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11 simple steps to international expansion

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11 simple steps to international expansion

When your product or service is great and you have more or less conquered the local market, the next step for growth is to look at overseas expansion.

For many, the thought of opening a trading entity in a different country or relocating some of their employees may seem a daunting and laborious prospect, and the largest barrier to this growth opportunity is not knowing what to do.

Here is a handy little list of areas you will probably need to consider that will hopefully give you more confidence to take your first step on what could be a very exciting and rewarding journey.

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Is your provider's relocation management software fit for purpose?

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If you engage the services of a relocation management company, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect them to have the capability to manage cases competently and efficiently, would it? These days, most relocation companies use some kind of software to help them do this – relocation can be a complicated affair, often with many ongoing tasks to juggle, and you just can’t trust somebody’s memory to get it all right, however good the staff member. As for paper-based lists, they are long gone, especially for a truly cloud-based organisation like Celsium.

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Relocating to Britain? Cultural awareness and train travel

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Relocating to Britain? Cultural awareness and train travel

Move quickly. Do not dawdle as though you have all the time in the world, even if you have got all the time in the world. You need to keep up with the pedestrian traffic, otherwise you will find people knocking into you or shouting at you to get a move on. Stuff needs to happen and the world needs to be saved and if I miss this train the next one could be a whole two minutes away. Don't be the obstruction to salvation.

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The benefit of hiring outside the box

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The benefit of hiring outside the box

The ideal candidate may be sitting in Barcelona, or Cape Town or Tokyo. Does location really matter? For some businesses it does, whilst for others, not so much. Remote working is popular and serves a need for any organisations, but what about those business who prefer not to manage employees remotely? To attract the best talent, a large number of organisations maintain an employee relocation policy and offer relocation support to assist their new recruits in relocating nearer the work site.

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Employee relocation: How to overcome time-zone communication challenges

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Employee relocation: How to overcome time-zone communication challenges

Domestic employee relocation is relatively straight forward in terms of communication, even in countries that span multiple time-zones, like the USA.

However, international relocation can be a completely different kettle of fish. You might be tempted to think that a relocation from Germany to the UK wouldn't throw up too many communication challenges, but what happens at 6PM when the employee in Germany needs to get hold of the UK-based HR or relocation team? Well, it's 5PM in the UK and the majority of folk are heading home. That query will just have to wait until the following morning, regardless of how important it may be.

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Relocating to Britain? 5 more must knows

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Relocating to Britain? 5 more must knows

Of course, you all know we are a ridiculously, almost eye-wateringly, polite nation of people. If ever there is an opportunity to say, "please", "thank you", or "sorry", then we are there - whether or not we've had an invitation. So it seems all the more discourteous when some people choose not to follow the "rules". Oh yes, the rules, unwritten as they may be, are as valid as the statutes which form our legal system.

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Financial services company relocating in the UK? It's not all about London.

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Financial services company relocating in the UK? It's not all about London.

Relocating to the UK? No, UK investment is not all about London. While London may arguably be the largest and oldest financial services centre in the modern world, many financial services businesses are choosing to locate their business in other regions of the UK.

These regions within the UK have developed, and continue to expand, their own large-scale capacity to provide such services. But does everyone know about this?

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First impressions last: face-to-face meetings overseas

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First impressions last: face-to-face meetings overseas

There will come a point when it is time to meet face-to-face with your international counterparts e.g. you may need to make market visits, arrange meetings, undertake negotiations, attend trade shows or conferences, or even relocate under your organisation's employee relocation programme. As with any relationship, it's important to make a good impression and build trust.

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7 ways to engage more effectively with international buyers

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7 ways to engage more effectively with international buyers

Building relationships is essential to international sales, and an awareness of cultural considerations is hugely important when relocating overseas or selling your products and services into international markets.

What may be acceptable in the UK could deemed as inappropriate, insensitive or even offensive in other cultures, and a little understanding of the culture you are selling into goes a long way.

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Cultural differences in attitudes to time

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Cultural differences in attitudes to time

Time is money. Or is it?

This is certainly a Western view about time and reflects the view of cultures where what happens in the present is seen to be of direct consequence to the future and, ultimately, personal or business success. In other cultures, different views of time exist and understanding this can help anyone undergoing employee relocation to overcome some of the communication challenges faced when doing business internationally.

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Building a brand on trust – the business of language

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Building a brand on trust – the business of language

Building an international brand requires insight into how to build trust in new business environments where language and culture define how people think, and determine business communication and behaviours.

International business flourishes where there is trust. But how do you build trust in international contexts? This article concentrates on an essential element of this – a business’s use of language.

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Building a brand on trust – the business of relationships

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Building a brand on trust – the business of relationships

Understanding and responding to cultural differences enables employees who find themselves in an unfamiliar environment to achieve mutual understanding, leading to improved efficiency and profitability.

There are several cultural models that help us understand the complexities of culture and how to adapt our communication style for different cultural contexts. One of the simplest of these models refers to low and high context cultures.

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Thinking of international growth? 4 tips for getting exports right

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Thinking of international growth? 4 tips for getting exports right

Often with exporting, it’s the first step which proves the greatest hurdle. Unlike many other countries, UK businesses can be apathetic towards exporting. A recent YouGov poll revealed that well over half the sample of British businesses traded solely within the UK, 90 percent of those respondents have no ambition of pushing their produce overseas.

Exporting can be a daunting task, but for UK manufacturers there is a realm of opportunity in international trade expansion. Here are some tips for would-be manufacturing exporters.

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The importance of integration

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The importance of integration

The French always seem to bear the brunt of British intolerance. It is almost guaranteed that if you raise the subject of France or anything French, somebody will utter something like, "Well, they're bloody French, aren't they?"

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5 tips for efficiently managing a global supply chain

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5 tips for efficiently managing a global supply chain

In the face of competition and economic pressures, global supply chains are under more and more pressure to deliver their products at a greater value, on-time and at a lower cost.

But if one link in the supply chain is broken, (for example, a delayed payment or late shipment), the consequences to your business can be problematic.

So what can you do to better manage this process and reduce the downstream strain on your business?

Here are 5 tips for managing your global supply chain:

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Major trends in international business

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Major trends in international business

As the economy grows slowly at home, your business may have to look at selling internationally to remain profitable.

Before examining foreign markets, you have to be aware of the major trends in international business so you can take advantage of those that might favour your company. International markets are evolving rapidly, and you can take advantage of the changing environment to create a niche for your company. Consider the 7 areas below:

10 reasons why exporting is great

10 reasons why exporting is great

Any company, before committing its resources to venture in the export business, must carefully assess the advantages and disadvantages of exporting into a new market.

While some companies enter the export business unintentionally after receiving an order to purchase from a foreign buyer that found their product, others make a deliberate move and conduct thorough research before entering a new market. Reasons for your company to consider exporting are quite compelling.

Overcoming challenges of exporting

Overcoming challenges of exporting

Exporting may be a challenge, but the potential rewards are huge.

Below are some of the most commonly cited hurdles to doing business internationally, and some advice on how to overcome them.

1. Resource costs

Entering an overseas market may require both financial investment and an increase in manpower. Time-scales can also be an issue, with short-term ‘pay back’ not necessarily guaranteed.

6 essential tips for doing business internationally

6 essential tips for doing business internationally

Most businesses today, especially those in the digital field, try to take advantage of how small the world has become thanks to technology and the internet.

This could mean relocating employees or hiring overseas, serving clients abroad, and/or partnering with companies anywhere in the world.

Here are six great tips that will serve you well when doing business internationally:

Tips for selling your product into new markets

Tips for selling your product into new markets

After developing a line of products and figuring out how to manufacture them, you need to turn your attention to how you are going to sell them.

Too many manufacturers look at the selling of their product as a secondary goal. They put their heart and soul into their product that they deeply believe in and expect it to sell itself. Well-entrenched competitors develop systems to keep out new entrants. Typically, you might have to find a wholesaler who might use a distributor to get the product into retail.