Going Global

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How to take your business international

Collette McKenna Parker

March 26, 2008

In 2001, Servigistics was a nice little Atlanta high-tech company with revenues of $2 million. Since 2001, they've had 60 percent growth, year after year.

What happened in the last seven years? Servigistics went global – they found solid markets in Asia and Europe and successfully set up shop. Today, 35 percent of their revenue is from overseas.

When looking at ways to grow the enterprise software company, Servigistics CEO Eric Hinkle realized half of the total market opportunities were outside the United States. "The market is global, our clients are global," Hinkle says. In turn, they decided the company should be global.

Servigistics isn't the only Atlanta business to recognize overseas opportunities. In 2006, the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce established a global commerce trade development initiative to help Atlanta companies tap into international markets.

It's not as simple as relocating some Atlanta employees to Shanghai, but if done properly the process of going global doesn't have to be overwhelming, either. Here are a few tips:

Do your homework.

Without ever leaving Atlanta, talk to people in your network who have expanded internationally. Note their successes and missteps. 

In addition to your contacts and industry peers, there are several local, state and national agencies than can help with the initial research. The Metro Chamber hosts market briefings throughout the year, profiling markets that present business opportunities. They also host seminars on commercial services, financing and regulatory issues in various international markets. The Georgia Department of Economic Development, and the U.S. Department of Commerce both have offices in Atlanta and can help companies make contacts and visit the countries. Also, 65 countries have representation in Atlanta through bi-national chambers of commerce, counselor corps or trade and investment offices.

"Chances are the market you are considering is here," says Ric Hubler, the chamber's director of international trade development.

"Our intention is to get companies started," he says, and, after some initial education, "we hand them off to the Georgia Department of Economic Development and/or the U.S. Department of Commerce. They can physically take them to market," Hubler says.

Set up your support structure.

This means the people and partners you'll need to understand legal, accounting, human resources (the French get a lot of vacation) and regulatory issues in other countries. The chamber can help here, too. They have a matchmaking service, which teams companies up with overseas firms. (Many firms headquartered here have overseas offices.)

Physically visit the market.

See the country, see what the customers are like and learn the culture.

"We spent a fair amount of time overseas understanding the markets, costs and where we would go to find talent to hire," Servigistics' Hinkle says. "We essentially put together a business plan before we launched operations. It was pretty time consuming but well worth the effort. When you're placing a big bet like launching overseas operations, mistakes are costly."

Hubler recently took six Atlanta small business owners to three cities in India on an educational mission. "We just wanted to learn about the market," he says. They spent three hours with the CEO of Coca Cola India. He explained how Coca Cola had expanded in India and Coke's perspective on international business. The Atlantans also met with several start-up companies, and some industry specific meetings that fit the members on the trip.

"Learn the culture," Hubler recommends. "Whether it's understanding customers, working with business partners or employees, culture is a big piece that's often overlooked. It can determine whether or not you're successful."

When Servigistics moved into the Asian market, Hinkle made a point to learn the Japanese card exchanging ceremony – in Japanese. "They don't see that a lot. It means a lot to them. Sometimes it's those little things that wind up translating into big things," he says.

Expanding internationally, "is exciting," he says, "but it is very, very different than running a domestic operation. You have to be prepared to reorient your schedule and to travel a lot."

The Servigistics executive team has regular tours of duty where each executive has to spend a week in Europe or Asia to keep their fingers on the pulse of the business, bring the executive presence to those offices, conduct marketing events, meet with clients and prospective clients, and see firsthand where the opportunities are. "You can't develop those things unless you're in the market and can see first hand what's going on. We spend a lot of time on the road, and make a lot of really early morning and late night phone calls," he says.

"It has turned into 16 or 18 hour a day job, but you get into a rhythm and work your schedule around it to make it work." For example, he schedules his business calls to Asia for 8 or 9 p.m. so he can get home, have dinner with his family, and then get on the phone.

For all their hard work, they've had success. And Hinkle agrees: "We wouldn't change a thing."

Image courtesy of Kineticimagery | Dreamstime.com.

Have you already taken your business international? Share your story with us and other small business owners in our Catalyst Community Forum.

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