If you are looking for somewhere new to go with your business, one of the best ways you can achieve this is by starting to sell your product to new markets. There are a lot of ways to seek out new markets, but one effective and powerful way is to look into overseas territories, especially those which either have your biggest competitor or which are relatively virgin ground in your industry.
However, when you sell products internationally, there are a lot of complications that you need to be aware of, and that is what we are going to discuss in this article. As long as you understand the following, you should be much more likely to make a success of this kind of venture.
Use Analytic Tools
If you haven’t already set up analytic tools, you should do so right away to ensure that you have as much of an idea as possible as to what countries you could potentially look into to sell your product. Analytic tools will look at the traffic that your website gets and determine which countries they are from, and in so doing you will have a good idea of where you can look. This is something that can help to avoid any disappointment later on, and it’s the kind of tool that really is going to save you a lot of effort and frustration, so get on it right now.
Research The New Markets
Next up, you will need to start carrying out some research on the new markets that you are trying to get involved in. Simply put, the more you know about these places, the more equipped you will be to sell your product there, so it is something that you are going to want to think about straight off. At the minimum, you need to have an appreciation of the culture, the language, and an understanding of how your product could possibly fit into their way of life. For this kind of knowledge, you’ll need someone local who knows the area well, so it’s time to start headhunting that person, or that team, right away.
Be Careful With Payment
You will need to make sure that you are setting up a payment method that everybody is able to use, and you might be surprised to learn that some of your most beloved options are not nearly as universal as you might have imagined. Credit cards and PayPal are not going to be accepted everywhere, so you need to prepare your own business infrastructure for those changes before you start trying to sell your product in those new places. This is going to help you to take as many payments as you can, which is clearly a strategically important move to make, and it will also help to avoid frustrating your new customers right off the bat.
Follow International Laws
Whatever your product is, you need to make sure that you are following all relevant international and local laws with regard to shipping, distributing and selling it. Simply put this again means that you need to carry out lots of research to ensure that you are not doing anything illegal anywhere. In some parts of the world, punishment for breaking the law in this way can be severe, so it is hugely important personally and professionally to keep on top of this. Get yourself a legal representative in each new market, a customs broker for your shipments, and a research team to find out what you need to be aware of. It could save you a great deal of stress and hassle.
Improve Your Logistics
Logistics is about much more than just making sure you are being efficient. The better your logistics are, the more product you can sell, and the less money you waste at the same time. Overall, it makes for a much more well-oiled machine, keeps your customers happy and retains your competitiveness. All of that means that you really need to improve your logistics at every step, and a big part of that comes down to researching your international shipping options.
Once you start looking into this, you might be surprised at the kinds of options you have, especially once you start to decide between cost versus time and so on. It’s up to you how you approach it, but make sure that you are at least aware of all of your options at the start. Getting the logistics right is a vital part of making this a success.