Marcus Richards
International business expansion takes a lot of resources, time, funds, and an effective expansion strategy. Many businesses tend to expand their customer outreach and conquer international markets to increase profits and make their way overseas.
However, what works domestically might not work overseas. Thus, you need proper guidance to make things right. In a world where technology takes a swing as the days go by, you have no choice but to follow the trends and stay competitive in the market.
What’s even better, modern technologies allow you to establish asynchronous communication and work with a distributed team globally. Here, we’ll discuss common tips on global business expansion and how they can affect your business affairs abroad.
Develop a Strategy
First and foremost, an effective expansion strategy is crucial in growing your customer base, expanding to new markets, and boosting return on investment margins. When it comes to the right strategy, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution.
Depending on the stage of the global expansion project, the market type, and the knowledge you have, you can either hire full-time employees or freelancers or set up a local legal entity. Establishing a team to drive the global expansion is important for creating a network of local experts and getting guidance throughout the process.
Many business owners start investing in dual citizenship in order to enjoy the benefits that come with it. CBI – Citizenship by Investment programs are established in several countries like St. Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, Dominica, Cyprus, etc.
Immigration to Grenada allows business owners visa-free travel to more than 140 countries. To learn more, consult a legal entity and get professional advice regarding the process.
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Types of Global Expansion Strategies
- A Clear Product Strategy – it helps you utilize associates overseas, test the product in the target country and develop a product that will sell abroad;
- RRR – Revenue Gain, Reinvest, Repeat Strategy – to free up extra revenue and reinvest the rest;
- Forming Partnerships – You can partner with the best companies in the industry and expand globally.
Global Compliance is Crucial
There are certain laws and regulations to abide by when planning global expansion. Local employment laws, employee misclassification risk, mandatory insurance and licenses for businesses, data protection and privacy, a corporate set-up, etc., can pose as legal barriers to global expansion.
Every country has different laws and regulations, from leave requirements, working hours, employment contracts regulations, etc. You need to be aware of these compliances to make sure your business runs smoothly.
Another compliance that you must think of is employee misclassification. Let’s take an example: if the company intends to work with local freelancers, it should assemble appropriate contracts since misclassification penalties may apply.
The same goes for worker’s compensation, insurance, and licenses. To be eligible to work in a certain country, you need to obtain a special license in the industry. Last but not least, your business must comply with the data security and protection requirements regardless of the jurisdiction you operate in.
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Tips to Create a Successful Global Expansion Strategy
Creating a successful global expansion strategy is daunting, time-consuming, and a challenging process. However, it’s not impossible. With the right expansion plan and the right people, you can scale your business affairs on larger levels. Below are some tips to help you navigate through the process.
- Set the company’s goal – before you jump into any expansion, make sure you have clear company goals. Setting up the goal will help you determine the purposes and objectives of your business operations and understand where your business can fit in the market;
- Widen the talent pool by building a team of professionals with a diverse set of skills;
- Build the brand;
- Make sure your goals are S.M.A.R.T. – Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-bound;
- Use frameworks like WIGs – Widely Important Goals or OKRs – Objectives & Key Results;
Do Market Research
Once you’ve established the company’s goals, determined the expansion strategy, and learned about all of the compliance rules and regulations, it’s time to do thorough market research. This will help you measure results, maximize profits and decrease risks in the long run.
You can answer a couple of questions before expanding your business internationally. Is the new market you plan on expanding ready for products like yours? Who are the competitors? What’s different about your product? How will the local laws affect the expansion plans? There are several tools you can use to make the research easier and use databases like OECD.
Get Your Hands On It!
Talk with a professional entity before starting the process to get a better insight into the business operations abroad, understand the complexities that come with it, and handle the onboarding and offboarding process. Additionally, you can check our blog for more business-related content.
