5 Questions to Consider Before Going Global in 2017

Posted on: February 7th, 2017

When deciding to expand outside your company’s national borders, there are many new considerations. Immediately, the focus shifts from building and maintaining a regional customer base to creating global appeal.

Successfully converting a domestic company to one that can compete internationally requires consideration of an entirely new set of factors.

The following questions are important to ask as you proceed.

1. Is there a need?
The primary task should be to size up the local competition. Simply knowing that there is room in the market to sustain your business efforts, will go a long way in convincing stakeholders that the decision is a sound one.

To discover if there is a space for your company you first must define supply, demand, and the equilibrium price and finally, understand the relationship each has with the other.

2. Do you have the bench resources for expansion?
Experts from Entrepreneur Magazine advise that to be successful in your efforts to go global, you will have to assign at least two senior executives to the expansion efforts.

So, you need to make sure that you can spare them in the day-to-day activities, as their duties should be exclusive to the international project.

3. What is the talent market like?
Will you be able to staff your business within the local market? For tech companies, this can be a major consideration, as highly-skilled workers may be difficult to come by, in some emerging markets.

If relocation packages or recruitment incentives are to be a part of your hiring strategy, substantial costs must be considered upfront of the move.

4. Will you require outside funding to expand?
Cross border growth requires patient long term capital. This usually requires a company to adopt an equity investment or long term loan solution. Getting sound footing in a new market always takes longer and requires more capital that originally estimated.

Make sure you have a sensible capital plan and the ability to access more capital to fund contingent expenses.

5. Is the political climate right for international expansion?
Some countries with weak rule of law and less developed markets may have volatile business regulations which could frustrate your efforts. There may be incentives to be gained from keeping parts of your operation local.

The political climate usually sets the backdrop for animal spirits and business optimism. With favorable political climate, you will have tailwinds at your back.

In the acquisition financing arena, capital availability is destiny as companies require reliable access to capital to grow over the long term. Unforeseen capital needs usually arise when acquirers least expect it. This can cause some concern for the acquisition financing provider, especially when covenants tighten up and that working capital availability is utilized faster than expected.

Mezzanine debt borrowing is usually a straightforward activity that many companies use for funding of transitional growth. Mezzanine debt lenders are highly transparent about their due diligence approach and their post-closing loan management making it easy for companies to engage with.

Elections have consequences and positive ones at that for the acquisition financing middle market. While much media attention is paid to the direction of the yield curve and the Fed’s likely rate cuts, scant attention is paid to the more important drivers of the acquisition financing market – business psychology and regulatory climate.