Going global require a different mind-set. That means, in order to achieve success, business entrepreneurs must see their firms from a global perspective and must instill a global culture throughout their companies that permeates everything the business does.
To these business entrepreneurs and their firms, national boundaries are irrelevant; they see the world as a market opportunity. In the absence of global thinking is one of the barriers that most often limit entrepreneurs’ potential to move beyond the domestic market. Indeed, learning to think globally may be the first—and most challenging—obstacle an entrepreneur must overcome on the way to creating a truly global business. Global thinking is the ability to appreciate, understand, and respect the different beliefs, values, behavior, and business practices of companies and people in different cultures and countries. This requires entrepreneurs to “do their homework” to learn about the people, places, business techniques, potential customers, and culture of the countries in which they intend to do business. Several U.S. government agencies, including the Department of Commerce, provide plenty of information about all nations, including economic data that can be useful to entrepreneurs searching for market opportunities. Doing business globally presents extraordinary opportunities only to those who are prepared.
Strategies to Plan for Going Global Small ventures holding a global presence have nine principal strategies from which to choose: creating a presence on the Web, relying on trade intermediaries, establishing joint ventures, engaging in foreign licensing arrangements, franchising, using counter trading and bartering, ex- porting products or services, establishing international locations, and importing and outsourcing.
Creating a website: In our technology-rich global environment, the fastest, least expensive, and lowest-cost strategic technique to establish a global business presence is to through creating a global website. With the advent of Internet, you can sell your goods and services across the globe without any hassle. By establishing a presence online, a local candy maker or a home-based luxury boat broker gains immediate access to customers around the world. With a well-designed Web site, an entrepreneur can extend his or her reach to consumers anywhere across the globe without breaking the budget! A company’s Web site is available to potential customers anywhere in the world and provides exposure 24 hours a day to its products or services seven days a week. For many small companies, the Internet has become a tool that is as essential to doing business as the telephone.
Establishing a global presence can take your business in the eyes of your global customers.
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