Breaking Into Overseas Markets Without Risking Everything

Overseas markets can offer massive potential growth, but it’s important not to throw all of your eggs in the international basket before you can establish yourself in your home country. Far too many businesses try to capitalize on their success because they don’t want to lose an opportunity, but the reality is that they should be more careful of what it means to try and appeal to a completely new audience.

In some cases, you’ll be subjected to extreme regulations and rules which could modify your product and change some of your company’s core values. It’s up to you to decide if it’s worth changing the way your business functions just to open up more opportunities to work with different countries.

But we believe it’s possible to break into an overseas market without sacrificing your business or changing it too much.

Do you take a direct or indirect approach?

A direct approach to overseas business involves you carrying out most of the work. This means that it’s your responsibility to understand any laws, regulations and cultural differences before you bring your products and services to the market.

Businesses may employ several new people just to form an international sales and marketing team. This is important because it gives you access to expert advice and opinions that will change the way you approach those markets. This is usually the more advantageous approach since it means you have dedicated staff members working on international relations. The problem generally arises when you hire incompetent staff or fail to incorporate that team into the grand scale of your business. If you take a direct approach, the team you hire shouldn’t have too much power to make changes to your business that could lead to the loss of your identity. Furthermore, the team needs to be incorporated into the rest of your business and function as an extension of your business, not a separate entity.

The indirect approach involves working with brokers, distributors or publishers that act as intermediaries. They’ll be the ones facilitating marketing and sales. Since you won’t typically be interacting with customers with this approach, it’s generally seen as an off-hands approach that you have little control over. However, you’ll generally be in safe hands because you’ll be working with experts that have experience in the markets you want to target. They’ll know how to advertise in China and other difficult markets with strict regulations, and they’ll let you know if your products and services need to be rebranded or repackaged to suit a different audience. While this can be a much better approach for businesses that want to quickly expand into another market, the profit margins are generally lower and you won’t be able to communicate directly with your audience.

What’s the right approach?

The best approach is usually a combination of both. Start out with an indirect approach to learn more about the market and test the waters. When you have enough experience and contacts in the industry, take control back and do things yourself. Hire a dedicated team to help you expand into an overseas market and learn from your experiences to establish a foothold before growing your international presence.

This is a contributed post.