You Might Have More Options To Develop Your Business Internationally Than You Realize

When starting your international business expansion, don’t forget to look into all the options available to you. There are actually three options without any or minimum investment up front.

One of these may be just right for your current budget and business capabilities. You can get started on getting international clients sooner than you think.

Let Others Sell Your Products & Services To International Clients

The easiest way to begin building an international sales network is to let someone else sell your products to foreign markets and take care of everything.

This may or may not be the best way to start your international business.

The real value in this method is twofold:

• You do virtually nothing different from what you already do.
• You will make international sales.

And this is not negligible. Your product sold in a foreign market that isn’t open to you otherwise.

The other advantages are that you can clearly define the contract for your agents. You have no restrictions and you can develop your international markets as you wish in the future.

An international agent plays the go between and arranges the purchase on behalf of the purchaser. They get paid a commission. You don’t have to handle any part of the export/import process.

These people are easier to find than you think and are often overlooked. You may find them in your own country or in the foreign country.

Your international sales are dependant on their sales skills and their contacts. Most of these agents are professionals and want to sell your products.

If you do not want to take the time to do the work yourself this is a good option to get a very basic feel for how well your products sell abroad. You will need a closer approach for more aggressive international development.

Going Through A Third Party

Another option involves a third party. This is one step above the previous sales channel. It is for companies who feel they would lose too much control over how their products were sold, or who they were sold to..

These third parties are companies that simply connect your business to buyers in other markets. These companies will have a complete list of contacts for you all over the world.

Again, your international sales will depend on the third party’s list. But this could also be an option worth looking into if you do not want to spend the time in-house.

Selling Directly To Foreign Markets

Selling your products and services directly to foreign markets is the more complex sales channel of the three.

This involves your company doing all of the necessary research and coordination for international sales. Going it alone means that you handle every aspect of the international process: clearance into the target market, packaging, shipping, taxes, transport to your final destination, foreign laws, insurance – the list may seem long. It all boils down to what you have to sell.

Real international expansion will also require your company to acquire a certain amount of experience.

Many businesses consider selling directly to foreign markets the best path to follow. In fact they completely forget to look into the other options.

Selling directly to foreign markets will probably involve modifying your organization. You might even have to hire someone with the right expertise to do everything needed.

The value of selling directly to you international markets is that your company learns about your foreign market potential for your products. This will give you a good base to know how to develop your international market even further and to exploit any opportunities to create new products.

International Internet Marketing

Luckily internet marketing means that companies can take this step in stages. Using internet marketing to sell your products internationally makes international business expansion accessible for most businesses.
International internet marketing also provides a great international communication base for all three sales channels.

Of course if you do not want to acquire the appropriate experience you might decide to start with one of the first two options. And once you have the necessary background information and experience of your foreign markets you still have the option of taking control of your international sales yourself.