Has your customer base and sales grown in 2018 – what’s the next steps to make sure that growth continues in 2019? Internationalising your business, if done right, can be rewarding and profitable. There are a few things to consider before expanding into an international market like laws, culture and staffing but there are a lot of advantages to setting up overseas or even just testing to check that the demand, in international markets, is there.

You may be well aware of your position in your current location but is there a space for you in the market somewhere else – have sales began to grow from out with the UK? Have opportunities come up or are you actively looking to trade or open new offices in new countries? Is the market overcrowded? Is it under-crowded? What is the competition like?

Looking at this will help you find your place or decide where you aim to position yourself. You can do this by carrying out a simple PESTLE and SWOT analysis: https://bit.ly/2DuHBXA  and if you don’t have this knowledge and data you can look at sourcing it through Scottish Enterprise, who offer market research facilities as well as putting on internationalisation workshops throughout the year: https://bit.ly/2HvCPg6

We now offer international Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) packages and offer help to anyone selling on Amazon with Amazon translations by providing them with our International Amazon Seller Central packages that help you translate and localise your content accurately and effectively to really connect and engage with your new audience, testing demand, generating leads and new customers.

There are several Export events throughout 2018 that we attended to understand whether there’s potential for us to expand our export efforts further. In 2018, we attended the Dubai Business Forum by VirtuZone: https://vz.ae/ – and there’s certainly now potential to trade and expand, in the UAE free-zones, without even having to have a commercial shop setup. Another great Export event, if you’re local like us (in bonnie Glasgow), is ScotExport by Scottish Enterprise: https://bit.ly/2sFiJWu  – it’s a great opportunity to network with other businesses who’re actively exporting or supporting the UK export market.

And, don’t forget that the best way to gather your research is also by getting out there and speaking with the businesses who are already setup there – what about trying local co-working spaces and meeting new businesses this way?

If you want help with international SEO for your website, Amazon translations or any advice on how to communicate and engage audiences internationally then we’re here to help you and you can give us a call on 0330 058 0251 to discuss.

Victoria Nicol

Author Victoria Nicol

As founder of My Language Connection Ltd (MLC), Victoria is qualified to a 2:1 BA honours degree level within Management, Technology and Enterprise. Victoria has nearing a decade of experience working within the translation industry, which has involved recruiting, training and managing sales teams, project managers, marketers and suppliers, managing high value projects across industries, working in key client account management roles, leading our team, focusing on strategy and growth and overseeing our full operation. Her passion, education and experience ensures that she and her team know how to look after you and your translation projects exceptionally well, delivering an excellent level of customer service and managing all aspects of your projects to make sure they are delivered on time and to budget every time.

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