There are hundreds of guides online that help you launch your own business; however, there appears to be little guidance available for what happens further down the line when you begin to expand your company. Perhaps this is due to the fact that in building your business from the ground up, you’ll have gathered a lot of knowledge and understanding of what it takes to run a company – but that doesn’t mean a little support will go amiss.
There are various things you can do to take your online business to the next level. Whether that means focussing on developing your website and social media presence or beginning to sell your products internationally, the latter can provide you with numerous opportunities to grow and develop while simultaneously increasing your earning potential. However, there are various steps you need to take before you offer your products online.
Do your research.
As with any business venture, it is important that you know everything there is to know about the market in which you intend to sell your products. While you may have this covered for your home base, you should also ensure that you do the appropriate market research in the countries you wish to expand into as well. For example, your product may perform better in some countries than it would in others – perhaps due to harsh competition with other brands or the simple fact that there isn’t space in this market for your products.
Doing your research ahead of time allows you to hit the ground running.
Make your website accessible.
In order to reach a wider audience, you need to make sure that customers can easily access your website no matter where they may be in the world. This means that your website should:
- Be available in multiple languages.
- Be compatible across a range of different devices (phones, laptops, PCs).
- Easy to access from a variety of countries
Make smart marketing decisions.
The next step towards selling your products to an international audience is ensuring they hear about them in the first place. This means that you will likely need to refine your marketing strategy. Take a look at how your competitors market themselves internationally or what advertisements work better in what countries. Pay attention to your analytics, and make changes to your marketing scheme wherever possible. You can market yourself through:
- Paid promotional posts
- A successful blog
- A strong social media presence
- A compatible website
- Traditional print/video advertising
Send over the products.
Once you have completed the above steps, you are ready to start selling your products online. However, you also need to ensure that your customers can quickly get their hands on your products. You need to ensure that you meet all legal requirements for product shipping (in both the country of origin and the product’s final destination) and arrange for the appropriate shipping. However, shipping can be costly and timely to organise unless you work with the right company. For more information, or get a UPS shipping quote for your SMB, get in touch with UniShippers today.