What you need to successfully launch and promote a business abroad

Launching and promoting a business abroad is a decision that requires attention to detail. To succeed, you need to carefully prepare and take into account many factors (we will look at them below). Before launching and registering a business abroad, you need to check whether the existing project will take root in another country. And if you are starting from scratch, you need to prepare several ideas at once, and then decide on the country in which you plan to implement them.

How to choose a country to do business

The following factors will help you decide on a country to launch and promote your business.

Economic:

• Size of the economy. Choose countries with growing economies and high per capita income.
• Economic stability. Pay attention to countries with low inflation and no sharp exchange rate fluctuations.
• Favorable investment climate. Availability of benefits for foreign investors, low level of corruption and transparent legal system.

Political:

• Political stability. Choose countries with a democratic regime and no political risks.
• Attitude towards foreign investment. Assess the extent to which the country’s government welcomes and supports foreign companies.
• International relationships. Consider the country’s relationships with other countries, including your main markets.

Social:

• Study the cultural characteristics of the country to adapt your product or service to local traditions and preferences.
• The level of education of the population influences the qualifications of the labor force and consumer demand.
• Analyze demographic data to understand the population structure and its needs.

Technological:

• Level of technology development. Assess how ready the country is to implement your innovations.
• Internet access. A high level of Internet penetration is important for online business and its promotion.
• Developed infrastructure (transport, communications, energy) makes doing business easier.

Legal:

• Review your country’s laws to ensure your business meets all requirements.
• Assess the tax burden on business and compare it with other countries.
• Intellectual property protection. Make sure the country provides strong protection for your patents, trademarks and copyrights.

Competitive:

• Level of competition. Assess the strength and number of your competitors in the market of the selected country.
• Barriers to entry. Analyze how difficult it is to get to market with your product or service.
• Possibility of differentiation. Determine how you can differentiate yourself from your competitors and offer a unique selling proposition.

Personal:

• Knowledge of language and culture. Having employees who are fluent in the language and understand the culture of the country will make doing business easier.
• Experience in the international market. Previous experience working with foreign partners will be your advantage.
• Willingness to adapt. It is important to be prepared to adapt your business plan and strategy to the requirements of the chosen country.

Once you have chosen a country to do business in, if possible, visit it in person. This will give you an initial understanding of people’s mentality, the business environment, local culture and the environment in which you will be working.

Specifics of doing business in different countries

Below we will look at the features of registering and running a business using examples from different countries.

USA

The USA has a pretty good advantage – a large solvent market and tax benefits. To start a business, you will need:

• choose a unique company name and, if necessary, find partners and investors;
• register the business with the state secretariat and the tax office;
• obtain a permit or license and open a bank account;
• confirm registration with the state secretariat.

Advantages of doing business in the USA:

• in some states, such as Delaware, non-residents do not pay income tax and can serve as a manager, shareholder or director;
• relatively simple company registration;
• you can find sources of financing for a business with checks starting from $5,000;
• the workforce is skilled and diverse.

Australia

To open a business in the country, you must submit constituent documents certified by a notary to the Australian Shares and Investments Commission.

At the moment, Australia has fairly favorable conditions for foreign entrepreneurs:

• stable economic situation and well-functioning taxation system;
• the ability to do business remotely;
• lack of corruption.

Canada

The country has a program to support emigrants, which has a positive effect on business registration. But it is required that a foreign entrepreneur brings benefits to the state.

What you can expect when starting a business in Canada:

• low-income tax and the uselessness of authorized capital to open a company;
• relatively low level of business maintenance costs;
• geographical location makes it possible to work with goods on the markets of the European Union, Asia and North America.

Great Britain

Starting a business in this country is quite fast and financially accessible, so the UK is one of the most profitable countries in Europe for this.

Advantages of registering a business in the UK:

• in the first years of the company’s activity, tax authorities do not prosecute unprofitable activities;
• the government offers tax incentives for founders, investors and foreign firms;
• You can open a business in just 1 hour and £20.

Promoting your business on the Internet

In the modern world, a website is not just a business card, but a necessary tool for any business. It allows you to attract new customers, provide information about products and services, establish contact with the audience and increase brand awareness. Without a website, a company limits its potential and loses its competitive advantage.

In Western countries, audiences most often search for any information using Google. This is why marketing companies carry out all the optimization and website promotion to improve rankings in this search engine.

If you look at Google ranking in more detail, you can highlight the following main points on which the effectiveness of search engine promotion of a website abroad depends.

Promotion area

Geo-ranking in the search engine is quite developed, and the positions of a resource in searches in the USA, England and Australia can differ greatly, despite the same search language. Therefore, the target zone for promotion must be selected immediately, get the results, and only then launch a campaign to take TOP search results in other regions.

Domain name

His choice is also important for promotion. Often, in a particular country, a domain in the zone of that country is preferred (for example, .us for the USA, .de for Germany, .es for Spain, etc.). But domains in the .com zone are also an excellent option for promotion in many countries, because it makes it possible to create subfolders for different countries and languages ​​(www.domain.com/es/ – for Spain, www.domain.com/de/ – for Germany, etc.). Many Ukrainian companies refuse to change their domain name in the .ua zone to .com or another zone, and this often becomes the reason for the failure of campaigns. It is important to know that sites on a domain in the .ua zone will not be promoted in Canada, England or the USA – this is a waste of money. In such cases, it is better to create a separate English version of the resource in the .com zone.

Content localization

Google rankings in Ukraine and Western countries are quite different – in other countries, the requirements for resource content are much higher. The main difficulty of promoting in the West is that each country (and sometimes region, state) has its own unique characteristics and mentality. Simply translating website texts does not solve the problem. For example, pages translated using Google Translate will not appear high in searches.

It is important to deeply understand the country and market you are entering: an American will not accept British humor, and a Finn will not like bright and daring design. That is why, to enter Western markets, you will need either proofread (reading and editing of translated texts by native speakers) or good native speakers copywriters. They help create interesting texts and place the right emphasis for a specific audience.

External links from thematic sites of the target region

There are also differences between Ukraine and Western markets. There are quite a lot of companies and exchanges in Ukraine from which you can buy links in articles or rent them with payment for each day. Antispam algorithms in Google, especially in Western countries, are more advanced, and the use of such “black promotion methods” quickly leads to a site being banned from the search engine. Obtaining high-quality and effective links requires deep knowledge and much more time.

In order to create natural link mass, you need to use a variety of sources. For example, social networks, blogs, forums, etc. Remember that you need to build up your link mass gradually, choose thematic sites and when choosing, pay attention to traffic and visibility of resources in search.

Contextual advertising

Contextual advertising is one of the most effective tools for website promotion in Western markets. It allows you to quickly and accurately reach your target audience, increasing traffic, sales and brand awareness.

Contextual advertising is popular for several reasons:

• High targeting accuracy. You can only show ads to people who are truly interested in your product or service.
• Quick results. Within a few hours after launching the campaign, you can see the first results.
• You can change your campaign settings, increase or decrease your budget, add or remove keywords at any time.
• Contextual advertising is available even for small businesses.
• You can track all key campaign performance indicators: impressions, clicks, referrals and conversions.

Therefore, turning to professionals to set up and launch contextual advertising, you will get maximum campaign efficiency, saving time and budget. Since marketing agencies provide precise targeting, quality ads and constant optimization.

Contextual advertising platforms that are most popular in the West:

Google Ads. The largest contextual advertising platform in the world, offering a wide range of targeting and campaign optimization options.

Bing Ads. The second largest contextual advertising platform, popular in the United States and several other countries.

Facebook Ads. A contextual advertising platform in social networks that allows you to target advertising based on user demographics, interests and behavior.

LinkedIn Ads. A contextual advertising platform for professionals that allows you to target ads based on job title, company, education, and other professional data.

To summarize

Successfully launching and promoting a business abroad requires careful preparation and a strategic approach. It is necessary to conduct a market analysis, understand the cultural and economic characteristics of the target audience. It is important to tailor the product and marketing materials to local conditions, as well as develop an effective digital strategy that includes SEO, contextual advertising and SMM. An integrated and flexible approach will ensure the success of your business on the international stage.

Olha Tyshchenko

Editor

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