The main challenge in dealing with any strategy for business growth is that it is interdependent with opportunities and being prepared to capitalize on them when they occur.

The main challenge in dealing with any strategy for business growth is that it is interdependent with opportunities and being prepared to capitalize on them when they occur. Developing a global strategy will help a small business increase its opportunities; however, not many small businesses have time to use this concept to their advantage. They are too busy trying to survive and focusing on the crises at hand.

A quick way to develop a plan and realize the reward for going global is to step back and see the bigger picture of what globalization means. Typically, most small businesses do not understand the concept of globalization, so they logically will espouse disdain for it and avoid dealing with it. Small businesses repeatedly continue to ask for help in dealing with offshore competition and believe they must fight it to protect their business; however, if they only took some time to understand what it could do for them in opening other opportunities, they could move from survival mode to thriving mode.

Two concepts that apply when developing a business strategy are: (1) if a business asks for help, it will get some help; and, (2) the help may not be what you wanted or needed. Knowing what to ask for is key in developing your strategy.

For instance, most publicly-owned organizations ask for immediate results to satisfy their short-term goals. If this happens with a small business, it will not know how to handle the new business and it will historically flounder.

Going global for a small business is a step-by-step process that entails some basic understanding of what globalization is. Once the concept is grasped the company can begin developing a strategy for their company in the context of their business competency. Growth needs to come gradually and be planned.

The first step is for a small business to understand and define what it means to be global. This does not mean you have a business location in every corner of the world. It means you have a business strategy that can work anywhere in the world. To do this means your company must embrace these four global standards.
You must speak the global language.
You must embrace a global communication method through the Internet and develop a global site.

If you are selling anything that is physical, it must be made in metric units and sold in metric units.

You must be aware of cultural difference in the country with which you are attempting to do business. Training in cultural issues is a must.
Now that you have the essentials, it’s time to seek out your global partners so you can prepare for the opportunities it will bring.