en
Washington, DC
Complex challenges for women-owned businesses have been exacerbated in recent years with the impact of COVID-19, supply chain bottlenecks, and economic uncertainty. Many women entrepreneurs around the world have pivoted their business models and taken advantage of the digital economy to go global. Innovation and determination have made them resilient.
While many small and medium-sized enterprises focus on their domestic market, women business owners should consider scaling beyond local borders to survive and thrive. Going global may seem like a formidable task, but it doesn’t have to be.
Here are three reasons why now is a great time to go global.
1) Today’s Digital World Makes it Easy to Expand Your Business Globally
You no longer need a brick-and-mortar storefront to do business. Advances in technology and the rise of e-commerce make it easier than ever to expand operations into new markets.
With modern e-marketing technology tools, you can manage sales and marketing from your office, your home or on the go. Your business can have a digital storefront in every country with e-commerce platforms and marketplace services. Express carriers and supply chain management logistics companies can warehouse and fulfill orders, integrate shipping, and let you start exporting with as little as one package.
Initiatives like the Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation are working with countries around the world to change customs administration procedures to be electronic, modernized, and transparent. Making it easier for you to get your goods across the border.
2) Companies that Export are More Resilient
Global expansion and a diversified market presence gives your company a way to mitigate risks associated with local economic or geopolitical fluctuations.
Going global means your business will not be as dependent on your local market’s highs and lows. Profitable operations in one market can offset negative performance in another.
No matter how well your business is doing, going global can also help revitalize your products or services by finding a new customer base.
3) Global Companies Have a Stronger Competitive Advantage
Businesses that expand into global markets often do so to gain a first-mover advantage. The move allows them to build strong brand awareness and connection with local customers before their competitors can do so.
International expansion can also provide a company with greater prestige at home, as the perceived image of global operations can help build brand recognition to support future business scenarios, such as contract negotiations, new marketing campaigns, hiring talent or additional expansion.
Going global can help your company find better suppliers and access to the global supply chain which can improve business operations.
Women-owned businesses that trade and export earn more, create more jobs, stay in business longer and are more resilient to financial shocks than those relying exclusively on domestic markets.
If you are ready to take your business to the next level, let WEConnect International help you go global! WEConnect International is a global network that connects women-owned businesses to qualified buyers around the world.
Register with us for free and connect with 15,000+ other women-owned businesses around the world looking to network, buy and sell with each other. Your business profile will also be available to WEConnect International’s 160+ multinational member buyers in our global business directory with over $1 trillion in annual purchasing power. A world of opportunity awaits you when you join WEConnect International.
Our mission is to help drive money into the hands of women business owners by enabling them to compete in local and global markets, and to design and implement business solutions that create wealth and the sustainable prosperity of their communities.
Businesses based in the United States that are Certified by our local partner the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) can also join WEConnect International’s WECommunity to connect to our growing network of women-owned businesses and member buyers. Click here to learn more about how you can certify your U.S.-based business with WEConnect International.
