As the global market is becoming more complex, it is no surprise that mistakes occur from time to time. Thus, it is important for businesses to take proactive in actions to preventing those potential mistakes when considering expanding globally. In this article, I will be discussing 4 strategies to prevent those potential mistakes.
1- Be Specific
When you want to expand at geographic region, it is important to be specific about the location/country/region that you aim for. Every geographical location has a distinct criterion that drives business success. By being specific, you will be able to better conduct research, measure market size, estimate budget, and understand customers issues. Don’t place your focus only on rivals.
2- Analyze Your Internal Data
It is essential that you analyze your business internally before developing the new market entry strategy. It will help you to know your possible chances in that market, how smooth transiting to that market, and the degree of success that your product/services solutions would achieve in that market.
3- Adopt Unique Market Channels
Each market has its unique communications and distribution channels. Customers tend to trust local distributers or local partners in some countries while on other countries customer tend to trust social media platforms. By identifying the target market and understanding the common channels that used there, your business will be capable of succeeding in that market.
4- Showcase Your Product/Service Adopting a Market Identity
When entering a new geographic location, it is necessary to study the culture of that location and adopt some of its culture through your product/service offering. For example, when Starbucks expanded to Saudi Arabia, its stores has adopted some of Arabian store designs touches and its product offering adopt to the local preferences such as adding cardamom and dates flavor into their coffees and cakes. This will help businesses localize themselves and gain social acceptance.