As any founder or entrepreneur can attest, launching a small business is a monumental challenge. Beyond the exhilarating moment of conceiving an idea and entering the market, the real grind begins with the hunt for new leads and the relentless task of managing cash flow. And that’s just the beginning; profitability can seem like a distant dream amid the daily hustle to break even.
And what about the trials and tribulations that come later – sustaining and growing your business once you’re up and running and successfully established in the UK? Expansion into overseas markets isn’t for the faint of heart – PayPal’s 2024 Business of Change report, which polled 500 small and medium enterprises, found that 32% of UK small business owners lacked confidence in international sales.
Of course, there are always factors you can’t control – who could have predicted a global pandemic followed by huge rises in energy costs? But figuring out what you can control, and making the best of it, will help give your business the greatest chance of thriving on the international stage.
Here, we round up our top tips for going global …
1 Establish why you want to expand
Start by understanding why you’re looking overseas in the first place. Is it to compete with similar companies that may have expanded into other markets and therefore have more share when it comes to like-for-like products or services? Is it to attract new customers who you believe can benefit from your offering outside your current market? Or is it to diversify your customer base and perhaps hedge against risks in the domestic market? Once you know why you want to expand, you can start to think about how.
2 Assess your readiness for expansion
Next, review your current business model to identify where there might be room for improvement, whether it’s offering new or refined products or services, creating an enhanced experience for existing customers (a survey might help here), or simply targeting different audiences. Revisit your original vision and objectives – two or three years on, are you really living up to them and doing what you set out to do? This will help you gain further insights and identify other reasons to expand. New markets can help you achieve your goals and this exercise may clarify what those are. Eyes on the prize.
3 Identify target markets
Researching what competitors are doing can help inform where you choose to expand. What products and services are they offering to help them cut through the competition and what countries or regions are they offering them in? Once you’ve whittled down the “what” and the “where” to your target market or markets – the ones that best align with your business and objectives – it’s time to undertake some good old-fashioned market research. There’s no shortcut for this as it may provide the foundations for solid and sustained expansion. Then you may need to establish a budget and timeframe for this exciting stage of growth. The only way is up.
4 Diversify your payment options
Customers are looking to pay quickly and simply in their own currency, using a method they prefer. And they want to have confidence that their payments are secure. On your part, you want international payments to be as seamless as possible. A key facet of the PayPal Complete Payments platform, which has just launched in the UK, is that it accepts a wide range of payment methods, from digital wallets such as Apple Pay1 and Google Pay2 to international credit and debit cards. Being able to offer customers great flexibility in how they purchase your services or products may help conversions at checkout by removing barriers to payment.
Vincent Belloc, managing director of PayPal UK, says: “At PayPal, we understand it’s challenging for British small businesses to navigate international sales. A key area of differentiation is our focus on enabling cross-border trade for UK SMEs. PayPal Complete Payments provides faster access to 140-plus currencies in a single wallet, with no account minimums and no management of multiple accounts. What’s more, it offers 25 settlement currencies and business relationships in more than 200 countries.”
5 Ensure peace of mind for your business, and customers
A new market brings with it a myriad of different regulations that you may not be used to. Luckily, PayPal Complete Payments helps to ensure that payments are compliant with the latest market regulations, for a seamless feel to selling worldwide.
Further, today’s shoppers don’t just expect packages to arrive at their doorsteps promptly – they also want to know where they are every step of the way. Package tracking is an essential e-commerce tool that provides convenience and transparency to shoppers everywhere.
Remember: expansion is tough, but the rewards favour the brave. Businesses across the world are trusting PayPal Complete Payments to facilitate more payment methods, store customer details securely and simplify the checkout process. All with the aim of turning prospects into customers, driving repeat business and opening new markets.
Explore PayPal Complete Payments and empower the expansion of your business
1 Apple Pay is a trademark of Apple Inc, registered in the US and other countries and regions.
2 Google Pay is a trademark of Google LLC.
