The Internet changed drastically nearly every aspect of our life. It has fundamentally changed the way people buy stuff and business owners have to adopt.
If you don’t use social media to reach out to your customers you do big mistake.
As you may see in this infographic, companies that already use blogging, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or other tools available online say it has increased their marketing effectiveness and spend nearly half less the money they’d spend on traditional outbound marketing methods.
I found this very interesting article on business abroad, hope you gonna like it :)
Starting a business is no easy feat, especially if you’re thinking
of starting one overseas. Now that the U.S. dollar is stronger -- and
even crushing other currencies -- many entrepreneurs are taking
advantage and traveling abroad to launch their businesses.
But
don’t start packing your bags just yet. As the founder of Waygo, a
visual-translation app that translates Chinese, Japanese and Korean text
into English with the wave of your smartphone, I have gone done the
challenging road of launching a company abroad (in our case China).
Before you decide to leave the U.S. borders, here are a few tips to starting your business abroad.
1. Localize your idea, vision and expectations.
Diving
into the local culture is essential for any entrepreneur. Find a local
mentor or investor who can help guide you to understand the culture and
the local consumer. This was key for us when we decided to launch Waygo
and has helped contribute to meeting the right partners, launching at
the right conferences, and knowing who to trust.
If
you don't know one right off the bat, look to LinkedIn to see if
colleagues can connect you with others that are located in the country.
You could also look at joining Meetup groups, eaching out to local
business networks or researching online for websites that specialize in
expats living in the country you are looking to set up shop in.
2. Learn the language.
This
seems like an obvious one but sometimes learning a language can feel
almost as challenging as starting your business. Even poor language
skills are better than none. Besides taking classes, you can also learn a
new language through various apps or meet up with someone that speaks
the language fluently and work with them to hone your skills.
3. Live like the locals.
Be
genuinely interested in the country and its culture. Get out and meet
your customer or participate in cultural experiences every day. The
market, customer base, customer preferences and behavior aren't native
to you, it’s important to take in as much as possible.
4. Study the competition, both past and present.
Before
entering a new market, every entrepreneur knows to research the
competition. But don’t stop there. Study five companies that tried to
enter that market and failed. Those who fail to learn from others' past
failures are destined to repeat it.
5. Build a new network.
Your
old network becomes less actionable when you move abroad, so you’ll
need to build a new local one. Leverage the fact that expats in a small
community are fewer and far between, making it easier to connect with
new people.
When my team was in Beijing trying to build the
startup network for Waygo, we took a leap and emailed really important
entrepreneurs in the area. It resulted in important meetings and new
network connections. These connections not only assisted us in getting
started as a new business but also helped us form long-lasting
relationships that provide the support we need.
Launching Waygo as
an expat in China has been one of the most thrilling experiences in my
life. I encourage anyone with an entrepreneurial spirit to take the
leap. But don’t go in blindly, be patient, persistent, develop thick
skin and keep in mind some of my tips. I promise, it’ll be the journey
of a lifetime.
