If you’re thinking of taking your small business global but you don’t know where to begin then don’t worry, you have definitely come to the right place. Whether you’re looking to offer in a range of international countries or you’re moving to just one or two outside of your current offerings, you need to be sure you’re making the right decision for your business.

Thankfully, there are lots of questions you can ask as a business owner to ensure you’re doing exactly that. From thinking about the countries you want to expand into to deciding whether or not you’re going to be offering your full product range, the more questions you’re asking the better. With that in mind, here are 10 things to consider when taking your small business global.

What Countries Are You Going to Be Expanding In?

One of the first things you need to consider when it comes to taking you small business global is the countries you want to expand into. Whether you’re looking to expand into a wide range of countries or you’re trialling one or two new counties in order to see whether or not it is a business model that works for your business, knowing which countries you want to operate in is the best place to start. For most, these countries will be either neighbouring countries or those that have the most affordable shipping options.

Are You Going to Be Offering All of Your Products Globally?

Another important thing to consider when you’re choosing the countries you’re going to be operating in is whether or not you’re going to be offering all of your products. Although you may want to, there may be certain restrictions or difficulties when it comes to posting that prevents you from being able to offer your full range. The best thing to do, of course, is research whether or not this is going to be possible and if not, reduce your offering on your website for a select few products. For the most part, your customers will understand.

Have You Calculated the Potential Shipping Costs?

Speaking of shipping, you need to think about whether or not you have calculated the new shipping costs for the places you want to expand your offering too. Although it’s going to be significantly higher, you may be able to offset this by charging a little more. For a guide to shipping internationally as a business, you can visit this site here.

Will It Increase Shipping Time?

When it comes to shipping, you also need to think about whether or not it’s going to increase your shipping time. In most cases, the answer is going to be yes. Although it may not be by much, it’s important you’re letting customers know that they may have to wait a little bit longer for their items to arrive. Most postal services will be able to let you know the average times they can be expected to wait, so you can use these as a baseline.

Do You Need to Increase Your Overall Budgets?

Another important thing to consider is whether or not you need to increase your overall budgets across the business. Whether this means increasing your budget for packing materials or increasing your marketing budget in order to reach new countries, it’s important you know just how much this is going to cost you. When thinking about your budgets, you also need to think about whether or not it’s going to bring you a good return on investment. If it’s going to cost you a lot to expand when there isn’t really a market for your business in the country you’re expanding to, it may not be worth it. For a guide to setting international budgets as a business, you can visit this site here.

How Will You Ensure You’re Reaching New Customers in New Countries?

Once you have started to get into the finer detail, you need to start thinking about how you’re going to be reaching new customers in each of these countries. Whether that means you start to use native ads or you invest in pay per click advertising, you need to be sure you’re reaching the right people at the right time. For more information when it comes to using native ads and a demand side platform, you can visit this site here.

Will You Be Expanding Your Social Media Channels?

When it comes to taking your small business global, you also need to think whether or not you’re going to be expanding your social media channels too. Whether this means targetting your ads to reach those in new countries or creating separate accounts for the countries you’re going to be operating in, there are lots of different ways to reach your new customers using social media. If you are going to be creating new social media accounts for your business, you need to ensure you have enough people to run them.

Do You Need a Localised Number and Address?

If you want your business to appear more professional, you may want to consider paying for a local number and address. You don’t have to have any team members there to operate it, as you can pay for a virtual space.

What Are Your Goals and Targets?

Moving your business into a new country means that you’re going to need new goals and targets, all of which should be separate from your overall business targets.

Do You Have a Time Frame to Measure Your Success?

Finally, you need to think about whether or not you’re going to be using a time frame to measure your success. If after a certain amount of time things aren’t working, you may want to consider pulling the plug.

With lots of important questions to ask yourself before you take your small business global, you can be sure you’re 100% ready. What else do you need to consider? Did we miss anything important off of the list? Let us know your thoughts and ideas in the comments section below.