If you’ve decided to expand your business overseas then chances are you’ve probably considered some of the issues we’ve highlighted below. An international move is a big step, full of challenges but if you get it right, it’s worth it.

1. Try not to reinvent the wheel

Make sure you’ve got it right at home before you think about taking on an international market. Sometimes it’s not about what you’re offering but rather what the market wants or needs. It’s also not about doing things differently, it’s about doing them better. In most cases you’ll find there is more USP in being better rather than being different. Its human nature to go with what you know. It’s incredibly difficult to break into new markets with new and unknown businesses. It takes time to build brand awareness and consumer confidence. Make sure you’ve done the proper market research before you take the international plunge.

2. Outsource whatever you can

Setting up a new business in a new country is difficult. It takes time to find your feet and get to know people. There are cultural differences and often language barriers to consider as well. Different countries have different work ethics and different ways of doing things. Naturally, your first instinct is probably to want to do everything yourself, after all nobody knows your business better than you. If you attempt to do everything yourself, you run the risk of spreading yourself too thin. A good option, providing you can afford it, is to bring in some local help. It may be worth talking to local service providers to see what you can outsource.  This will free up valuable time for you to focus on the important things.

3. There is nothing wrong with having local partners

Find someone with the right experience, resources and connections to help, it could make all the difference. Your international expansion will be a lot easier if you have the right overseas partners. The ideal partner is one who speaks your language, is knowledgeable about their local market, who understands global business and who has great responsiveness and communication. Finding these partners is easier than you may think. The key is to find businesses who will benefit by working together, if your interests are aligned and you have a common objective then it will be easier to work together.

4. Choose the right payment partner to maximise your profits

Its no secret, expanding overseas is stressful and expensive. Chances are you’ll need to transfer over a lump sum of money to get things going. That’s usually not the end of your money worries it’s just the beginning. Securing a great exchange rate in the process will allow you to get more value for your money. Regardless of whether you’re importing or exporting you’ll need to continually manage your currency exposure to protect your profits.

Depending on the size and type of business you are involved in you may have transactional risk as well as translational risk to manage. This occurs when you have assets and liabilities, (such as a foreign loan) in a foreign country but the reporting is done in your home countries currency.

Most companies are aware of their international exposure, but the difficulty comes in forecasting & managing the volatility and movements in the Forex markets. According to a survey conducted by Deloitte, 56% of businesses said that the biggest challenge in managing Forex risk was a lack of visibility and reliability.

The currency market is extremely volatile. It’s not uncommon for the South African Rand to move 20 or 30 cents in a day against major currencies like the US Dollar, Pound or Euro. While this can create valuable trading opportunities it does also pose major risks. It’s far easier to manage foreign exchange exposure with the help of a specialist currency provider like fx paymaster. Not only will you save money on your international transfers by getting a better exchange rate, our team can monitor the market for you and tell you when to buy. Companies can set up rate alerts and even take out forward contracts to reduce their risk.

Being aware of market movements and understanding how exchange rate movements affect your business is the key to managing foreign exchange exposure.