How to establish a business abroad?.

Every successful business starts with an idea and planning to execute to gain success. If you have an idea to start a business you should look further than the western world region. There are lots of untapped markets in the world. If you starting a business focus on the local market and expand in due time to get more profits. 

Focus on the local market and specialize.

If you start a clothing company then you know that establishing a factory in the countries like India, Bangaladesh or Sri Lanka is profitable. Nike make their shoes in the countries like Indonesia and Vietnam. If you make those products oversees and sell on the domestic market for a higher price then this is for real profitable. The value of the US Dollar is gaining more terrain. It takes a products like clothing, shoes ,gems or jewelery to make a profit in America for example. Since the western customers are brand and quality savvy. They want established brands and they buy to maintain a social status. Look how Lexus set trend in the 90's amongst the rich rappers and how now Tesla is gaining terrain. 

Learn the local language.

If you establish an office abraod then hire local educated workers. If you sending expats then make them learn the local language. This means that you can focus on targeting the local markets too. You can not leave the local market untapped. This might mean less profits than the western world region. But every cent counts when you do business. Once I bought Tommy Hilfiger and Versace Polo t-shirts in Sri Lanka on local market. It was of quality because it comes from straight out of the local factories. Some units reaches the west. If CEO's and other expats learn the local language then they can communicate with the local businesses to generate profits. 

Adapt to the local culture.

Learn your employees the local culture. To adapt to the local culture you need to interact with the local people and learn their customs. Learn how to talk in the local language and cook like the locals and even dress like the locals. Also hire some local people to help the foreign workers out to adapt to the local culture. Study the local competition and learn how you can compete with selling to the domestic market where you have established the factory in. Organize a get together with expats and local employees to have drinks and interact with each other to exchange their experiences.

Build a network.

When you move abroad your domestic network becomes less effective. Build a network with other foreign companies abroad. Go to the events and help out the charties where you establish your new business. China is a really a country with lots of potential. If you own a webshop then you know you can network on the events in China to buy goods and sell online. Respect the culture of the people and influnce those people have and play by the rules. Be humble and talk to the people who can help you out. Research and learn the new trends. If you call the owner of the ice cream company up to buy ice cream for your workers and you. You can arrange a good price deal to buy only from this company to give your workers a refreshment. 

Creat a solid businessplan before you establish abroad.

Do a good market research and make a customer profile and target the right market segment. Be accountable and execute your plans to gain profits you desire. Believe in the products you market and add value such as a reliable customer care. Create a good aftersales. Once you have sold a product call the existing cutomers to ask if the products satisfied the customers needs. Upsell and cross sale the products. 

How to create an unique selling point?.

Creating an unique selling point is inevitable when you market a product or a service. Creating an unique selling point is to standout from other buisnesses and sell more than them. The question you need to answer here is the one which is actually that is why the customers must choose your products. This might be the comfort, price, handy packaging, flavour or another reason. 

People are buying from you because they trust you and they realize that you are an expert. There might be more reasons than one or two to buy from you. Such as I above mentioned. You are designing a product that applies to your name and go with an image that is realiable. 

Write down what the targeted market is.

You need to describe what your targeted segment is. How can you do that. First of all you need to create a customer profile. Who are going to buy your products. Is it ladies or gents?. Find out to what age of people you are going to sell your products or services to. You can not target a large part of the market when you are starting out. For example if you starting a supermarket in a city with 20.000 people. Then you need to know that there are also other supermarkets. Then get a clear vision how many households you are going to target and within what range. Write down what the annual income is of the households you are going to target.

Describe what demand you are going to supply.

There are people who have several needs because of various reasons. People want to drive a such or such of car because they feel that need to fit in the social class they belong to. Others want to drink Pepsi instead of Coca-Cola because the flavour and they perfer blue and white as their favorite colour. You need to find out what people want to buy from you and why. If you start a supermarket then you might serve a local customer base. Other discount supermarkets will serve a whole other segment because of their prices. 

Let the customers know what the advantages are of your products or services.

First brand name shoe my father bought for me back in 1993 was a Reebok Blacktops for 80 Guilders. That was the currency in Holland before it tranformed into Euro's. After a while the Reebok Pumps came out. This was little bit more expensive and but the features were more soothing. It was more comfortable. So you need to let the customers what the advantages are of your products. You can create better versions than the competition and be more competitive with pricing and packaging. If you sell fishnets than you can expand your product range from selling fishnets to catch fish as Haring after a while you can sell fishnets to catch Mackrel.

What is the customer expectation?.

Find out what the customers are expecting from your products. This might be statisfaction which is only the flavour, catching eyes or even to make money. Depending on what your products are people are gaining something. Get to know what that promise is. People buy a hamburger because they want to eat of course. But they might not have the time to cook or might be reason just because of the flavour of the grilled meat. Hip hop fans buy Eastcoast hip hop music because it less melodic than West Coast hip hop. There might be more reasons.

Deliver a message that is only you.

Let the prospects know why you are unique. Because your product has a great look or the price is cheaper than others. Let people know why they should buy from you. Create a slogan that is catchy. Just like Nike with it's Just Do It and Kentucky Fried Chicken with it's Finger Licking Good. 

How to make your soda brand standout?.

If you go to the supermarket no doubt that you do buy this item called soda pop. My favorite soda pop is Fanta from Sri Lanka. Out of a glass bottle and ice cold. Not to forget Coca-Cola from Sri Lanka out of glass bottle. It is nothing like that Coca-Cola from holland even not out of a glass bottle. That is why I do not drink original Coca-Cola out of a plastic bottle in Holland. I rather drink unbranded Cola and it is cheaper too. I order about 2 Orange soda's, 2 Cola's and 1 lime soda's for 10 days. Here are few things you do if start to sell soda pop.

Separate your brand from other soda dealers.

Not all the soda pop's have a same flavours. You can not be another Coca-Cola or a Pepsi in 10 years. There is lots of competition when it comes to soda on the market. If everybody sell orange soda pop you can sell Cherry flavour or red fruit. To separate you need to plan a strategy that is solid such as doing a marketing research and offering taste tests in the local supermarkets. Handing out samples and giving discounts. The price must be relevant to the quality and the reputation. Although there are lots of exclusief brands with relevant high prices. They separate through price and flavours from the giants like Coca-Cola and Pepsi.

Tell a story with your soda flavours.

Let the customers know what your soda's are about. First of all you need to communicate with the style of the brand's letter types and colours. You need to find a unique and suitable letter types for each of your products. Look at letter types of Snickers and McDonald's. They are selling an image that go with their flavours. It is not an overnight plan or in 10 years span. You need to create a solid and an accountable communication plan. You need to advertise on TV, radio and the news papers. Nowadays you can set up a website. It is not only the prices but also a status symbol why people dress such and such way, And drive such and such car. They want to be part of a community that appeals to their social status. 

Communicate with the targeted segment.

If you start a soda brand then you also can release a product that is for the kids between 3 years old and 6 years. Then you need to create a letter type which is appealing to the kids. You can target a market which appeals to the upper segment, middle segment ot the lower segment. If you think about pricing then you can target a market segment with annual income ranging from 15000 usd to 25000 usd. This means you need to adjust to the markets needs. If there is a market research is done you will know how much these people spend on Coca-Cola and unbranded soda. This way you will get an idea how to compete with the big boys.

Separate your soda brand through packaging.

Take for example the Red Bull energy drink. It's design is one a kind that logo and the slim can and the dosage. If you sell your soda in a bottle then create an unique designed bottle with unique letter types and also the colours. Keep the eye on the competition. If they make a move you make a move too. If they release a cherry flavour you can release a cherry flavour too. Or you can choose to release another flavour such as Vanilla. If your competition release same designed bottle for all the flavours you can choose to release different dosage per flavour. It is up you and the co-workers to decide what is best for you.

How to interact with your customers in sales?.

Sales is a challenging profession. It is not only to persuade the prospects to convert but also to convince that you as the salesman offer value for the relevant price. To be successful you need to be determined of the mindset you own to rinse and repeat the skills. It acquires coldcalling, presentations and showing that you offer value. The main issue when you separate your self from the starting salesman is the skills to convert.

Create an accountable skill set to execute.

You as a sales person need to know what you are doing. If you are a salesman selling stocks through the phone. You need to create a certain hype to convince the prospect on the other side of the line to explore more to get to know more. If you are a sales person who is selling sports wear. Then you know that you need to keep a smile for the cause and need to explore the needs of the shop visitors. Not all the salesman can operate a certain way. All the customers are different and you need to approach a doctor who shopping for medicine in a other way than a golf player who shopping for golf clubs. Depending on what type of salesman you are. You need to execute set of skills in a way that you learn constantly to master techniques. 

Find out what the need is of the customer.

There are different types of shop visitors. There are shoppers who already know what they want. Some customers walk into the store pick up the good and pay for it leave. There are shoppers with a budget that walk through the city's shopping mall and they walk in and out every shop in the mall. These people often do not have no clue on what they are going to spend their money. These people often stop and stare to the sneakers shelves and baseball caps shelves. You need to approach these shoppers in manner which is convincing that they are going to get what they see. First of all find out what type of shopper these customers are. Be informal if they say that they are only looking around. Ask if they saw the winter Olympics in Beijing?. 

Build an informal relationship with the customers.

First of all realize that you are not in a court where judges and lawyers are. Stay cool and you are dealing with just a person such as your self here. No doubt when you are a day off and you are going to paint your house then you must have walked into a hardware store. If you work at a sports wear store. There will be salesman of the hardware store walking into your store to buy Nike sneakers. But be aware that not all the customers are of the same age, background or ethnicity. Approach them in a suitable manner. Adapt to their own level of comfort. You can not address a senior citizen as pal or friend. They paved the way for the youth like you and me. So you need to address them in a way which is respectful. That means you can ask them "Can I help you, sir/madam?.

Spark up a conversation by asking questions.

Ask questions like what the customers are looking for? If they do not know go further asking questions to get to know more. Lots of shoppers who have a budget and they just want to spend couple of bucks or even 100 bucks to kill time. If a customer walk into your clothing store. Then they are looking around then you need to start your salespitch with "Can I help you sir/madam?. Just say hi!, Ask if it is this the first time they walk into your store. If it is not a customer that you never seen before. Introduce your self by stating your name and say that there is the new Tommy Hilfiger collection is in the store for the summer. 

Show that you can really help the customers.

Treat every customer at their own comm.fort. You need to adjust to their problem, pain points and needs. Show that you got the solution. In this case you need to have all the know-how to execute your skills to solve problems. The savvy customers will have a hunch that you can help. If you offer the solution you will gain trust and the customers will continue to come to buy from you in the future. You need to label your self as an expert to let the customers know that you got the right goods or services for the right prices. Do not wipe out the customers when they hesitate and have doubts if you sell the right goods. Be patient and stimulate the customer to talk. Only through asking questions you can show that you can help.

How to market a small business?.

To market a small business you can print flyers, set up websites, spread the word through TV, radio and the newspapers. To market a brand you can spread the word through the social media and platforms like facebook, twitter and reddit. To get the word out about your products you need to focus on packaging, pricing, services and also lettertypes of the brand. To get attention from the crowd you serve you need to appeal in an appropriate manner. 

Leave a good first impression.

When you promote your brand across the multiple platforms you need to leave a short impression to make the audience curious. You can not show your whole stock in a 30 seconds so therefore you need a catchy slogan for your brand. Let the prospects know what your products are about. When you send the commercial through a certain platform for example. When the Superbowl is on the national tv. Then the major players will promote their brand through the national tv commercial breaks. 

Get a website to sell your products.

Information highway is expanding by the minutes. The sites like Youtube, Facebook and twitter have enormous potential. Nowadays you can promote your product links on above mentioned platforms. When you set a website offer the prospects the possibility to navigate with comfort through your site. Give the customers the chance to read customer reviews of the products sold through your site. After seeing an ad of your business the customers might Google your business. If they find your business' website they will explore it. When they find what they are looking for they will consider buying from you.

Research the market.

Create a customer profile and get an idea why your products are so special. Create a solid plan how you are going to market your products and get a clear vision of the segment you are going to sell to. Learn from the other brands why they are so successful. Learn about the new trends and what emerging trends are. Large companies can target a large market range but if you starting out you need to scale your business in due time. It takes lots of effort to do a market research. You can outsource these tasks to firms which specialize in these types of work.

Provide a clear picture of the value of the brand.

Remember you are not the only duck in the pond. To get the message across about your brand you need to specialize in a certain area to be labeled as an expert. This will put the competition in a position that will make them hard to sell more than you. This means you need to sparate with pricing, products, packaging for example. The customers are becoming savvyer by the day. Offer added value such as good aftersales. Offer the customers to get to know about more advanced products you sell. If a customer is coming to your store for a toothbrush let them also know that there are various types of toothbrushes are available for different prices and various functions. Such as toothbrushes to clean your toungue.

Focus on a set of marketing tactics.

You need to focus on the blind spots what the objectives are which slow down your profits. Get an idea what products are performing well and why the other products do not. Get information by keeping an eye on the salesrecords. If a product do not sell well. You might want to promote it more or if it is in overstock you might want to offer it with discounts or remove it from the product range. The cause might be why a product do not perfom how it should be could be if there is a new version are sold by the competition. In this case you need to also create a new version of the product such as advanced product with better functionalities.

Keep the existing customers statisfied.

The current clientbase is a great asset. They know what your offering for relevant prices. They know what types of quality you offer. They are willing to buy from you because you have gained trust from them. If you bring out new products the existing clientbase will be the first to buy from you. Offer discounts, free samples and the opportunity to review your new products in return for prizes. Upsell products to customers who come for a golf cap to your store. You also can offer sweatbands or sunglasses if they are interested. 

Invest in a good relationship with your customers.

If you are lawyer then offer a houseparty to get to know the clients more and to take you both from the formal sphere. Create a personal touch to make you be able to you and your clients mutual have benefits. If you are a dairy product wholesale business then give your customers a phone call to offer that there is a new product is released such as mango flavoured milk is now for sell. You can send e-mails but this is less personal than a voice call or a phone call. 

How to brand your business to generate more profits?.

Branding is not a term which is of this age. This is also known in ancient Rome and China. But now commercial branding is how to let customers view your brand. If you appeal a certain way there is a chance to sell more than the competition. People will show interest in your product range once they have tried it and got what they expected. 

Communicating through your packaging and lettertypes of your brand is a way to get your point across. This is a way to give your customers the ideas of the functionalities of the product you sell through branding. Do not confuse your prospects through mis-information that can harm your credibility. 

What does your business offer?

First of all get this question answered for your self. Realize what the purpose and what products your business serve and what segment. Not in the past or in the future but now. 

What is the reason what your business do what your business do?

If you are already owner of a supermarket. Ask your self why do I do this?. Is it pure for the money or also to kill time and not feel like you are not part of the society. Write down why got your plans into action. 

Where do you want to be in the future with your business.

Set realistic goals for your business. Determine where your business now is and what it should be in 5 years, 10 years or twenty years. If you want to scale your business then plan and execute. 

What is your believes about your business.

Branding means that you give something what they expect just looking at your product's name through packaging and brand name. This is a way to communicate with the market. If you believe that your business serve a part of the market where an avarage household make 15000 usd per year. And you sell frozen pizza's then this is the segment you can target.

What is the reason you are branding products or rebranding?

It might be the reason that you want rebrand your product range in case that you want a whole other part of the market. Maybe your old branding schemes do not apply to you the current market because it might be outdated. Ask your self, do I target the right part of the market. Are the prices of my products relevant to the quality. It is not always the quantity that the modern customers are looking for.

Determine who your customers are.

Know your market. Get a clear idea what demographics you are going to serve. Without proper information about your market you will not have the vision to sell the amount units that you desire. If you know who is going to buy your products and why those customers do that then you have the chance to develop more products and add on more advanced features.

Give your customers a friendly customer service.

You want be an expert in what you do. Offer a good aftersale too. This means once a customer bought your product through a landing page and they left their contact information. Contact them through the phone or e-mail. Ask how they feel about the product they bought. Be warm and give your customer care a personal touch. Be friendly.

Ask customers for feedback.

Customer experience is an important issue. Although in some cases it might be negative. You will learn also from positive feedback. Organize a prize draw to offer customers something in return for their reviews. Keep an open mind to welcome all types of feedback. 

Be like Nike.

You know Nike's slogan "Just do it". There must be no second thoughts. Create your own slogan. This way the customers will not forget you easily. Be creative and add a certain flavour to your products through lettertypes, colours and packaging.