Less than 18 months after graduating from college, Chris Clark was installing his first solar array in a schoolhouse in Kenya. Here are some tips that can help you sell globally right off the bat.

⊲ Find in-country help. Before your business tries to sell anything in another country, you must have someone on the ground there, says Bob Chalfant, a director of the Entrepreneurship Education Consortium at the University of Akron. “You have to have a reputable, trustworthy agent. You can’t follow up all the leads from Cleveland.”

⊲ Understand cultural norms. You can’t sell something in another country if you don’t understand the culture of that country, says Cliff Somerville, Entrepreneurship Education Consortium director at Lake Erie College. “You have to determine how the marketing material will be prepared for that culture and that country. Every country is different.”

⊲ Build a group of advisers. Chris Clark has utilized the Northeast Ohio International Business Network. “It’s been so helpful, as a first-time entrepreneur, to lay out all my problems and have them help me work through them.”

⊲ Work with foreign governments. Many countries are willing to give you office space and free marketing help with new products. “They will help you to the nth degree to get your products in there,” Somerville says.

⊲ Develop a stellar website. Unless you have unlimited funds, advertising is nearly impossible. So start with your website. Put every piece of information you can imagine on that website, so potential customers in foreign countries can learn as much as possible. “It’s the only way to reach people around the world,” Clark says.

- Best Practices Toolbox - Entrepreneurship

Popularity:
This record has been viewed 683 times.