If you think it’s time to go global with your business, there are a few things you should take into consideration before diving headfirst. Any company that has a global goal in mind should start by considering and conquering the local market first.
With that in mind, here’s how to grow globally by thinking locally.
Share Your Story
People relate to stories. So, they’re naturally going to be attracted to products or services that speak to them in a way that they understand it. Surprisingly, people will not necessarily spend their money on things strictly for their high functionality or their quality-quantity ratio. They sometimes buy impulsively, spontaneously or just because of personal preferences or affiliations. Maybe they buy a specific brand of cosmetics for their stance on animal testing, or maybe they buy their vegetables from a particular person at the farmer’s market every Sunday because they trust the quality of their produce.
Whatever the case, your ability to make honest connections with your customers is what will drive your business forward. A great product and a compelling story are the essential ingredients to a powerful brand. And, that’s exactly what you’ll need if you want to expand your business beyond local markets.
Build the Right Team
Having the right people by your side is crucial if you want your brand to succeed. That means creating a team of properly trained employees and managers that can reach out to local partners and build an infrastructure that will allow you to implement your local business strategy. This approach will lead to a straightforward process that will be easy to follow and improve, later on.
Hiring bilingual speakers, for instance, is one of the best ways to connect with the local audiences. Not only that they speak the language of your targeted market, but they also understand their needs and perspectives and can help you frame your message in a way that it’s relevant to your audience.
Create a Community
Another important thing any business should aspire to is building a cohesive community of people that like your brand, trust it, and prefer it instead of your competition. But, here’s the hard truth: this will require a lot of effort, time, and resources.
For that, you’ll have to define your brand identity and be aware of the specific group of customers you are targeting. That means building everything with your target audience in mind and tailoring your product or service to their specific needs.
In his book, “Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action,” Sinek explains the fundamental difference between great people/companies and everyone else. The difference, he says, is that successful individuals and business owners start with “why.”
To explain this concept, Sinek developed a principle, called “The Golden Circle.” The golden circle has three layers: why, how and what. While most business owners know the answer to the first two questions, very few know why they do what they do. They start with what the company does and move to how it does it, ignoring why the company exists in the first place.
However, “why” is the question you should ask yourself if you want to build a global brand. If you think your company only exists to make a profit, you are on the wrong path. There should be a higher purpose to why people should care about what you do. If your purpose is in line with their needs and aspirations, then they will follow you.
Every business should dream big. But remember, just because your aim is global, it doesn’t mean that you should ignore local markets. In fact, your local community is the fuel that will push your business forward.
