Before consulting on international expansion

If you want to start an international expansion and would like to talk to someone about it, ‘First of all, confirm the management’s policy and do some preliminary research that you can do yourself’,
This is the key to a smooth start. 

The following is a step-by-step guide.

First, analyze management’s desire for international expansion (Most important)

（1） List all the things you want to achieve by international expansion

List all the things that the management would like to achieve or gain by international expansion, using free thinking. 

(We’ll leave the can-do’s and can’t-do’s for later and remove all restrictions at this time.)

（2）Find out the real reasons.

Find out the essential reasons why you want to do (1). 

• To develop new markets internationally and diversify management risk.
• To expand sales internationally and stabilize the business base.
• To improve brand image and corporate value by international expansion.
• Want to gain external recognition as a company that takes on new challenges, such as trading internationally
• As a company with international expansion, we want to continue to recruit talented people.
• I have established international connections and want to make the most of them.
• I want to move overseas in the future.
• I simply dreamed of doing business internationally.

I would like to list all of my thoughts and feelings, such as

（3） Examine whether your aspirations can also be achieved outside of international expansion (domestic business).

Check whether the aspirations you have just listed, i.e. (2), can only be achieved by international expansion.

 a) If yes, consider in detail the level of risk and cost (budget, manpower, time) that your company is willing to accept for international expansion. (For more information on the risks involved in international expansion, please click here.)

b) If you think that you may be able to achieve some of the objectives without international expansion, then you need to consider why international expansion is necessary for your company at this time and identify other management issues. 

If you can identify other challenges, you may come to the conclusion that international expansion may not be essential, or you may still want to expand internationally.

In such cases, as in a) above, the company should consider in detail the level of risk it can tolerate and the costs (budget, manpower and time) it is willing to incur when expanding internationally.

(For more information on the costs of international expansion, please click here.)

Next, examine the environment surrounding your company

（4）Internet search.

First, research the following on the internet 

• Products of other companies in the same industry
• Other companies with similar international expansion aspirations (scale, budget, goals) to your company
• Public institutional services that support the international expansion of such products and companies
• Private sector international expansion consultancy services

Please take a quick look at least 10 search pages, although it may be difficult to find the right ones, and check

a) The 3C’s (Customer, Competitor, Company) of the environment surrounding your company and the status of each of these companies’ international expansion.
b) Gather information on the various services available to support international expansion.

(If you also read the article ‘26 recommendations for international expansion consulting firms’, you will have collected 90% of the information required for b).

Search not only in your own language but also in English.

Search terms (example): 

• Generic name of your product + keywords such as: international expansion, international business support, international sales
• Names of countries in which you want to export or invest
• Names of individual companies from the list of members of the industry or association to which the company belongs + international expansion
• Names of companies exhibiting at relevant exhibitions + exports
• Name of a company in a different field from your own but which you have been interested in for some time + international (or country) name
• International expansion + Name of a prefecture
• City name　 International expansion + Independent administrative institution

（5）Verify what you have researched

Examine the methods of other companies’ international expansion, how they spend money, how they spend time, their actual actions and results, the specific support provided by various support service companies and organizations, case study reports, etc., and summarize and evaluate the points that you think are good and the points you wonder about in Excel, etc., to confirm your company’s international expansion orientation

 (preferences, desired direction, what you think you can do, what you think will be difficult to do). 

For costs, check the scope of free consultation, and for fee-based support services, the upper and lower limits of the prices listed on the websites of the various international expansion consultancies, compare them and get an idea of the market price in the industry. 

It takes a lot of time to get to this point, but all of this information can be gathered ‘free of charge’. 

In summary,

1. List all the things managers want to achieve through international expansion
2. Explore in depth the real reasons why they want to expand internationally
3. Consider whether it is possible to achieve these goals outside of international expansion (even in the domestic business)
4. Search the internet for other companies in the same industry that are expanding internationally and for international expansion consultancies.
5. Verify what you have researched　

The above are useful things to research and understand before starting your international expansion or consulting with us. 

By this point, you should no longer be in a state of ‘I don’t know much about international expansion’, you should have a general understanding of the environment surrounding your company’s international expansion, and you should be well prepared to start considering international expansion. 

The number of SMEs that have actually achieved international expansion (continuous exporting and investment) is actually in the minority,

Only a few percent of SMEs are able to stably transition from ‘first-time international expansion’ to ‘full-fledged international expansion and ongoing international business’ on their own,

For example, check the What’s New listings and blog pages of the websites of other companies you are benchmarking against.

• After a certain period of time, there are no updates.
• There are no subsequent progress reports on international expansion.
• There is not a single international agency name in the company network.
• There are no specific references or case studies from overseas.
• The foreign language of the website is left at a student level.
• The product line-up for international customers is decreasing or has disappeared.

There are rare strategies that consciously refrain from disclosing information, but usually the opposite of these is posted on the company’s website if the international business is doing well. 

The best time to start consulting about international expansion is after you have done a certain amount of research on your own company’s international expansion. International expansion consultants, international expansion support companies, public institutions and experts give advice based on their own experience and the rules of success and failure.

Sometimes their advice can be completely different. However, if you have done your research up to this point, you will be convinced that there is a way to do things that way, or that there is an opinion that way. 

This is because, even at this point in time, managers who want to realize the ‘what they want to achieve’ mentioned in (1) already have a variety of hypotheses about international expansion.

They are not drowned in a sea of information, they are not misled by position talk, they are able to visualize the advice from third parties to some extent, and they are also able to select some of the materials for their own decisions.

The result of a calm and sober consideration of the advice from third parties, 

1. To expand internationally, or not to
2. When to do it, when not to do it now
3. Start consulting with international expansion consultants, government authorities or financial institutions, or expand internationally on your own without relying on external parties.

Once you have made the decision and decided on a policy, you can proceed with your to-do list.

You will notice that the image of international expansion growing into a major new pillar of your company’s business has become more concrete and clearer compared to ‘before the analysis of management’s thoughts’.

Many companies and managers who succeed in international expansion do not underestimate the importance of taking the time to think first, to have their own hypotheses and to collect their own decision-making materials.

The reason is that they have decided that the only way for them to achieve international expansion is through a process of trial and error, taking their own risks, making their own decisions, and developing the physical strength and capabilities to do so. This is because they are determined to do so.

However, it is not easy to undertake international expansion on your own from the outset, and you may end up taking detours that you do not need to take. 

It is precisely those business owners who are serious about international expansion who should successfully engage experts such as international expansion consultants and aim to realize international expansion on their own as soon as possible.

Click here for more information on the Pacoloa-style OJT service to fatten up your international business.