The increasingly digitalized world that we live in today makes it possible for businesses to go borderless and expand into emerging markets. Unlike traditional businesses, online ventures don’t have to put too much thought into overcoming any legal or logistical challenges associated with setting up stores in international locations.
For example, businesses nowadays can easily hire freelancers from other countries remotely as well as set up ecommerce stores in foreign markets without facing any administrative or logistical barriers. Expansion is one of the biggest ways businesses achieve growth, and if you’re selling goods and services in your home turf, you could be missing out on making more revenue from international markets.
A research from Small Business Administration shows that two-third of the global purchasing power is located in non-U.S. markets since 96 per cent of the consumer population lives in other parts of the world – so if you’re just doing business in the United States, you’re only catering to 4 per cent of the world’s consumer market.
The benefits of expanding your business internationally are undeniable, and the current digital innovations have opened doors for global commerce no matter where your business is set up. Here’s how you can take advantage of the available digital tools to take your venture to new heights of success.
Translating Web Content
English is the primary language used in all web-based content, with almost 50 per cent of the websites on the internet created in English, according to W3Techs. But not all internet users can understand the language.
In fact, a survey from Internet World Stats shows that almost three-fourth of the global population cannot speak or read English. So if you really want to expand your digital business, you must ensure that your website is translated into the language of your next target market.
Making your web content available in different languages involves a process called translation and localization (sometimes known as L10n) in which the content is translated to the local language of the new market. Other aspects of the website including date, time, currency and user experience are also changed to meet the requirements of your international customers.
Translation and localization may seem like a tedious task but there are many platforms that can help you achieve the optimization you need to expand your business. Gengo and Day Translations are two of the most useful online services with over 21,000 human translators which specialize in full-service translation and localization. Unababel is another great platform that facilitates customer services in the native language of your new market using AI as well as dedicated human sales agents.
International Payment Systems
Accepting payments from customers outside your local market is one of the most significant, yet fundamental, hurdles a digital business must overcome in order to achieve expansion.
If your business exists outside the United States but most of your customers are from there, there may be a few virtual banking platforms like Payoneer that are willing to facilitate transactions from United States, U.K., European Union, and Japan. On the other hand, big companies like PayPal won’t operate in certain blacklisted countries.
Payoneer allows your customers to pay for goods and services through domestic wire transfer which can later be withdrawn into your local bank account. The service offers many benefits such as invoicing, tracking payments, fast transactions and Integrated Payments API for Saas businesses.
Outsourcing Employees
Expanding business into a foreign location traditionally posed several challenges including attracting and retaining local employees that are more familiar with their domestic market.
Now, with freelancing platforms like Upwork and Toptal, businesses have access to a vast pool of global talent at their disposal. Whereas team management tools like Slack and Zoom have made it easier for owners to communicate with their employees through messages and digital conferencing.
Asana and Upwork also offer time-tracking and project-management features that help business owners track their employees’ work progress no matter which part of the world they are in. With the digital employee market becoming more and more competitive by the day, business owners have easy access to the most skilled personnel who can help the business grow and expand into new markets.
