You started out with a simple home business, eventually opening sites in various locations across Canada. Business is stable, and meeting your expectations, but now, you're ready for more. You're looking for an innovative way to challenge yourself as a business owner, gain new and exciting experience, and increase your business' profit. Expanding into international business could be an option worth considering, as Canada is currently ranked 8th in the world in exporting and 9th in importing.
International trade is not something that is set aside just for big corporations. It can be beneficial for smaller business owners that are ready to take that step. There are many benefits to expanding internationally, including increased sales, higher profits and reduced vulnerability, because you can avoid depending on a single marketplace.
A merchant cash advance can help get your company started on its international expansion. But first it is vital to determine whether or not conducting business outside of Canada is in your business' best interest.
Below, you will find advice on how to prepare for your business' international expansion, based on the 2008 step-by-step guide to marketing, which offers a thorough and detailed explanation of how to expand your Canadian business internationally.
There are a plethora of export readiness assessments available online. These assessments require you to answer questions about your company. Your company's export readiness will be assessed based on those answers. If after taking one of these tests, you find that your company is indeed ready to export, you can continue on to the following steps towards preparing to expand internationally.
An export plan is essential in your quest to international expansion. It will help you to assemble facts, constraints and goals as you create an action statement that takes all of these into account. In your export plan, consider targeted countries, customer profiles, prices, total expected costs and the products which will be considered for export. The plan should also include specific objectives, time schedules, as well as milestones, allowing you to actually see your progress and remain motivated and on task. Make sure to keep your plan simple and use it as a "management tool, not a static document."
As a current Canadian business owner, you should already be aware of the importance of research before building a business, producing goods, and/or providing services. When planning to export internationally, do your research to determine which international markets would be best to target, and once you choose a target market, conduct further research on that particular market.
You may think you have everything ready for you international endeavor, but how will your target markets be aware of your products without marketing? When marketing, however, always consider the languages and the cultural differences of the countries that you are marketing to. Amongst others, a few things that your export marketing plan should include are market research, information on customers and competition, segmentation (dividing people and/or organizations into subgroups, sharing one or more characteristics that cause them to have similar product needs), financial objectives, organization objectives, pricing, distribution, promotion and of course, an action plan.
This can be accomplished by evaluating price, speed of delivery, etc.
It is always important to develop a sound financial plan before embarking on such a large task. Depending on your current credit card sales, Merchant Resources International can approve you for a cash advance of up to over $500,000 to help you start on your international journey.
When setting foot on the road towards international expansion, you can expect to see increased costs. It is also important to increase your level of commitment, especially since it may take longer than national trading to see results. Fortunately, Merchant Resources International allows you to renew your cash advance once 60% of your previous balance has been paid, providing you with continuous support throughout your business venture.
