While on a recent business trip to Asia, I came across the same question from companies looking into market expansion. “Do you think we are ready to go global?  Every company large and small dreams of telling their global success story, but what does it really take to become a global player. Operating globally not only creates the potential trust customer’s look for in an internationally accepted brand or product but also signifies your company has “made it” by expanding beyond the traditional local market boundaries.

In today’s market, there are two methods to market expansion: selling online from your country or physical presence in the new market. Both require a marketing strategy, market research (customer and competitor), cultural & language insights, resources, due diligence and developing marketing initiatives that fit and communicate into the new market. But a physical presence requires a larger investment that comes with a larger ROI.
Selling online is a simple method to reaching a global market and allows you to ship directly to any customer you reach but it has limitations. At some point, you must enhance your distribution and customer engagement model to sell more efficiently and this requires a presence in that market. Building a local presence allows to you properly communicate with customers in real time to foster the relationships that creates trust and repeat customers.