Growing Your Small Company: Expanding Overseas

For both small and large companies, expanding overseas is a significant step. What’s more, it’s a step that could make or break the business.

However, it is important to understand that the process can be a laborious one requiring planning and attention. Expanding overseas will require the company to obtain new permits. Additionally, they’ll need to find a new target base. In order to do that, the owners will need to research the market overseas and understand its trends.

Start by Doing a Deep Dive into the Market Before Expanding Overseas

Before starting the expansion process, identify your competition. To do this, make a list of related firms that work in the same business area.

Small companies have a single chance to have a successful expansion. In order to succeed, they must bring to the market a unique product or a service that fills an existing gap.

The key to success is to launch a high-quality product and list it at a competitive price. Therefore, complete an in-depth analysis of the market and your company’s competition. This will help you to understand if your products and services have a chance of finding buyers in the new market.

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Do You Have a Business Plan and an Expansion Strategy?

Foreign business markets have unique features. Each one has its own cultural, economic, and governmental conditions. It is imperative when you’re expanding overseas that you to develop a strategy that accommodates these nuances. To this end, your business plan must meet local requirements.

1. Establish your objectives.
2. Develop the strategies you will use in the long, medium, and short terms. Set reasonable goals for each.
3. Determine what the business structure will be. In other words, do you want to have an overseas sales office, a branch, or a different company?
4. Establish your budget for the expansion.

In order to cater to the specific audience you will address overseas, establish your regional strategy as well. The companies that are considered competitive brands have greater chances of success overseas. That’s because their name will already be known by prospective customers.

Do You Really Need to Set up a Company?

When expanding overseas, companies have two options. That is, they can set up a legal entity. Or they can use a professional employment organization (PEO) to hire their staff on their behalf. When they choose the latter option, they won’t need to set up a new company in order to conduct their business operations.

Normally, for small companies, experts recommend that they use employment solutions. This strategy will help you minimize legal risks and costs. For a foreign company, it is a challenge to operate in a new jurisdiction. Importantly, most small-business owners don’t know about the regulations they must meet. This can put them at legal risk.

However, a professional employment organization will enable you to hire local or foreign staff without the need for setting up a company. The PEO will manage all of your employees’ legal and administrative requirements. This will include:

• Local labor contract signatures
• Monthly payroll
• Tax compliance
• Visa requirements (if any)
• Mandatory contributions
• Medical insurance

Moreover, they will ensure compliance with the latest local employment requirements and laws. Meanwhile, while your employees will be able to focus on developing your business

Global employment solutions enables foreign companies to hire employees without having to establish a legal entity in the country they want to expand to. In short, this solution will allow you to outsource all HR and administrative requirements so that you can conduct your business.

Check the Local Regulations

Every country has its own packaging standards, legal requirements, tax codes, and business regulations. It is your responsibility to respect them when expanding overseas. Therefore, establish your finance and tax infrastructure in advance. A great way to understand the steps you should follow is to learn about the strategies other companies have used in that particular market.

Additionally, ensure that you have complete information about the regulatory requirements of the area. Further, verify that you have the necessary permits and documents in place.

What Is Your Go-to-Market Strategy?

In order to convince your new target audience to choose your brand you will need a comprehensive and cohesive marketing strategy.

• What your average pricing will be?
• How do you want to deliver the products?
• What marketing programs do you prefer?
• Which sales strategies do you want to use?
• What brand image do you want to offer?

Every company that plans to enter a new market, especially an overseas one, should determine if they want to use the parent brand. Alternatively, they could create a new brand there. Establish this aspect from the beginning. That’s because you will have to promote the brand on the market before you launch. Depending on the brand, you will need marketing plans for both online and offline methods.

Finally

In order to capture people’s attention in a foreign market you need to understand whether your new audience is more inclined to be price-conscious or quality-conscious. This knowledge will determine your marketing strategy.

Some companies choose to deliver customized forms of the same product for different markets in order to meet the particular requirements of each. This strategy will help you to be successful when you’re expanding overseas.