Going global: it’s every entrepreneur’s dream.
Virtually every business owner in history has at one point harbored dreams of growing their enterprise into a huge, multinational brand that dominates the world economic scene. Global expansion is a tempting proposition.
But the fact of the matter is that expanding a business globally is hard. Global business expansion is fraught with challenges and new business risks that must be proactively mitigated in order to ensure smooth expansion.
In this article, we’re going to take a deeper dive into some of the challenges of global business expansion so that you are well-prepared whenever you decide to make the leap.
Hurdling Language and Culture Barriers
The first thing to know is that there are going to be language and cultural barriers anytime that you expand outside of your own country. Even if you’re expanding to a country with the same official language (for instance, from the USA to the UK), dialects still change (read on here), as does the culture and that location’s typical buying process.
Navigating these barriers will require two things.
Firstly, you need personnel on your team that is familiar with the local language and culture. Nothing is going to be possible without that.
But secondly, you also need to be flexible as a business. You need to be open to adapting your business procedures and policies in a way such that they will fit your new place of business.
Maintaining Consistent Branding
One challenge that emerges as soon as you conquer the language and cultural barriers, however, is maintaining consistent branding. You want your brand to be consistent across the globe so that consumers have a consistent experience with your company, but doing that is a challenge when you consider that you need to cater to each location’s culture in your marketing messaging.
The way you solve this is by having universal core values. These core values should guide your business’s branding and messaging no matter what culture or language the company is operating in.
Staying Compliant With New Financial Regulations
New countries mean new laws. And new laws mean new financial regulations. And new financial regulations mean new audits that you need to be compliant with.
This is probably one of the biggest technical challenges with global expansion. One mistake here, and a hefty fine or consumer lawsuit could virtually put an end to your success in a specific country.
The best way to stay compliant with new financial regulations is to get ahead of the curve by hiring someone local to the area who is well-versed in the particular country’s regulations. This person will be able to give you advice on how to structure your business in a way such that it is compliant with every business law.
Global Expansion, Made Easier
There you have it! Now that you know some of the typical challenges with global expansion, you should be far better prepared to be successful when you turn your local brand into a multinational one. In case you need help from someone with the right experience, we suggest that you reach out to experts from Scaling.Partners. They have the right experience to guide you through the international expansion hurdles and you can find more information here.
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