For today’s episode, we are going to tackle steps on how to begin an International Brands for your Business, if you are planning to do a Business, whether it is small or big, Brick-and mortar store or an E-commerce, I think you better listen, because our speaker for today not other than Ray Ng – The founder and CEO of Unipro Hong Kong, will be giving us some ideas on how to Begin an International Brands for your Business. Hi Ray! Thanks for joining me. Our listeners are very excited to hear about this “Global Brand or International Brand. What can you say about this?
Introduction : [0:35]
Ray : Good Day! Tammy! I think it is an interesting topic. Thanks for your time on researching this topic. In our last episode, we have discussed about global economic crisis, which might make some of you a little worried. Today’s topic is more a happy one. I know many audiences are finding ways to make their business more globalised. Therefore, we are happy to share with you some of the tips.
Tammy : I agree that this topic is a more positive one and would really help your business, or if you’re planning a business to make it more Globalise, so Let’s start sharing the tips coz I know how excited they are, Ray.
Ray : Okay, for the steps on building your international brand, here are some tips I could share with you.
- Market – Make sure you have a market.
- Deliver – Make sure you can deliver
- Re-examine your business and or/ product names.
- Give your logo another look
- Registration trademarks.
(1) Market [2:15]
Tammy : okay, lets talk about the first tip. Market, How would you know that you will have a big market for your business?
Ray : For today’s competitive marketplace, your idea might not be enough, you probably targeting everyone and anyone, and this strategy might cost you so much time and money and missing opportunities to increase sales. so doing research is a must for everyone who is planning to make their business globalise. You have to think that your target market is a group of people who could benefit from your product or services. Defining your target market will allow you to concentrate your resources on the group or groups of people that are most likely to buy from you. Gather information, like look at your site’s analytics, interviewing customers and look at your competition. I think everyone has own different way to explore. You could check statistics from the internet as a simple first step.
Tammy : So first is to check the statistics from the Internet for the Business that they are planning to make, I think the best is really to research about the Business, and for the target client, how would you know if you have chosen the right target client group?
Ray : I think we are talking about going global. Obviously you would think about this in your mind “I am doing quite successfully in my local market, would I be also successful in other countries?” So to play safe, if you are unsure if you also have the right target clients in other countries, it’s better to cooperate with a local company offering similar products or services in the target country. Once you are more certain that you will have target customers there, then you start to plan to set up a company there to provide the product or service to the end client directly. Of course, you would need to make sure that it would not violate the cooperation terms with your existing cooperative company there.
(2) Deliver [6:02]
Tammy : For the E-commerce Business, what do you mean by making sure you can deliver?
Ray : To deliver your services or products, how do we make sure? Actually, delivering products on time and efficiently is not always easy, but if done properly, it can help a business stand out from the competition. From one – hour Amazon delivery, the digital ecosystem is changing, rapidly. Along with the standard delivery services, there are a lot of ways to deliver your goods or your services. Get it right for the first time, meaning you have to send the item correctly, if you delivered the wrong product, client might not order from you again. Keep them safe, fragile items should be well packed. Be quick, the faster you send them out, the happier the client will be. Offer a good options, such as next day delivery or 7 days delivery. Stand out from other competitors, such as putting ribbons or freebies. Marketing is essentials, put some brochures if needed, because offline marketing repeat customers, and lastly, use an insured courier services. If your items goes with a damage or completely lost, you will need to source replacement, this will cost you money and time, an insured courier services will give you protection and save you from damages.
Tammy : This is a great example for those who are starting their international business, this could really help them a lot, especially when it comes to delivery. As you know, we all want to be satisfied with the things we buy from online, first is we actually don’t see the item personally and yet we are very excited to receive our orders, so giving us time options to deliver is a very good idea, also we can only see them once it has arrived at our doorstep, and we don’t want to receive damaged items, so insurance is a must.
(3) Re-examine your business or product names [9:25]
Tammy : Now, before establishing the business or product names, we should really consider re-examine the business or product names, mostly by researching them. But how would the client make sure that Business or the product names are good?
Ray : Well, every business should have a written business plan, this business plan is vital for the success for your organization. You need to research and analyze your product, your market and your objectives expertise. So the:
First is do your research. You must know your company, your product and your competition, talking to your audience might help as well.
Second, determine the purpose of your plan, whether you are self-funding or attracting investors, it has to be as clear and concise as possible.
Third, Create a company profile that includes the history of your organization, what products or services you offer, your target market and audience and what makes your business unique and company profile should be in your company website so you could attract possible customers.
Fourth, document all aspects of your business, if you have an investors, of course they want to make sure that your business is going to make them money, so documenting all your expenses and earnings.
Fifth, performance management, after all the hard work and planning have done, Creating, managing and reviewing a strategy requires you to capture the relevant information, break down large chunks of information, plan, priorities, capture the relevant information and have a clear strategic vision.
Tammy : Actually, re-examining your business might be crucial for some as there are too many information needed for making your company globalised. Good thing you’ve shared some tips like research, determine your purpose of your plan, Create your company profile, document all aspects of your business and lastly performance management.
(4) Give your logo another look [12:50]
Tammy : And for the Logo of your Business, this should also be in the top list when making a business as this is very important, because this is something that the consumers would remember. Do you have any tips on how to make your company logo easy to remember for the consumers?
Ray : They say Logo design of a company can make or break its business prospects in the market, that’s true. A perfectly designed logo can perfectly attract customers immediately, but wrongly design logo can give false message and harm your business, make sure that your logo reach a particular set of people and your logo is fully capable of representing your business, the images and design of your logo should be aligned with your business and that will create a brand identity for your company in the competitive market. Always remember that your that your logo should make a lasting impression on the market and the customers. My advice would be making your company name as your company logo as this will be easy for the customers to remember your company. This means that your company name will become your brand’s advertisement as well. Make sure to keep it simple.
Tammy : I agree that a simple logo can attract customers immediately. For me, this is one of the most important things in building your international brand, make it simple and unique!
(5) Register Trademark [14:50]
Tammy : For the last part of Building your International Brand, Registering trademark and domain names are very important because this is the last part of establishing your Business, after you check all the list. You now register trademarks and Domain names and does this cost a lot?
Ray : Okay, a trademark is a distinctive name, symbol, motto or design that legally identifies a company or its products and services. Your domain name – the word or phrase that identifies your web site. And this is very important, and there are countries where you can register your trademark with very simple steps that won’t cost you so much, such as in Hong Kong or in China. You may search for them online, or you may check our news feed in uniproasia.com that can give you guides on doing this.
Tammy : I had a great discussion with you Ray, most of us know that e-commerce is going bigger in this century, so I hope this topic really helped a lot of our listeners. If ever our listeners would want to know more about this Trademark registration, We also have this in our facebook page unipro consulting limited, or youtube channel unipro consulting. Or you may also reach us at info@uniproasia.com if you need help on registering your trademark. Anyway, so let’s end the topic. Thank you everyone for listening!
Ray : Thanks everyone!