5 key factors to grow your animal production business across the borders

• Market expansion and revenue growth: Domestic markets can become saturated. Exporting opens vast new customer bases, allowing businesses to scale production, increase sales volumes, and significantly boost revenue.
• Diversification of risk: Relying solely on a single domestic market exposes a business to local economic downturns, natural disasters, or shifts in consumer preferences. Exporting to multiple countries diversifies revenue streams and builds resilience.
• Improved profit margins: Certain international markets may have higher demand or less competition, potentially allowing for better pricing and improved profit margins compared to the domestic market.
• Access to foreign exchange: For countries, agricultural exports are a crucial source of foreign exchange, which can be used to import essential goods and services. For businesses, it provides access to stronger currencies.
• Innovation and competitiveness: Exposure to international markets forces, agribusinesses to innovate, improve product quality, and adopt new technologies to meet global standards and compete effectively. This continuous improvement makes them stronger overall.

Exporting unique and high-quality products & services

If your animal products and services are good, unique, and leverage different technology, they are exceptionally well-positioned for export.

High-quality, differentiated products and services often stand out in competitive global markets, commanding better prices and attracting discerning international buyers.

Unique offerings, perhaps leveraging proprietary processing or novel agricultural practices, create a strong competitive advantage.

Products developed with advanced technology, like those enhancing shelf life, improving nutritional value, or ensuring superior food safety, directly addressing global consumer demands and regulatory requirements, making them ideal for successful international market entry.

Global expansion represents a pivotal strategic move for businesses seeking sustained growth, diversification, and increased competitive advantage in an increasingly interconnected world.

Far from a simple extension of domestic operations, it involves a multifaceted journey into new geographical and cultural landscapes, driven by a confluence of technological advancements, trade liberalization, evolving market dynamics, navigating complex international regulations, tariffs, logistics, diverse consumer preferences, and intense competition.

However, venturing into the global arena demands meticulous planning and a nuanced understanding of a complex array of factors.

Success hinges on thorough market research, strategic partnerships, and a deep understanding of the target country’s economic and cultural landscape.

This article is highlighting key factors throughout the entire journey of successful global expansion.

Here are the key factors to consider for global business expansion:

[1] Market research and selection:

• Market potential: Assess the size, growth rate, and purchasing power of the target market. Is there sufficient demand for your product or service?
• Customer preferences: Understand local tastes, needs, behaviors, and cultural nuances. Will your existing product require adaptation or localization?
• Competitive landscape: Analyze existing competitors, their market share, strengths, and weaknesses. What is your competitive advantage in this new market?
• Market entry barriers: Identify tariffs, quotas, non-tariff barriers, and local regulations that might hinder entry.
• Strategies implementation: Implement strategies and leverage available resources to deliver successful outcomes for the business.
• Product registration: Actively pursue product registration in line with statutory guidelines laid down in respective countries/geographies.
• Political environment: Assess the stability of the government, risk of political unrest, and potential for policy changes that could impact your business.
• Economic outlook: Consider inflation rates, interest rates, GDP growth, and overall economic health of the country.
• Geopolitical risks: Be aware of broader regional conflicts or tensions that could disrupt operations.

[2] Competitor’s analysis

Competitor analysis in the global agrifood business is complex due to diverse production systems, varying regulations, and global supply chains.

• Global vs local competition: Identify both major international players (e.g., large multinational food corporations, global commodity traders) and strong local competitors in your target markets. Local competitors often have advantages in understanding consumer preferences, distribution networks, and regulatory nuances.
• Product specialization and differentiation: Analyze competitors’ product portfolios. Are they commodity producers, or do they specialize in niche markets (e.g., organic, GMO-free, specific cultural foods)? Understand their unique selling propositions (USPs) and how they differentiate their offerings (quality, origin, certifications, processing methods).
• Supply chain and sourcing strategies: Investigate how competitors source their raw materials (e.g., local farms, international imports, proprietary farms). Evaluate their supply chain efficiency, logistics, and ability to ensure consistent quality and volume across diverse geographical locations. This includes understanding their resilience to disruptions.
• Pricing models and cost structures: Beyond just retail prices, delve into competitors’ cost advantages (e.g., lower labor costs, government subsidies, economies of scale in production or processing). Understand their pricing strategies for different market segments and regions, including any promotional activities or bundling.
• Regulatory compliance and certifications: The agrifood sector is heavily regulated. Analyze how competitors navigate varying international standards, import/export regulations, food safety laws (e.g., HACCP, GMP, ISO), and sustainability certifications (e.g., organic, fair trade). Their ability to meet these often determines market access.
• Technology adoption and innovation: Assess competitors’ investment in and adoption of agricultural technologies (e.g., precision farming, biotechnology, advanced processing techniques, supply chain digitalization). Innovation in areas like new crop varieties, food preservation, or packaging can provide significant competitive advantages.
• Brand perception and marketing strategies: Evaluate how competitors build and maintain their brand image globally and locally. Analyze their marketing channels, advertising campaigns, and how they connect with consumers, especially regarding themes like sustainability, health, and ethical sourcing, which are increasingly important in the agrifood sector.

[3] Market entry

• Markets & key contacts identification: Identifying potential countries, key customers & target contacts as prioritized list.
• Business registration and licensing: Comply with all local requirements for establishing a legal entity.
• Employment laws: Understand labor laws, hiring practices, wages, benefits, working conditions, and termination procedures.
• Intellectual Property (IP) protection: Ensure your trademarks, patents, and copyrights are adequately protected in the target country.
• Product standards and certifications: Comply with local safety, quality, and environmental standards.
• Data privacy: Adhere to local data protection laws (e.g., GDPR-like regulations).
• Trade compliance: Understand import/export regulations, customs procedures, and any trade agreements.
• Sales leads: Development of sales leads to distributors and key accounts in the markets.
• Interaction with customers: Planning for other customer-facing activities, participating in trade shows, and other functions.
• Suppliers & customers connection: Connect supplier with key customers or share their contact details to initiate discussion about the range of solutions.
• Meetings: Team Meetings/discussions for business strategies.
• Mode of entry: Decide on the best entry strategy (e.g., exporting, licensing, franchising, joint ventures, wholly owned subsidiary, acquisition). Each has different levels of risk, control, and investment.
• Strategic partnerships: Consider local partners for their market knowledge, distribution networks, and political connections.
• Technical support: Develop, implement, and measure technical support initiatives for each market.
• Training programs: Conduct training programs for the customers for new and old products for their knowledge enhancement to improve sales.
• Trials & testing: Organize product trials and testing along with other product placements in line with individual customers’ requirements.

[4] Effective marketing tools

• Language: Address language barriers in marketing, communication, customer service, and internal operations. Professional translation and localization are often crucial.
• Communication styles: Recognize differences in direct vs indirect communication, body language, and etiquette.
• Business etiquette: Learn and adapt to local norms for meetings, negotiations, gift-giving, and relationship building.
• Work culture: Understand hierarchy, decision-making processes, work-life balance expectations, and management styles.
• Product/brand localization: Adapt your product, packaging, branding, and marketing messages to resonate culturally. A name or slogan that works in one language might be offensive in another.
• Market research: Perform primary & secondary research on the market, product & customers and share the market intelligence with the organization.
• Competitors analysis: Perform competitor analysis and based on that suggest a suitable product mix, communication mix, and marketing mix for business expansion in the market.

[5] Operational and logistics

• Supply chain and distribution: Establish efficient logistics, warehousing, transportation networks, and distribution channels.
• Local sourcing: Identify reliable local suppliers if needed for raw materials or components.
• Infrastructure: Assess the quality of local infrastructure (roads, ports, internet, utilities) that will support your operations.
• Production capabilities: Evaluate if existing production can scale to meet international demand or if local manufacturing is necessary.
• Customer service: Develop a strategy for providing effective and culturally appropriate customer support.

Thorough due diligence across all these factors is paramount for a successful global expansion. Neglecting any one of them can lead to significant challenges and even failure.