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Seeing Czech companies grow on the British market is my favourite feeling - it is the reason I show up when times are difficult. However, looking back at the past months that I have spent helping my clients thrive, saying that making it work is for anyone and under any circumstances would not be true nor fair. I encourage all the businesses that are thinking of trying out this exciting venture to determine their readiness upfront. United Kingdom or Slovakia, by asking yourself the below questions, you can get a lot clearer on what stands between you and the success.
To give your thoughts a framework, you can divide your analysis into internal and external factors. That allows you not only to define where to search for answers but later on also to see which elements are in your hands and which you simply must accept. By simply asking yourself the below questions, you should be able to arrive at a lot better understanding of the situation.
1) What is the size of your market?
Rule of thumb here is the size matters. While pivoting is nicely done on a smaller group where costs and consequences are easier to monitor, the volume comes with a larger market. If you operate within a specific niche with given market percentage, your market grows as the overall size of the economy does, give or take. Simple math. Say you sell premium dog collars and 30% of households owning a pet, with the same penetration you can gain extra opportunities by entering a bigger country.
2) How mature is it?
Another element to check is the maturity of your market. Any product group will go through several stages of development (traditionally called Introduction-Growth-Maturity-Decline by marketing theorists). Where your market stands will have implications on buyers' behaviors, marketing strategies, expectations for the upcoming seasons, etc. Look at the Figure 1 below and compare the two markets there: one, comparatively smaller one in its peak period (imagine yachting, a very specific niche (high-earners who love the sea) that has been around for tens of years and versus a starting industry with the potential to become a mass-market (take electric scooters).
3) How strong and consolidated is the competition?
As the picture below shows (Figure 2), the degree of market maturity also correlates with the number and size of competitors. While if you join in the introductory phase, the number of competitors might be low and you can expect it to grow at some point, on the other hand, the “fight for survival” might tighten as the market is approaching its peak.
4) How does the new customer differ from your current one?
That is a tough one, to be fair. You want to consider how much education will be needed for potential customers to be aware of the benefits of your products in a new market. Think reusable water bottles four years ago and today - it might be the same difference you will see when you start selling abroad. At the same time, cultural and other differences will play a major role here too.
5) What changes do we have to make in our operations?
Serving a distant, language-specific market might require you to do some things differently than today. Are you shipping to the customer from your own storage? Maybe you will want to move your goods closer to the customer to lower the shipping cost and to deliver orders faster. Worth checking is also the way you deal with customer support or which know-how can you acquire working with external specialists.
6) What expansion methods or channels are the best for us?
While some business owners will want to see their products on physical shelves, your fastest way to test the waters will be online. Depending on what type of business you are in and how your current channels function, you might want to create your own site for the new market or look into selling over Amazon. It will not be free and you certainly need to invest in some marketing but compared to striking some deals offline, you might be looking at tenths of the price.
7) What changes might be required for our brand?
Is your brand language-specific? Culture-specific? If your brand is attached to something that is special about your domestic markets you might end up changing your targeting, pricing strategy, claim or even the name.
8) What resources can we capitalize on?
Is there anything, which can help us succeed abroad? This can be owners' personal connections, previous customers who purchased from us from abroad, but also employees and friends who have had experience with the market or language.
9) Do we have enough resources? Financial, manufacturing/development capacities, administrative capacities, etc.
Think two months from now, six months and a year. What are the things that need to be done? Can we do them inhouse or will we need help from someone else? Think, what if customers really like your product. How will you secure enough capacities? How will you serve your customers to have the best experience? How will you finance your growth?
If you feel like this process is generating more questions than answers, do not worry, that means you are giving it a proper thought. The following steps will likely be defining your gaps and finding ways to address them. This list is of course not exhaustive but can serve you as a starter.
Have you done something similar in the past? How did it go?
