eBusiness Weekly
In the past week we explored the basics of starting to export in light of our present economic situation. The technicalities, once done, are the least of the issues to consider really for they are usually done once at inception and thereafter the actual trade begins with the occasional changes on technicalities.
An important matter to consider is how you can then continue as a going concern in a market outside your own nation.
Much of the work to be done must be inward, ensuring that your product, processes and people all maintain world class standards and are bona fide export quality.
With the product very likely you are assisted through standards associations and well as other rules and guidelines furnished you by the off-taker in the target market.
Some years back we worked on an agricultural project for youth in which one single company required them to do contract farming of mange tout for export into Europe.
As part of the arrangement, they were given technical support throughout the farming cycle to ensure maximum yields of the highest quality. Such hand-holding is typical in the sector to ensure that the integrity of the product is preserved and it consistently remains top notch.
Also important is adapting your product for the specific market it is headed to, leveraging the feedback from consultations with prospective customers, agents, embassies, wholesalers and so on.
You must invest time in studying competing products and learning what you should do or not do.
Some seeming simple things to note include the product name — it must not offend the context you are in, colours of packaging must be neutral, avoiding associations.
A classic example is that of black packaging that some feel is neutral but may be considered symbolic of evil in some quarters.
The product size or quantity matters, depending on the perceived patters of consumption, large bubble bath for example may be embraced in certain places but in others only a small bottle at a time is purchased as a luxury.
You would also need to take care to label it with the appropriate local weights and measurements, or language labels and use packaging material that is relevant to the market.
It is also important to ensure that your product is compatible with power sources, especially in the case of electrical goods. Also have a plan in place on dealing with any effects your product may have on the environment, as this can directly impact your longevity.
The company processes are also to some extend guided by regulators, for they are what lead to a product. More often than note these will have been written down in a procedures manual and can be objectively assessed.
Should one deviate from these, it is a matter of comparing actions with the pre-set rules and in need adjusting.
This works for the production process through to the shipping point where check-lists are used to ensure full compliance.
Several perspectives are to be considered once a business decides to go global and these include revisiting your marketing, sales and distribution channels to ensure they are clear that you are open for business beyond your borders.
This will entail getting a robust website that allows for more engagement and you would need a set plan for responding to international enquiries.
The company will have to also rethink what would ordinarily be simple things like packaging and more complex ones like intellectual property as well as other related legal issues.
It is on people that you have to put in much work all by yourselves. Humans that were flawed locally will potentially be the same regionally or internationally. After the product and processes are refined, the heaviest work is done with people.
As a country that has been through much turmoil economically, this is the space we need to focus on the most, restoring business ethics. Corruption is rife in the nation especially so in business, and it feeds off impunity.
There are many ways and names assigned to it — facilitation gifts to get orders, and outright bribes, both solicited and offered, to move things forward, and strangely even for receiving due payments.
I recall conversing with some classmates from West Africa some years back when we were in business school. As we discussed case studies on business ethics, they highlighted that in their country corruption had become formally embedded in their daily operations.
Specifically in the shipping business one knew they must put in a premium to oil operations and paperwork before a consignment went out or came in — and it was recorded as the marketing fee.
If the pressure is real on the domestic front and people have caved in, how much more in the faster bigger, rest-of-world where strong currencies are available?
Companies have to be more vigilant in this space and take positive actions that pre-empt negative behaviour both home and away, such as training on business ethics and customer handling.
Furthermore, punitive actions must be taken in the case of those found on the wrong side of the law. These are non-negotiable requirements for a company looking to thrive.
The greatest issue that makes successful local champions fail is that failure to adapt in a new market abroad because they assume too much and invest very little in the most important company asset — its’ people.
They are after all the ones that create products and enable processes.
The investment in them must reflect the new playing field — there is value in creating specialists in each department and ensuring that they have a succession plan in place such that if one moves on or is not fit to work for a season, the show goes and quality is maintained.
In these days of social media, a great product can be compromised overnight by negative publicity while equally it can be catapulted into glory. There will always be room for human error nut this must be proactively minimised and managed.
Going global is not a walk in the park and will always require investment and dedicated resources at every level. The yield however, is worth the trouble. It might be time to start thinking how you too can export your service or product.
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