse in the Euro. Austerity measures are being imposed left, right and centre in Europe at the moment, and the Euro should be avoided like the plague.
Asian Dragons?
There are real concerns over inflation in China as all indicators suggest the economy there, once the darling of growth, looks to have overheated and is putting a strain on the value of the Yuan.
Japan, the other big Asian powerhouse, and its yen have suffered, and continue to suffer, because its high price has massively hit exports at a time when consumer spending there is in decline. The results of the recent kickstart applied by the Japanese government to its economy will take time to show any results in an economy feeling the pain of negative inflation. For the short term at least, the value of the yen is only going one way.
England Isn’t Immune
The British pound is suffering too from an uncertain economy, and the increased cost in bailing out its failing European partners will take its toll. Interest rates there are poised to rise and with mortgage borrowing at a 19 month lowest, the recovery of the economy is taking a lot longer than originally forecast.
Avoid the Greenback
The final of the major currencies to avoid is that of the US. The economy in the US and the value of the dollar has suffered because of the quantities easing policy it has taken. This in layman’s terms is addressing the financial blight of your economy by simply printing more money, which is exactly what America has done. The collapse of the banks and a housing economy that does not show signs of noticeable improvement makes the dollar a very unattractive investment.
So with all the negativity in the global economy, and the effects this is having upon its currencies, now could not be a better time to move out of currency and get into gold. Since 2000, its price has risen from $300 an ounce to $1400 an ounce. In the 3rd quarter of 2010, gold rose 62.1% against the dollar alone.
Whilst such economic uncertainly still looms larger than ever of over the established and emerging markets, investing in its currencies is not a wise option. Moving into the safe haven of gold, with its continually rising demand and soaring price, has never been so appealing.
The preceding post appears here courtesy of Day Trade Listings – http://www.daytradelistings.com, an impartial source of information on online brokerage firms and investing advice.
View full post on Business Pundit
How to Make Your Website Ready for International Business
Oct 30th
| This series is commissioned by UPS. |
One of the challenges of small businesses going global is the complexity of dealing with language and local requirements. However, if you do your homework, you can sell your products and services outside the U.S. even if your sales and marketing budget is small. One of the most cost effective ways to sell across borders is to use your website, either for eCommerce, or as an informational and lead generation site. Here are 4 key ways to ready your website for international business:
(1) Internationalize your website content
Buyers are much more likely to buy if a website is in their own language. For the small business, providing website content in other languages can be a particular challenge because it’s costly to translate text into multiple languages. One way to keep costs in control is to translate text or provide country-specific sites only for the country or countries where you sell the most. Organizations like Lisa.org and Gala Global provide resources to help businesses localize their products and websites, including links to translation services. Don’t forget Spanish speakers in the U.S. — more and more businesses are providing Spanish translation specifically for this market within our own borders.
And remember, too, that it’s more than just text to consider. Take into account cultural differences, which may call for different graphics. Consider voiceover translations or subtitles for business videos.
Finally, if you’re not able to afford translating your entire website into other languages, there are some other techniques to consider. For instance, translate a single landing page in your site into key languages. Or, consider writing the text of your site in Simplified English. Simplified English is a standardized way of writing that reduces ambiguity. It makes English website copy easier for non-native English speakers to understand.
Simplified English also makes machine translations more accurate. Thus, you could add links to your website to the Google translation tool to provide a rough translation in seconds. Insert small clickable flag images to enable visitors to launch the translation tool in their language. A machine translation is no substitute for a fluent human translation, but it is an alternative for startups on very low budgets. (We previously used a Google translator plugin for WordPress here at Small Business Trends.)
(2) Calculate buyer’s costs and estimate shipping
Shipping internationally can take longer and cost more than domestic shipping. On top of that, you have differences in currencies. An even bigger challenge is figuring the “landed cost” of your product to the buyer. Landed cost refers to the entire cost of a product when it arrives in his or her country. This is the cost including payment of tariffs and duties (taxes and fees) in the buyer’s country. (This Export.gov video has a good explanation of landed costs.) These taxes and fees vary by country, and can be quite complex.
Luckily today there are shipping management software packages that do the heavy lifting. The software will automatically figure the costs and delivery times for overseas orders, giving a close estimate. It also converts the currency for the buyer. Large shipping carriers (such as UPS) provide this software, as do some other companies — this article in Internet Retailer gives more information. By integrating this software into your website, you provide a seamless experience for the customer.
(3) Optimize your site and search marketing for international Web visitors
As cross-border selling grows, we’re seeing a growing specialty among search marketers: optimizing websites for visitors from specific countries, and employing techniques to attract international visitors through search engines and search ads. This can involve using country specific domain names, localizing spelling variations (“customized” versus “customised”), using keywords in other languages, and geo-targeting Google AdWords to specific countries — to name a few techniques. Spanish SEO is an example of this breed of search firm. Spanish SEO caters to businesses in the U.S. that wish to reach Latinos and Hispanics online.
(4) Comply with government export regulations
For most goods and services, you do not need government approval to sell across international borders. However, there are notable exceptions. For example, certain “defense” or “military” goods have restrictions on what can be sold and/or where it can be shipped outside the United States. An export license may be required for them. Agricultural, plant and food items are another category of goods that may have restrictions or special labeling requirements. Start with the Business.gov Guide to Exporting/Importing Specific Products to identify any requirements that apply to what you sell.
Address such restrictions on your website. For instance, if you offer eCommerce or online sales, you’ll need to program your catalog and shopping cart to restrict sales of any item requiring an export license, or accept orders only in certain countries. Even if you don’t sell directly online and your website is primarily informational, not transactional, consider posting a notice of any special exporting requirements or geographic restrictions on your site.
Another document worth reviewing is the OECD Guidelines for consumer protection (PDF download), applicable to 28 countries including the United States. These Guidelines contain a handy checklist of best practices to self-assess whether your business and website are consumer-friendly for international e-commerce. The Guidelines are fairly general, but are good practices to follow even for domestic sales and Web visitors.
For more information
Business.gov points you to more resources to help you export and sell internationally. Export.gov is another useful resource.
Laurel Delaney of GlobeTrade.com has released the full text of her book on exporting for small businesses on Google Books. You can read Start and Run a Profitable Exporting Business online. Although the book was published in the 1990s, according to Laurel the vast majority of it is still valid even today. Her BorderBuster blog and newsletter is another excellent resource filled with tips. Cindy King’s International Business Blog also provides helpful tips for small businesses.
How to Make Your Website Ready for International Business
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
International E-Commerce: US Small Businesses and Canadian Customers
Oct 29th
Although we share the same continent, when it comes to international e-commerce between Canadian customers and U.S. retailers, the differences can be enough to sour a sale. And business is nothing but a hobby if we fail to close the deal.
In a challenging economy (like this one), expanding services to new markets is a viable option (with proper planning). You could learn by trial and error. Experience does have its benefits, but it also has its cost in time and frustration. Thankfully, you can also take advantage of the free Visa e-Commerce Cross-Border Handbook for U.S. Retailers.
This book is filled with useful information and statistics to help you understand the international market and strategize your next business move. If you are not used to market analysis (who is your target market?, how many are online? etc.), then reading this book will clarify it and make it much easier. You will learn:
- The top three reasons Canadians shop on U.S. consumer sites
- The top three items that Canadians purchase online
- The number-one barrier to cross-border online shopping
- Customer service concerns and why this is should be a major consideration in your Web strategy
- Universal business strategies that have direct application to the Canadian market
- Major areas to address and plan for, including the cost of duties, customs and value-added tax (Ignoring this one point can kill success in this market before you even make a serious start – a lesson I learned the hard way.)
What I liked and didn’t like:
Reliable Resources
If your market is Canada, then you don’t have to wonder where to find your data. This book is filled with links, references and charts to help you understand your new market.
Shared Authorship
Each lesson is written by a single expert or group of experts whose credentials are listed at the end of each chapter. Consequently, you get the benefit of multiple experts, including consultants, lawyers, a fraud analyst and a research specialist, in one sitting.
Academic Tone
My major dislike is a matter of style. I prefer a conversational tone, and while some chapters maintained that tone, others were far more academic in delivery. The plus: There is bound to be a chapter for everyone’s preferred reading taste.
If you are considering expanding your market to Canada, then this handbook is a good start. You’ll come away knowing the questions you need to ask and the places to start looking for answers.
“As a retailer, don’t fall into the trap that Canada is the 51st U.S. state. If you do, you are likely to be underwhelmed by their response if you do not take the time to understand their needs.” ~ Gregory Antrobus, Research Director at J.C. Williams Group, and Stephanie Wallet, Business Leader for e-commerce and authentication at Visa Canada
International E-Commerce: US Small Businesses and Canadian Customers
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
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Google must add to Internet-calling service to compete – International Business Times
Aug 29th
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How To Prepare Your Website For International Internet Marketing
Aug 28th
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Jun 29th
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