8 Steps To International Business Growth As A Solopreneur

So, you think your business is too small to go global?  Well, it’s time to think again.  Thanks to ever-advancing technology, our world is more connected than ever before - which means that expanding internationally is within your reach whatever the size of your business.  From using AI for localizing and humanizing content to fast and affordable shipping and fintech platforms, companies like yours can now take advantage of business across borders.  That’s all very well, we hear you cry, but how do you even get started on your international solopreneur journey?  In this article, we’re sharing the eight steps to taking the plunge and taking your organisation to new heights - and countries.

1. Assess Your Readiness For Going Global

But first things first!  It’s super important to figure out if you’re actually ready for overseas expansion, and these questions will help you to make this vital decision:

• Does my product or service tackle pain points in my target market?
• Can I realistically deliver within a reasonable timeframe?
• Have I worked out all the costs for delivering overseas?
• What kind of competition will I be facing?
• Have I thoroughly researched the target market’s rules and regulations including tax matters?

These questions are your springboard into expanding abroad and are incredibly important as different countries have different requirements for commerce. This is particularly true for sectors such as food, health and wellbeing and finance which can bring with them complex laws. This is also a vital step for weighing costs and risks against profit in your chosen territories to make sure that it’s actually worth doing.

2. Prioritize The Most Promising Markets

Because you’ve done your research (you have done your research, right?) you should have a pretty good idea of which territories will work best for your product or service - and these are the ones to touch down in first



Start with just a couple of these and run pilot campaigns for marketing and advertising to see what kind of interest there is out there. Time zones, languages, buying trends and habits all go into the mix here so you need to find out which channels and platforms you’ll be able to use to reach potential customers. You can then dive deeper into the nuts and bolts of doing business in that country and perhaps begin with a trial to ensure that the plan is feasible.

3. Plan For Efficient Logistics And Fulfillment

Now we’re getting down to the nitty gritty - working out how you’re going to get your products to your customers. Logistics and fulfillment is all about finding solid partnerships and building a logistics strategy to manage everything from delivery to customs duties, paperwork and returns. Take a careful look at factors like courier and freight services, packaging standards, insurance, and tracking. If you partner with an experienced international courier partner you’ll make long-haul logistics a whole lot easier. For instance, you would find something like shipping from the USA to Australia seamless and cost-effective. Last - but certainly not least, it’s time to build a plan to deal with returns and customer support as these are the things that will lead to trust, credibility, brand awareness and, ultimately, return business.

4. Localize To Fit In

When you move your business into an overseas territory, it’s important to understand that the differences go way beyond just language. Different countries have different payment methods, national holidays, symbolism - including colors - and customs which you need to pay attention to. Failing to recognise these things can cause offence (or sometimes hilarity) and will rarely lead to success and so all of your branding needs to be tweaked to take localization into account.

Check your landing pages and website and optimize them to make sense to the cultures in your chosen region. Use advanced tools like humanizer AI to rewrite/adjust your brand messaging so they chime with your target audience. These tools will help to make your brand feel authentic rather than machine-generated.

Respecting local norms and values will help you build trust and show customers that you care about them. And as a follow-on, you’ll earn you higher conversion rates and word-of-mouth referrals.

5. Build A Compliance-Friendly Setup

The easiest way to deal with international compliance is to get it right first time, so it’s absolutely worth asking a professional to help with or check over your understanding of the following:

• Local tax rules
• Import duties
• Invoicing / billing requirements and regulations
• VAT/GST and right sales taxes
• Consumer protection policies
• Data privacy laws
• Contract requirements
• Business and liability insurance
• Currencies, payments and bank accounts

All these things are of paramount importance when trading abroad and so, if in doubt, a lawyer or other professional should be consulted.

6. Leverage Digital Marketing Channels

Now let’s turn to how you’re going to get your message across to your shiny new customers ... spoiler alert: it's all about digital marketing.  Here, you need to figure out who your audience is and where to find them in the target country and you do this by finding out where they hang out online including social media, marketplaces and forums. Once you have this information under your belt, you can build your customer profile and work on your international SEO and region specific advertising campaigns. It’s also a good idea to reach out to local influencers and bloggers who will be able to give you a leg-up into this new market. By building these important relationships, you can then collaborate on content such as webinars for extra reach. Marketing is all about creating and building awareness and digital marketing is by far the fastest, easiest and cheapest way to do this.

7. Build Local Relationships And Support Networks

When trading overseas, you are essentially a guest in that country and that means that you need to respect the locals. As a business, the best way to do this is to prioritize local relationships with everyone from the regional chamber of commerce to online business communities. These relationships are, quite literally, your foot in the door of a new territory so this step should never be overlooked.

8. Scale And Iterate

Starting something new is almost always a case of trial and error and so you’ll need to be prepared to be flexible. Keep a close eye on your monthly, quarterly and annual performance and track your metrics. Once you’re actually trading in the new country, you should still continue to research fulfillment and logistics to make sure that you’re getting the very best prices. Finally, don’t forget to A/B test your marketing and advertising in order to find out what works. Paying attention to all of this is key to not only launching your business successfully but also continuing to scale.

Summing Up

We told you it was possible to expand your business overseas but we never said it would be easy!  As we’ve explained in this article, the trick is to do comprehensive research on everything from logistics to marketing before you even think about actually making the move.

And once you’re up and running, be sure to continue with your analytics and relationship building to make sure that your overseas adventure goes from strength to strength – in the way you’ve alsways wanted.