Strategies for Entering New Markets

A. Picking the right country

• Select a country that understands the value of your product.
• Target a country with growth potential.
• Start with homogeneous markets or markets of strong trading partners.
• Target a country where you can sell at a competitive price.

B. Understanding the overseas market

• Be flexible and open minded in establishing the needs of overseas consum­ers, that is, unmet needs that can be satisfied by your product.
• Determine the skills you need to meet customer needs.
• Position your company to deliver superior value to your consumers.
• Design products tailored to each market.

C. Dealing with the competition

• Pick the right market segment.
• Invest in product attributes that will keep you ahead of the competition.
• Build an effective global supply chain.

D. Enhancing capabilities

• Identify core capabilities that enable you to compete overseas.
• Partner to augment your capabilities.

E. Bridging the cultural gap

• Establish rapport before getting down to business.
• Learn about society’s concept of value, time, punctuality, taste, dress code, and so on.

Source: Seyoum Belay (2014), Export-import theory, practices, and procedures, Routledge; 3rd edition.