When entrepreneurs consider ways to effectively increase business volume and general sales, they often overlook the capacity that non-financial goals such as the expansion of their market's demographics, the incorporation of business ventures abroad, and long-term considerations can have on their overall business model.
With globalization peaking at an ever-increasing rate, the importance of creating business networks abroad cannot be stressed enough. These foreign business ventures can lead you to a multitude of benefits and potentially act as a safety net if local business were to decrease in your home country. Some opportunities only come around once in a blue moon, so it is important to act immediately, though always with a hint of caution.
Going hand-in-hand with this basis of forming business networks abroad is the employment of document translation services and interpreters. Despite English being currently considered the international language, adapting to your target country's specific audience is pivotal to achieving success abroad. As a conclusion for these non-financial goals, the idea of long-term consideration plays a part in ensuring that you furnish a durable, stable and globally successful business model. Non-financial goals play an extensive role in the planning and management of your business's future and the expansion and constant evolution of your business model are among the only ways to prevent stagnation. Here are three non-financial goals you should consider heading into the new year.
1. Breaking the language barrier
Language is a primary factor in business success, whether it be regional adaptations for advertising or total language appropriation in accordance with the country and culture you are aiming to reach. There is no reason to allow your business team to be intimidated by the perceived restrictions of language barriers.
For example, let's say part of your business is based in Argentina and you are currently expanding your services to the rest of the nearby Spanish-speaking countries. It would be a monumental missed opportunity to not invest in Spanish to Portuguese translation services and profit from Brazil's population of 200 million people, with similar consumer behavior to your Argentinian market. Likewise, if you are solely involved in the French-speaking market, there is no need to restrict yourself to the boundaries of Francophone regions such as Switzerland, France and Quebec when there are hundreds of other regions you could reach.
Incorporating document translation services into your business model will ensure – so long as quality certified translators are employed – that you reach your preferred target audience in an effective and penetrating manner. This can be the case no matter where your business originates given that any relevant target language and English will increase sales and help direct your message and the meaning of your business appropriately outside your country of origin. This is especially the case in many international cities, which see thousands or even millions of tourists from all over the world who typically use English to communicate abroad,
Furthermore, conducting business abroad requires the use of interpreters, especially if your primary business team is already unfamiliar with the target language in question. Just to clarify, as this is often a misunderstood dichotomy between translation and interpretation, translation refers specifically to document and text translation from a source language into a target language and interpretation refers specifically to the real-time conversion of spoken language from one language to another and vice versa. Translation will be critical to reaching your target audience and ensuring that your message and business model is carried over to the target country efficiently, whereas interpretation is essential for conducting physical meetings, conferences, and business dealings abroad between business partners from the country of origin and the remote team that will be employed abroad.
2. Creating business networks abroad
Establishing business networks abroad can be very beneficial for your business. This can be achieved in a variety of ways and has as one of its primary goals the consolidation of a safety net outside your country of origin in the event that local demand decreases or greater opportunities reveal themselves abroad.
A key way to expand your presence abroad is to hire a remote team in the foreign country, which will serve to disseminate your message and the products and services you offer, as well as to assist in the establishment of branches or service centers for your business in major cities throughout the foreign country or countries of choice. A major consideration in this aspect of conducting business is how you will provide training and educational opportunities to both your local team and any remote teams you set in place. It is never enough to simply hire a team abroad, but you must consider where the competence of your team members will lie and appropriately modify your existing business model to accommodate any particular skills or capacities necessary to attain success abroad.
3. Visualizing your business's future
All of the preceding recommendations for incrementing your business capacity in the upcoming decade culminates in the overall long-term projection of your business's future. The unsettling yet crucial question that every business owner, partner or investor must ask themselves is, "Where do I see this business in the future?" Whether it be a five-, 10- or 50-year projection, it is imperative to visualize the future of your venture and determine which moves will have the most lasting and positive effect on your global impact.
This tends to occur just after the initial period of a business's life cycle, where the business is still striving to make itself known through local or national marketing and advertising and survive by means of a steady flow of benefit and investment resulting from the products or services they offer. Following this initial period, it is of utmost importance to consider your future and determine if making a move abroad would bring in more benefits than expanding in a more local sense.
However, these long-terms considerations do not necessarily have to involve conducting business abroad as the first two points stressed. In the ever-changing global market, business owners must always brainstorm new ideas and models for additional products and services to reach their clients in a more appealing fashion. Offering the same range of products for years at a time without evolving is a surefire way to bring your business venture to a premature demise. Rather, aim to envision the long-term success of your business, which, if all goes as according to plan, will be passed down to the next generation of entrepreneurs so that your business may thrive posthumously.
When it comes down to it, the future of your business is yours to control, and the new decade will serve as a perfect place to start expanding your ideas and making your dreams and goals a reality. Overlooking the importance of non-financial goals, especially in a business venture whose primary goal is to achieve positive financial gain, is one of the most feasible ways to see your business consumed by an infinite market. Incorporate these recommendations into your plan, as well as any potential consideration or idea that comes to mind. Never let a great idea pass you up just because it doesn't seem feasible or commonplace. And never allow international borders or cultural boundaries to come between you and the evolution of your business.