Going Global – Five Useful Tips To Internationally Scale Your Business
Technology moves so quickly it can sometimes feel like the world is one big race. In any race there will always be winners and losers. The question is; how do you make your company win?
Navigating the way to International Business Success requires more than just having good luck, wishing on a star, or living on a prayer. So today we’re going to assess some useful tools and provide practical insights which you can immediately apply to your growing business.
1) Tackle Your Mindset – You’ve Gotta Think Big To Get Big!
Everyone has to start somewhere! Jeff Bezos began his massive Amazon empire from his garage; Gary Vaynerchuk expanded on his father’s Wine Business and ultimately built the beast that is Vaynermedia; Elon Musk went global building Paypal out of profits he made selling business directories online! Most people have heard of Elon and his amazing business journeys with Tesla, SpaceX, and of course his controversial decision to buy Twitter.
These huge business bigwigs prove that you don’t have to start big to get big. They believed in themselves, and in their businesses. Self-confidence is absolutely crucial for business success. If you can’t picture yourself as a Successful International Business Leader, then you’re unlikely to achieve the type of accomplishment and prosperity that comes with the territory.
Allow yourself some time every single day to think about the future, and to put your mindset where you need it to be. There are countless meditation apps available that can help you focus and visualize your success; Headspace is a great choice. If you want your company to become a $100M business, you have to start thinking like one. Define objectives that will help your company achieve your growth goals, and then apply them!
2) Evaluate Your Service or Product for Localized Markets
While it would be lovely if every single business had the capacity to branch out into International Markets, unfortunately there will always be some businesses that don’t translate well across borders. Just as you can find many amazing motivational stories about International Entrepreneurs who became successful, there are a few horror stories out there as well.
Before you make a commitment to expand your business internationally, it is definitely a good idea to evaluate, evaluate, evaluate! How many potential customers are there in the new region? Who is your competition? Will your existing business model be suitable in the new region? How will you provide local customer support? Are there any potential legal issues or requirements there?
After you identify potential barriers; you can then explore the risks and rewards with clarity to determine the best course of action for your company. This exercise will help you strategize the blueprint for your company’s future growth and success.
3) Hire Freelancers To Fill The Gaps With Flexibility
A great evolutionary element of the digital world is the overwhelming number of talented and skilled workers offering their services on a freelance basis. You can find workers just about anywhere in the world ready and capable of taking on the tasks you need completed. There are many large platforms dedicated to providing valid freelancers for all types of jobs including developers, programmers, writers, designers, content creators, online assistants, folks to do busy work (data entry etc) and more. Whatever you need for your business, you can probably find someone willing to do it for the right price in the freelance market.
Of course, when referencing international Freelancers we must also mention your responsibility to perform Due Diligence on every person you hire. It would be naive to assume every single person is 100% honest. There are some useful KYC (Know Your Customer/Due Diligence) tools available that can help you perform the Due Diligence you need without compromising the security and privacy of the person you’re thinking about hiring.
One service worth checking out is called Jumio. With Jumio you can protect your business from fraud and financial crime by ensuring the person you’re going to pay is authentic/legitimate. The freelancer provides their picture ID to Jumio in a real-time secure environment and Jumio’s advanced technology will verify the authenticity of the document in an end-to-end process keeping the freelancer’s information private and confidential, while providing your company with a real result. Moving into a new region is so much easier when you can trust the people you hire.
4) Get Your Finances In Order – Easy Secure Cross Border Payments To Employees And Freelancers
Moving into an International Market can present a variety of problems, and one of the big ones many business owners face is how to manage payments into new regions. Sending money to some countries can be cost-prohibitive due to huge bank fees. For some districts, the financial infrastructure simply doesn’t exist yet, and this makes payments even harder to achieve.
One option that has proven beneficial to many companies is to utilize a global digital wallet; which is a type of payment platform that enables simple payments for complex business within the wallet itself. A good digital wallet is of course Paxum. Paxum is based out of Canada with offices around the world (Canada, Europe, Colombia, UK), and they provide the ability for businesses (of any size) to send out bulk payments internationally through their cost-effective user-friendly interface.
Paxum also has a special feature that helps businesses fortify their own Due Diligence, as it allows businesses to confirm if the identity information the payee provides is accurate. The more tools you have in your toolkit, the more prepared you will be and the less problems you will likely encounter.
Being able to promptly pay your workers wherever they are; such as in UK, Australia, South Africa, Peru, Mexico, Argentina, Canada, Europe, New Zealand and more, can really have a positive impact on your company’s success. It’s definitely worth looking into.
5) Never Risk Quality Or Consistency – Communicate Openly
You build your company’s reputation on the service or product you deliver. If growing your business means you cannot maintain the quality and consistency of delivering that product or service, then you may encounter a problem since customers will notice a deterioration in service, and likely go elsewhere.
It takes a lot of work to gain a customer, but you can lose them in an instant.
As the great Maya Angelou is famously quoted for saying;
“People will forget what you said. They will forget what you did. But they will never forget how you made them feel.”
It can be easy to compromise on quality and consistency when you’re in the middle of scaling your business internationally, but that’s a great way to lose before you even begin. Try to establish specific standards that every single employee must comprehend and apply in their daily work lives. Most workers want to do things the right way; give them a guide or a rule book so they can, no matter where they reside!
Consistent good quality service and products give your customers a reason to keep coming back. Make them feel good about using your company, and you’ll likely have a customer for life!