Whether you are just beginning the journey of starting your small business, or you are already a seasoned pro, it is never too early to start considering expanding your target market to an international level.
Every day, everything about commerce, industries and finance is becoming more global, and ensuring that your company is operating in this manner is putting you in a position to remain competitive and connected.
To learn more, read on for four reasons why more small businesses are choosing to ship internationally.
1. It provides opportunities to increase revenue significantly.
The most obvious reason for small businesses to start offering international shipping is that it enables them to reach a much bigger customer base which, in turn, can lead to significantly increased revenue.
Entering new overseas markets also helps you offset any seasonal slowdowns you may encounter in your home country. Not just that, but it gives you more opportunity to develop new products and marketing strategies, and you can leverage the fact that the products are made in your home country.
However, it is important to note that it isn’t as simple as 1-2-3. By choosing to ship internationally and embrace new markets, you are also going to have to spend more money and resources on marketing research, manage international returns, and deal with government documentation.
2. It helps the company outperform competitors.
As a small business, it can often feel overwhelming to find ways to outperform your competitors. However, many small business owners who once found themselves thinking this way are now seeing that international shipping is a fantastic way to penetrate market niches that their competitors are not currently serving.
Those with a well-thought out global shipping strategy and a unique product to sell are also realizing the opportunities to bypass foreign competitors.
That being said, you need to ensure that you can live up to the standards that your company is putting forward when it comes to international shipping; otherwise, you are going to lose customers just as quickly as you gained them.
The best way to do this is to research a wide array of international shipping service options and then choose a couple that work for your schedule and within your company budget. Additionally, you need to select an international billing option that runs with your current business model.
3. You benefit from increased momentum.
For small business owners, there is nothing more valuable for sustained growth than finding ways to increase momentum.
While you don’t want to find yourself in a position where you are spreading yourself, your company, or your product too thin, you do want to ensure that you are continually pushing yourself and finding ways to evolve the company. After all, the greater the momentum your business has, the harder it is for something to stop it.
Introducing global shipping is a surefire way of increasing the momentum for company growth as it demonstrates that you have reached a specific level of success and ambition that no one can ignore.
So whether you are doing international shipping from Germany or somewhere else on the planet, you are embracing an enormous opportunity to increase your profit and enhance your brand’s name recognition.
4. There are more resources for efficient international shipping.
Thanks to the rise of online shipping platforms, more and more small businesses are finding that they have the necessary resources and support to pursue an international shipping strategy. By opting to work with an online shipment platform, you are cutting down on the number of logistics you need to figure out on your own and can, instead, benefit from the expert experience they already possess.
Premier online shipping platforms offer services to guide you through the entire international shipping process from easily obtaining a quote online, to scheduling the shipment, through to the delivery of the package to the customer.
Are you a small business owner considering to start shipping internationally? What excites you about the prospect? What part of it makes you nervous?
Let us know your thoughts and concerns regarding international shipping strategies in the comments below!
AUTHOR BIO
Toby Edwards is the CEO of Shipa Freight and is based in Dubai. Shipa Freight is a new online platform powered by Agility that makes it easy to get air and ocean freight quotes, book, pay and track shipments online. Shipa Freight empowers small and medium-size businesses, taking the complexity out of International Freight Forwarding, making it easy to manage legal, regulatory and compliance issues, and offering convenient ways to pay to move their goods.
