Part of being a successful entrepreneur is knowing how to take advantage of international markets
. Often there is considerable market share which can be achieved in foreign markets with little effort by the company. Marketing is going to play a critical role in your international business development and because of this, this article has been written to address some of the most important aspects of international marketing.
First of all there is your mode of entry. This can be as simple as exporting or as complicated as an international joint ventrure. The simplest ways of entering a foreign marketing is through licensing. This will allow others to manufacture or sell your products whithout you being involved in their daily operations. The only downside to this is that you usually will lose control of your brand to a certain extent. Another danger is that once the foreign company learns how to make and sell your products they may decide to leave you and do things on their own.
Another mode of entry is the international joint venture. This is the only legal form of entry in some nations and so, even though it is by far the most complicated, sometimes it cannot be avoided. In this form of market entry two companies, yours and a partner company in the nation you are trying to enter, form a third entity called the joint venture. Usually the way this works is the foreign company will manage the venture and your company will supply the money. Benefits of this situation are that you will take advantage of the knowhow of the other company. Often they will be able to avoid the pitfalls that your firm would have inevitably made.
Another important issue in international marketing is how to change things. Anytime you change a part of your marketing program to fit the needs of another country it is going to cost something. By keeping things as standard as possible you are generating significant economies of scale which will increase profitability. However, occasionally things do need to be changed so as to ensure the success of the product and in these cases you have to weigh the benefits against the cost of the changes.
One other important aspect of the marketing mix is culture. There are a lot of differences in culture which can hurt or help business. You must do research to ensure that you are going to be successful in the context of the culture.