So You’ve Cleared Customs…Now What? A Beginner’s Guide to U.S. Market Entry

International travel is the perfect storm of excitement and anxiety. From selecting your destination, booking the tickets, arranging hotel accommodations, and ensuring your luggage makes it through baggage claim, there are plenty of factors to take into account before the plane even takes off. Now, imagine the anxiety and planning required when you want to take your business overseas.

The growing trend of foreign companies merging or buying into the United States has made the U.S. an ideal destination for international companies to enter. But before a company can even think about setting up shop in the States, they need to establish a foolproof market entry strategy. Market entry strategies consist of the plans and steps your company takes to prepare to introduce your goods or services to a new market. Successful market entry strategies take time and are not one-size fit all, which can make devising a strategy seem like a daunting task.

If your company is thinking about entering the U.S., there are a variety of options that can make developing a market entry strategy easy as pie.

Partnering

As the Beatles once said, sometimes life is easier with a little help from your friends. Establishing contacts in the US prior to your entry is essential for a company just starting off in the U.S. market. One of the first ways your company can enter a foreign market such as the U.S. is through partnering, which allows your company to share the burden of foreign entry with other trusted allies. Partnering can be as simple as co-marketing to coordinating manufacturing. Local partners in the U.S. are especially important because they can help your company gain valuable insight into the local culture and current market climate.

Joint Ventures

A subset of partnership, joint ventures call for the establishment of a third, independently managed company. Think of it as killing two birds with one stone; two or more companies maintain shared ownership of a joint venture while working toward a similar goal. Joint ventures allow your company to enter the U.S. market while saving on valuable resources such as time and money. One of the most successful joint ventures was the creation of the popular streaming service Hulu, which proved to be extremely profitable for all parties involved.

Buying a Company

While this may seem like a huge undertaking, especially for a medium or small sized company attempting to enter the U.S. Market, buying a company can actually be an extremely lucrative approach. Although the initial overhead is more expensive than partnership, buying a U.S. company allows you to gain not only the status of an established American brand, but also local market knowledge, a solid customer base, and acknowledgement from the federal government as an American business.

eBusiness

In this day and age, more and more people are ditching brick and mortar stores and instead relying on the Internet for many of their needs. From buying groceries to learning a new language, almost anything you need can be found on the Internet, and your business can capitalize on this emerging market. The average millennial is spending roughly 7.5 hours a day online, with Generation X right behind them with 6.5 hours of surfing the Internet. Transferring your business online can expose your company to the millions of Americans browsing the Internet, and is relatively cost-effective. 

Traveling abroad can be stressful, but at the end of the day the pay-off is amazing.  I have worked internationally for 18+ years and lived in four different countries, and can tell you that no matter where you go, experiencing something new will always leave you enriched. This same principle applies if you are ready to take your business abroad. Selecting the perfect market entry strategy for your company will allow you to set your business up for success. With a little preparation, your company will be poised to enter U.S. Market and exceed expectations.

Is your company ready to expand its target market? Are you interested in learning more about ways to seamlessly transfer your business into the U.S.? If you are READY  to expand your business overseas, contact AFK Strategies Inc. to learn more about these and other ways to begin your entry to the U.S. Market. 

AFK Strategies Inc. is a boutique strategic advisory and business development company that is committed to serve our Partners as their Associate in China, in Turkey and in the United States. AFK consulting services are helping companies identify and solve their business challenges via an extensive global expertise. The company assists the growth of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SME’s) in the United States at the local level, while at the same time aiding the growth of U.S. companies in China and in Turkey. The services encompass three key areas: business development, supply chain management and brand development.

Contact AFK Strategies Inc. to learn more.