Market development : a trip around the world

Alain Courteau, MBA, Vice President
Volitio Group International Inc.

“What place would you advise me to visit now?” he asked.
“The planet Earth,” replied the geographer. “It has a good reputation.”
- Antoine De Saint-Exupery

Why talk about travelling when the subject is market development? Simply because like many people, you would probably put more planning in your trip around the world than your business’ market development. Lets have a look at what should be planned for a trip around the world…it might help your market development.
 
GOAL AND PURPOSE

An around the world trip usually starts out as a wild dream, then it sounds like something fun to do, and finally you have justified and reinforced it with actual reasons. (Probably the same thing happened when you decided to start your own business or decided to expand internationally).

Setting certain goals, just a way to help you better determines your destinations from the endless number of places to see and things to do. (Which markets should we target to have success abroad?)

Do you want to move slower, stay close to the ground, get off the beaten path, or do you want to fly from city to city sightseeing? Do you want to visit 100 cities at a relaxed pace, or race through the highlights of 200 cities under the effects of jet lag? Trying to do too much can exhaust you and end up defeating the purpose of the trip. Going slower will lend itself to different experiences like meeting more people and learning more about the cultures. (Time should not be a factor to develop export markets, it is a long term investment. You might get some fast results from the start, but do not use those results as “cut and paste” for other markets. You could miss some opportunities that would be very rewarding in the long range.)

It is good to have similar goals to that of your companion, or at least an understanding. Then even those, whose goals are fairly vague, will probably have a bias towards a certain type of travel. (Be sure that market expansion goals are agreed upon within your team. This way everybody will work towards the same objectives and will prevent unwanted dissention down the road.)

DESTINATIONS

Categorize the countries/cities: 1=always wanted to see, 2=neutral, 3=never want to see! Identify all the destinations you would like to go to, then start reading to get more ideas. Try not to confine yourself, or impose limits based on the areas you are familiar with. You may be surprised at how many places get added to your list, as you become more familiar with travel literature.

"Your perception of a country before you get there, and your notions of how long it might take to do things will continually change. Once you are there you will know whether you want to rush through or linger, and you will hear of things that you want to see that you didn't even know existed. (You can categorize markets with a similar approach: 1= best potential, 2= medium and 3= no potential at this time. Always keep time in mind, you never know what the “no potential” market will become in the future. This categorization will be as accurate as the information you gather. The more you know about your world market, the better targeting you will be able to achieve. Start looking at a market with an overall view (i.e. Europe) and then break down the information to evaluate which market is most suitable for your products).

DIRECTION: EAST vs. WEST

A major factor in deciding which direction you take can be the speed with which you plan to travel. If you are on a quick round-the-world trip, then going westward is important, because you do not have to keep getting up 'early' to catch the next plane. (You want faster results? You are probably better off starting with the American market than the Japanese one.)

DURATION

If you are not able to leave work for a long trip, you do not have enough money, or you do not want to race through a few cities, you can always decide later to separate a slow, expensive, long trip into segments. By planning to see the whole world, you will also realize which places you want to see first. If you miss places during your trip, you will already be prepared for future trips.

(How much time are you willing to put in market development? What are your actual resources (human and monetary)? Are you willing to invest to acquire the resources that you are lacking? Production capacity? Can you cope with a big sales increase? All those questions will help you decide if you should travel the world and the seven seas or if you are better off starting with portions of it.)

COST: HOW LONG CAN TOU AFFORD TO BE AWAY?

There is no good "rule of thumb" for estimating the total cost of any given travel time. It really depends on your spending habits, the relative cost of each country, the season, and the amount of time you spend there. (Market expansion is something that requires time and money. As for world travelling there is no “rule of thumb” for estimating the total cost of such a project. Everything we said above will influence the total amount to be invested.)

COMPANIONS

• Going Alone

• Travelling Together

Make sure you have compatible personalities, objectives, interests, budgets, spending patterns, and similar levels of fitness long before you leave. They should be able to carry their own load, unless you want to carry it.

You will need to spend some time together, like a whole weekend living out of your backpacks and travelling around your city for 8+ hours a day using public transportation, or go on a camping trip. Discuss objectives and how problems will be solved. "Discuss in advance what happens if you want to split.

(It is more likely that you will have to deal with a reseller, whether it will be an agent, a distributor, a wholesaler or even a large retailer. A good evaluation of resellers is a must and a good contract protecting both parties is also essential).

LANGUAGES

Knowing some other languages (not fluently, just a few please and thank-you variety words) opens even more doors for you. The locals appreciate your effort, even if the majority speaks English, and it can help you even more in bargaining, getting directions while away from the tourist areas, reading menus, etc.

Learn to say common words and phrases: hello, good bye, please, thank you, yes, no, excuse me, good, bad, where, how much, too much, and the numbers. (Need to say more?)

CUSTOMS, TRADITIONS & CULTURAL TABOOS

"Shorts and T-shirts may be OK if you are just going to hang around beaches but throughout Asia your choice of clothing is seen as a mark of the respect in which you hold the people of the countries you are visiting. (Again, need to say more?)

CONCLUSION

Travelling and market development, even if it is two very distinctive actions they both required one thing: planning. If you know where you want to go…you have a much better chance to get there.

Have a nice trip!