Global trade is an intricate network of interlocking systems. To be effective, it requires numerous participants, such as corporate banks and other financial institutions.
Small to mid-size businesses in developing nations will greatly benefit from increasing trade finance availability, particularly via creating an interoperability layer to enable seamless access across networks and platforms.
Find Viable International Markets
Businesses seeking to engage in international trade need accessing finance from banks; this usually takes the form of bank financing. To secure such funding, companies need a standard way of presenting risk. International market evaluations play an essential role here – not only will they help minimize any risk when entering new markets but they’ll also allow businesses to formulate plans for success in such ventures.
Modernizing decades-old trade finance processes has many advantages, yet progress has been slow. Market participants clearly recognize the need to increase trade finance efficiency. Many new networks, digitization initiatives and standards efforts demonstrate this fact.
Yet the challenges remain immense. Many developing nations face an unfortunate cycle of declining exports and limited trade finance due to regulatory requirements that address money laundering and financial crime, leading major international banks to restrict lending for small businesses in emerging markets. Furthermore, instability can cause commodity prices to fluctuate resulting in decreased demand for exports.
Conduct Focus Groups
Focus groups are an effective qualitative research methodology, offering invaluable insight into your target market. Participants can freely express their opinions while giving you more in-depth feedback than surveys alone can offer.
The moderator plays an essential part in the success of focus group sessions, as they are responsible for asking questions and keeping discussions moving along smoothly. Their task should include making participants comfortable while challenging them with thought-provoking inquiries that generate discussion among members of the focus group session. At the same time, it’s important for moderators to stay out of too deep of an engagement in terms of discussions that might skew results negatively.
A well-planned focus group session should include a discussion guide – which is essentially a series of questions or prompts used to explore a research question – to keep participants on topic and provide answers in depth. Icebreakers, probes to clarify responses and group activities may also be included as necessary. Finally, focus groups need to be properly evaluated and reported upon.
Educate Yourself on the Customs and Business Etiquette
Trucks, ships and airplanes all play an essential part in transporting goods from farm or factory gate to store shelf – not to mention complex logistics systems – but trade credit and finance are pivotal components to making commerce function smoothly. Without it, commerce would come crashing to an abrupt halt.
As more businesses learn about global business practices, their chances of success in global markets increases significantly. This involves studying local customs and etiquette that are specific to different nations as well as understanding how these differ from methods employed back home.
Education of international negotiating strategies and agreements in new markets can also help companies avoid costly mistakes. Payment delays from customers are one of the leading causes of insolvency for small and midsized enterprises; such delays often arise from ineffective systems for transferring funds and supplier management processes. An enhanced digital trade finance ecosystem can address these challenges effectively to build supply chain resilience.
Conduct Market Research
Preliminary market research should always be completed prior to entering a foreign market, as this can provide valuable inside knowledge that would otherwise remain hidden from you. Klarna’s qualitative research in Belgium yielded unexpected findings: Belgian consumers didn’t like the name of their product – this knowledge may have saved time and money, as changing its name might have been necessary in order to make their entry successful.
Conducting market research has never been simpler thanks to online tools and international market researchers. Just make sure that you conduct regular checks; markets change constantly so staying abreast of changes is the only way to stay ahead of competition and reduce risks.
