Selling to customers in other countries could allow you to expand your market – and potentially generate more sales. However, there are a lot of new things to consider when doing business abroad. This post lists some of the considerations you should make before selling to customers in other countries.
Work out if there’s a viable market
Just because a product or service is popular in your country doesn’t necessarily mean that it will be popular in other countries. Find out if there is a demand for your product. If there is a demand, consider how many other businesses are already selling the same thing as you within that country. There may be no point in trying to compete with an already saturated market. That said, in some cases, you may be able to use the fact that you are a foreign business as your USP.
Decide your marketing strategy
You may have to consider a different style of promotion to the type of marketing that you currently use. Certain advertising strategies could be considered tacky, boring or even offensive in other countries. It could be worth hiring a marketing company in that country to do some promotion for you. Consider whether it’s worth building a separate website and social media pages for your foreign audience if you’re planning on promoting your product heavily in a certain company.
Understand the legal requirements
There may be certain laws to consider when it comes to selling certain products in other countries. This includes following specific customs laws or making sure that a product meets health and safety standards. Consider hiring professional assistance for this. With the help of the leading customs brokerage in the country, you’ll be able to negotiate any customs requirements. In other cases, you may want to hire the help of legal advisors to work out what adjustments you may need to make to your product or service (for instance, food products may not be able to contain certain ingredients or may need to contain certain informational labels on the packaging).
Consider the extra costs
Selling to customers in other countries can result in extra costs. Not only do you have shipping costs to consider if you’re selling a physical product, but also currency transfer fees and foreign services tax. Add up all of these extra costs to make sure that you’re still making a profit. It’s possible that you may be able to raise your prices to account for this, but you need to be sure that customers are prepared to pay this extra cost.
Factor in the exchange rate
You’ll have to accept other currencies if you’re selling your product or service abroad. Currency rates are always changing, so you need to be careful of the prices you advertise abroad. If a foreign currency falls in value, you could end up receiving less money for your product or service. Accepting cryptocurrencies could be a way of getting around the exchange rate, although there are risks to accepting crypto.
