Sale the Seas…

A friend of mine works for a large department store and we often get on to the subject of how they do business internationally. It wasn’t until I poked and prodded her knowledge bank that I began to even feel comfortable with the idea of selling anything outside the U.S. Until now, I thought like most young entrepreneurs do: doing business internationally is difficult and expensive and who needs it if your business already does well here? If you really want to increase sales to another level, this is the direction you’re going to have to go. And with a little research, you’ll begin to see it’s not hard at all.

There are three main things to consider when making the decision to do business internationally:

Do you know those international customers well enough to market to them? Do you know what kind of direct marketing they prefer? Do you know if they’ve already seen your ad that runs on TV or will you be starting out as a new face to them? It’s so crucial to know how to market towards other countries, that you really have to buy a plane ticket and go do the research on-site, yourself. There are different trends in the fashion industry for instance – just because your brand of clothing is doing well in the U.S., does not mean sales will be golden overseas.

Another thing to consider is understanding their culture overall – what do they like to do in the spare time, do they listen to friends or family for buying advice, do they have better materials to make the item than you do, will they be able to understand your website as it stands currently? Chances are all of these will affect your decision. There are easy fixes to these issues though. A website can be shown in multiple languages with the click of a button. And depending on what your audience likes to see, you could have a movie, text, or the product you’re selling that pops up to get their attention.

Finally, the biggest issue you’ll face is learning about the shipping rules. How much will it cost for you to ship your items to other countries? How much longer will the shipping times be? Are there certain products that countries won’t accept? Does this culture use credit cards? And how does all of this affect your bottom line?

If you’re considering doing business internationally, take a trip there and really get to know your audience and their buying behaviors so that you can make the most of your sales efforts. While I’m not sure my pet-sitting or gourmet dog treat business ideas can work across the seas, I know my husband has looked at spreading his web designer wings across them in an effort to increase visibility and thus, sales. It doesn’t make me nervous now that I understand what’s involved. It’s simple but it really depends on if you have the right product for those markets.