WinWeb

Expanding Into International Markets

March 15, 2010

Traditionally, small businesses have never had much global reach. The catchment area for most businesses usually only extended to a radius of a few miles travelling distance. The only exception to this was mail order firms, but even they rarely targeted customers abroad.

The advent of the Internet has changed things completely. Whereas before only large corporations with giant marketing budgets could reach international markets, now small businesses with a web presence are able to reach a global audience without having to spend much money at all.

However, many small businesses still do not even attempt to try and reach a global market. There are a couple of commonly cited reasons for this. The first is the widely held belief that a product simply will not catch on in another country. This is probably an incorrect assumption. If you have an innovative product enjoying big success in your home territory it is quite likely that you will also find a market for it overseas.

The other big barrier for any small businesses thinking about entering foreign markets is the belief that they will need some sort of fixed infrastructure in place to provide administrative support to each country they supply. This problem can be solved easily enough by using Virtual Assistants.

A Virtual Assistant is far cheaper than setting up an office overseas. They can operate as a kind of freelance secretary dealing with all the administrative issues in their home country. Common tasks that international Virtual Assistants are given include call answering and first level support in their native tongue.

For more information about WinWeb’s Virtual Assistants, take a look at our BusinessServices page and get in contact with us.