When it comes to owning a bricks and mortar business, most business owners are content with getting the business of their own local area. That is the only business they can get! People in their local community. When it comes to the modern entrepreneur, sometimes that small catchment area just is not enough. The biggest reason to go global with a business it to increase the potential of your business to expand and grow. There are a whole heaps of markets that are out there for the taking when it comes to taking a business global. For example, if you’re based in an Asian market, can you extend beyond Asia?
All you have to do is run your hand over a map and you will surely find an opportunity to grow your business and find a new potential customer, somewhere in some way. Finding the right opportunity for your business is great! It’s what every business owner wants. But when you start to grow, so too do your costs. They will start to grow dramatically when you begin to scale internationally. What you must do to keep your costs low is look at starting up with a virtual office that is going to keep your costing down, and your ability to grow up, up, up!
Here are the five steps you should take to grow your business globally with a virtual office:
You need to assess where your ideal customers live and what they do on a day to day basis. This will factor in to a number of the decisions you must make about your business in the first stages of growth. For example, if you find a large market for your product and or service in Malaysia, do you need a local staff member on your team that does work for you with the local market. Finding the right people in the right area for your virtual team is imperative, but this begins with identifying your target market.
2) What infrastructure is needed for growth
It is important to look at what kind of infrastructure your larger business will need. Do you need someone to manage customer support? Who is going to field incoming enquiries? A growing business needs many more hands working. Looking for a virtual office provider that offers all of these as standards will tick another box.
3) Map your growth
The biggest mistake that a business makes is not ensuring that you are mapping your growth so that you know what your next needs are going to be and anticipate them before they even occur. This is going to be the key to growing your business in an ultra-effective method.
4) Keep your costing low
As a business grows, it is important to make sure that costs are low so that they do not get out of hand. Using a virtual office will allow you to grow well and grow strong. A virtual office is fantastic at separating your business from the competition when it comes to pricing. The lower your costs, the lower you can set your prices, and the more profit you can make on your product or service.
It is extremely important when doing business in new markets, to do your due diligence. This is an important step in every business decision, and something that is extremely important as your business begins to scale and grow. When choosing new markets, and the virtual office that is going to facilitate that growth, make sure you are looking into their processes, and background so you know that your business is doing the best job possible.