Clarify goals and objectives of overseas expansion

In recent years, many Japanese companies have been expanding overseas, and there are many companies that are planning to go abroad. One of the requirements for successful overseas expansion is the clarification of goals and objectives. There may be vague attractiveness and longing for globalization, but what are other logical goals and objectives, and what are you looking for to advance overseas? By clarifying and focusing on our goals and objectives, we can make our overseas expansion smoother

Need to clarify goals, targets, and objectives for overseas expansion
Main goals, objectives, and cautions for overseas expansion
Setting goals and objectives based on an understanding of the company’s management strategy
Summary

Need to clarify goals, targets, and objectives for overseas expansion

Overseas expansion is a big business that requires a lot of money and human resources and is planned over the medium to long term. As a result, there are cases of failure due to misalignment of goals and objectives, resulting in misalignment of plans and directions.

In the preparation stage for overseas expansion, information collection and marketing strategy are formulated according to the goals and objectives, and countries and areas are selected. Depending on what you’re looking for, the information you need will vary, and the countries and areas you target will vary greatly.

In the case of overseas expansion, because the goals and objectives are clear, the decision at the time of withdrawal will be made quickly. In many cases, the company is forced to withdraw from the market because it has been unable to make a decision and continues to do business on the ground. In some cases, they will incur more debt and damage. For this reason, it is important to withdraw as soon as we find out that we cannot obtain what we are looking for. If goals and objectives are set, it will be easier to make decisions.

Main goals, objectives, and cautions for overseas expansion

The following are some of the goals and objectives of companies expanding overseas. It is also important to consider the points to be paid attention to, as you may fail to set goals and objectives easily.

Lower costs

A growing number of companies, particularly in Asia, have set their sights and objectives on reducing the cost of raw materials, materials and labor. By making it cheaper to manufacture, they try to make it competitive with cheap imports and competition.

Some companies that have expanded overseas with these goals and objectives are unable to achieve the desired results due to higher costs resulting from higher wages. When considering overseas expansion with the aim of reducing costs in the future, it is necessary to plan for wage increases in emerging countries. In addition, as personnel costs rise, personnel training is progressing, so it is good to set goals and objectives for future overseas expansion, not only to reduce personnel costs but also to secure excellent human resources overseas.

To enter the overseas market

Many companies looking to expand overseas have high expectations for large overseas markets. Since Japanese companies and Japanese products are well known and popular, it seems to be easy to succeed in entering. However, if you are too particular about Japanese way of selling and products, you may not be accepted and you may not be able to secure the market share.

Rather than simply entering the market, we need to localize products to suit local culture, tastes and customs, and rethink marketing strategies from scratch. Because of repeated attempts and errors before the product is accepted, it is also a risk to enter overseas markets with domestic operations in an unstable state.

Even in the global market, it has already become a red ocean, and it is difficult to enter some areas in the future. In the case of industries that the world is already paying attention to, we will be forced to compete fiercely against the world. Whether we deal with the world or increase the local market share, the success or failure depends on it.

In line with business partners

We sometimes decide to expand our business overseas in accordance with overseas expansion or relocation of large clients or parent companies. In this case, the goal and objective is to secure and expand orders from suppliers. Although receiving orders from suppliers is one of our goals and objectives, there is a risk of bankruptcy if we rely too much on them. It is necessary to make a careful judgment as to whether we can expect stable and continuous orders from our business partners and what measures we will take if we fail.

Setting goals and objectives based on an understanding of the company’s management strategy

Each company has its own unique opportunity to start an overseas business. By reviewing and objectively analyzing the company’s management, we can narrow down the goals and objectives of overseas expansion. Overseas markets, young human resources, and cheap materials are attractive, but it is necessary to clarify objectives and objectives from issues and strategies as to why they are overseas.

Organize corporate vision, management policies, and strategies and identify issues. Once the management issues have been identified, we will investigate whether the issues can be solved by expanding overseas. Overseas expansion is just one of the solutions, and it is ideal to consider other methods. Also, there are other ways than direct investment to expand overseas.

Imports, e-commerce businesses, licensing agreements and franchise agreements are less risky and less expensive than direct investment. Especially in the case of your first overseas expansion, it is important to consider whether or not you can respond to it by expanding in a way that reduces risks and funds.

Summary

Overseas expansion involves management issues that need to be resolved. Overseas expansion, whose goals and objectives are ambiguous, also makes the policy ambiguous and makes the decision to withdraw dull. If you are planning to expand overseas, it is necessary to clarify your goals and objectives, and then formulate a plan to collect necessary information and select a way to expand overseas.