Once your company has a reached a certain level of success it’s time to start thinking of expanding…
Once a company has a reached a certain level of success to further their business there really is only one option left to consider, and its to expand. However, expansion can be a tricky thing to get right. In fact, many mistakes can put pay to your company’s success in this area. Mistakes that you can find out more about below, so you can avoid them when it comes to expanding your business.
Inadvertently causing offense.
Imagine working hard to launch a product by creating a website, researching your new market, designing new packaging and even coming up with a new slogan, only to launch and find out what is written on your product is offensive to the very pope that you are trying to sell it too! Sadly, this isn’t such a rare experience, as you can see in the example below. Of course, it can devastate your chances for success in a new marketplace, as well as cost your company a lot of money!
Luckily, there’s a way of avoiding this type of mistake, and it’s by using a company like International Language Services, Inc. to write and review your marketing and advertising content before it goes live. That way you will have native level speakers check that nothing you are saying will work contrary to the image your brand is looking to portray. Something that can help your international expansion be a success first time around.
Growing too quickly.
While it can be appealing to expand your brand in another country quickly and secure a significant share of the market, it isn’t always the best way to do things. In fact, just as Starbucks discovered in Australia expanding too fast when you don’t know the needs and preferences of the consumer can be a massive mistake. One that lead them to close at least 60 branches!
Instead, it can be hugely valuable to take some time to allow yourself to become established in a new location, and enable customers to get a taste for and develop a desire for your brand. Otherwise, you could find that all of your hard work and economic investment will come to naught, and your business will end up shrinking in that area rather than getting more prominent.
Not considering the effect on your production facility and supply chain.
If your expansion is a success, this can come with its problems. After all, it may be that your current production facility cannot handle the volume that you are now required to make.
Also, even if you can successfully upscale your production, you may find that some of your suppliers will struggle to fulfill orders of a higher magnitude. Of course, this can cause delays, and with the additional time, it will take to ship products, especially overseas, this can have a severely negative impact on the perception of your brand.
Therefore, it is necessary to ensure that your production capabilities and suppliers will be able to expand at the same rate as you or find alternatives before you go ahead with your launch.
