Have you ever wondered about those untapped markets overseas? If we haven’t heard of a potential customer, how much revenue could we possibly be missing?

This spring, I worked with a team of international business consultants to find out just how much market potential there was for a small, fast-growing American manufacturer in South American and Asian markets. The results left the company CEO stunned and speechless…

This manufacturer was already taking orders from customers in Asia and Latin America. They thought they were meeting the market’s needs and while there must be some smaller clients they were missing, it certainly couldn’t be much more than the market they knew.

Boy, were they wrong.

It turns out that while the U.S. and Western Europe were assuming that they were the center of the world’s commerce, all kinds of companies were growing out of the emerging markets and taking market share. This U.S. manufacturer has competitors they didn’t even know about. And competitors they did know from the U.S. market were already engaged in key Asian markets. There were entire clusters of potential customers who have never heard of this American manufacturer (63 in Brazil alone representing tens of millions of dollars in lost revenue potential).

Enter the Paralysis Stage. 

In order to serve current & new customers overseas, our manufacturing company will need to reexamine every aspect of its operations. They will need to hire more people with new specialties. They will need to transform their work culture. There are so many opportunities, including partnerships to manufacture for regional markets, that the company is uncertain where to start.

Our plan for this company started with the end in mind. Where could this company be in twenty years? What structural changes and actions would be needed to set the company on a path to meeting this long-term vision? Not everything can be done at once, especially in a small company. So prioritization and leveraging existing relationships helped to organize the steps that this young CEO would need to truly meet global demand and lead his market niche.

For the original article, please visit :http://www.the-international-entrepreneur.com/

( Vivian )25 Apr,2012

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