CHAPTER 7

Small, Medium-sized Businesses (SMEs) Need a Global Mind-set

I have been looking forward to writing this chapter because I have ­witnessed and experienced the opportunities out there for small businesses and the self-employed. We are living in the realms of the World Wide Web, which gives any and every small business the opportunity to be global. To be able to cash in on these opportunities, small, medium-sized businesses (SMEs) need to have a global mind-set and be relevant in today’s world and be ready to sell worldwide. There are a whole host of prospects and doing business around the world can seem a long way from doing business in your hometown; yet each year countless small businesses enter new markets. Entering the international arena can protect you against the risk of decline in domestic markets and, importantly, can significantly improve your overall growth potential.

Going Global

By tweaking your brand story, service, and products to interest your international target audience, SMEs can be global without leaving their desks. There are certain things to think about before you jump in and, since PR is based on communications between people, you need to pay attention to cultural differences, where the most obvious ones are:

• Market Research—For every single country or region that you wish to enter, start with local research to help determine whether to enter that local market or not. A few questions to ask yourself are:

1. Is your target market familiar with your product or service?
2. How many potential users are there?
3. What do these users currently rely on?
4. Will your current business model work?
5. How will you handle support for local customers?
6. Are you legally authorized to bring your product, use your brand name, hire the needed people, and monetize it?

Tip: You can use your own Facebook Page to gain insights, by narrowing down your audience to a specific country. This is a great way to get insights from locals who already know your product. You need to really understand the local market, their habits, how they use the web and mobile, if and how they buy online, and how they engage with products like yours.

• Local Competition—Understand who the other players are and find out:

1. Who is your competitor in this region?
2. What do they offer?
3. What are they good at and what are their weaknesses?
4. What do people say about them both online and off-line?

• Local Knowledge—Doing some groundwork could save you resources and embarrassments. Understand what kind of systems locals use. For example, understand their metric systems, if you are selling items with weight, as in some countries people do not know what “pounds” are and use “kilograms” instead. Other factors to consider are currencies and do not forget that dates are formatted differently, too. Colors can mean different things, too. In most markets, green means growth and indicates an upward trend, while red means the opposite. In South Korea and China, red signifies an upward trend.
• Evaluate and Select Methods of How You Will Distribute Your Product Abroad—You can choose from a variety of means for distributing your product, from opening company-owned foreign subsidiaries to working with agents, representatives, and distributors, and setting up joint ventures.
• Understand How to Set Prices, Negotiate Deals, and Navigate the Legal Quagmire When Exporting—Make sure you package and label each in accordance with regulations in the market you are selling to and the globalization of transportation systems helps here, but regulations are still different everywhere you go.
• The Web and Social Media in Other Countries—Not all countries use Google and in places such as China and Russia they have alternatives—Yandex (in Russia) or Baidu (used in China). Also, make sure to identify the correct keywords and topics. Cultural differences can affect your posts, too, the type of questions asked, tone, and images.

Tools and Ideas

To help you forge ahead into a brave new world there are lots of things to help you and are free to use:

• Google’s Market Finder—This is a great tool to use for western markets, which will not only help you identify the best markets for your product or service, but also will tell you how to prepare for them, as Market Finder can deliver key insights, such as the disposable income of potential customers and their Internet behavior. It will also help you navigate areas like localization, international payments, and logistics. It can also help strengthen advertising by identifying the appropriate language to use, the best way to reach customers, and the right devices to target.
• LinkedIn Groups—Do not forget to use LinkedIn Groups that are active in the regions that you are thinking of working in and are a great way to create relationships and find out what is happening locally. When I was attending CES in 2011, which is annually hosted in Las Vegas, I wanted to find local business, PR, and marketing groups. I searched on LinkedIn for relevant groups based in Las Vegas and posted in them that I was going to be at CES and welcomed the opportunity to have coffee with people who wanted to network with a London publicist. From those posts I made some solid connections (many of whom are now close business connections), which has also led to collaborations and work overtime.
• International Trade Events and Conferences—If you have the resources, do think about attending industry events in the regions that you want to go global in, as not only will you make connections, but you will gain an insight into the local market.
• Writing for International Platforms—If you have a book or are an expert in a particular sector, think about writing for news platforms in the areas that you want to enter. This will help raise your profile locally, build an affinity with the area, and start to ground you as an expert within that region.
• International Places Have Local Media—Once you get going in an international region that you have broken into, remember that this place will have local media who could be interested in your story.

Case Stories

I think this story is a great example of a small entrepreneur working global. I met a female jewelry maker in Delhi, India, who is Israeli and lives in Israel, but she has a passion for India and a love for its fashion and jewelry. She has turned her passion into a business, where she visits India to create stunning jewelry with local Indian artisans, which she then sells globally via Instagram. Her brand on Instagram is @elfasihayajewelry.

A high-end UK beach brand called Kaneshka (now rebranded to Kaminee) wanted to enter the Caribbean market, specifically Barbados. One of the ways they got their brand before the boutiques they wanted to be stocked in was to send an item to each boutique buyer. Being a small island there were not many boutiques on their list and therefore was within their marketing budget. For them it was worth taking the risk to send their products, as they wanted the boutiques to feel the quality of their garments. They had identified Barbados as the perfect market for them and where they envisioned their brand.

A great story of purpose is one where a business book author based in Japan wanted to enter the Indian market with his book and one of the ways we did this was to acquire for him the opening to write for an influential online Indian news platform who would then include his byline and link to the book.

A female American entrepreneur wanted to do more international work and wanted to travel, so she created opportunities for herself to speak in global locations that she wanted to be in and open doors for herself. This not only grew her network but also led to other offerings.

Creating collaborations with local businesses in the areas that you want to enter is another great way to going global. These should be partnerships where you add value to your brand and can be with partners outside your sector. A UK life coach business wanted to take their work into the south of India, so they contacted spas and retreats in this part of the world with the idea to collaborate. They are now running sessions in South India regularly and expanding their brand.

The Pitfalls

Like with anything there can be challenges of going global, from chasing too many opportunities to getting stung by currency fluctuations. The game of international expansion has threats that domestic-only business people never see; and small businesses can be particularly vulnerable to problems. Some of these can be avoided by planning your strategy instead of chasing inquiries the world over. Just because dozens of countries showed interest does not mean you are ready to market your product everywhere. Patience is key. You will need to tailor your sales and marketing efforts to each country.

Do not ignore the cultural differences that shape the marketplace, such as assuming business will be done in English. Familiarize yourself with the local language. Many publishers and blogs find it difficult going global because they require massive translations.

Remember, the only way to become truly global is to make sure you are truly local everywhere you go. But most of all it is about building and creating relationships with people.

Summary

From this chapter it is clear that having a global mind-set is becoming more important, particularly for small businesses and entrepreneurs, and especially as the world becomes more interconnected and as we strengthen our online business activities. It pushes us to look at things from a different perspective, which we may not have previously considered, challenging our existing outlooks.

One of the fascinating elements of having a global mind-set for entrepreneurs is looking at the role of services. Whatever industry you are in, we are seeing physical goods and products, turn into services, which is fueled by KPIs, Big Data, and the “internet of things.” While it has become easier to sell products to different markets than ever before, it does require customization in order to enter specific geographic markets. An understanding of the culture in a particular region and building relationships are essential to make the business a success. Academic research has shown a strong link between businesses having this global mind-set (Journals of International Entrepreneurship 2013). While we are embarking to going global, we should not forget the “PR power” of our local media.