Taking Your Business International: Key Steps to Take

Julie Starr • May 6, 2022



When you run a business, you’re going to have one key thing at the forefront of your mind at all times – making sales and generating profit. Making money is what will help your business to stay afloat, allow you to pay your employees, help you to invest in new products and services and then, ultimately, provide you with a good income.

It’s not all too surprising, then, that the majority of business owners are constantly looking for new ways to make money. Now, one of the best areas you can focus on is expanding your business (once it’s stable and you’ve created your brand) and taking it international. Expanding to an international market is going to open your products and services up to – quite literally – a whole new world of customers. This means more interest, more sales and more profit. Here are a few steps you can take to achieve this.

Consider Standards

Different countries have different rules and requirements for products, so you need to make sure that you’re meeting the international standard if you’re planning on selling to customers in countries outside of your own. This will help you to not only serve your customers as best possible, but it will also help to protect your brand, your reputation and your company from legal action down the line.

Focus on Ecommerce

To reach an international audience, you’re going to have to focus on your website. Your website is the platform that will allow people from all around the world to look at what you’re offering and make purchases. An online store is open at all times, allowing for differences in time zones, and can be made accessible worldwide. You will need to work with a website designer and web developer to add some simple features to your site, like allowing customers to switch the site’s language and the currency that they’re shopping in. You will also need a copywriter to develop a good shipping information page where you can explain where your products can ship to, how much each destination will cost and whether the customer is likely to receive customs or import charges.

Organize Order Fulfilment

If you’re going to sell internationally, you’re going to have to be able to ship your products internationally. This will mean taking a look at your order fulfillment process. You may need to work with different companies and providers to make sure that your items are packaged in a way that will survive long haul transport, as well as ensuring that you can pass everything through customs, security checks, and other challenges while still making a profit. Remember that shipping internationally can be expensive, so you will likely have to charge the customer the shipping costs.

Eco Minded

Another option is to explore business sustainability as a means toward cost savings , supporting the environment, and delivering improved products and services to your clients.

As you can see, taking your business international holds a lot of potential for extra profit, but you will have to invest time and effort into the venture. Hopefully, some of the advice above will help you with this.

By Julie Starr July 17, 2025
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By Julie Starr July 14, 2025
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