When growing your business into overseas markets, it is important to get the translation of your materials and messaging right. This is even more evident when there are large dollars at stake or sensitive negotiations to take place.

Here is our guide to getting it right when expanding into export markets.

1. Use the local language of your target market

Does your target market speak UK, USA or Australian English? South American, or European Spanish? North African or Gulf Arabic? Also consider whether you need to use English for non-English mother-tongue readers. Be specific when forming your messaging and put yourself in the shoes of your target market. The more that you can relate to your audience with language that resonates with them, the more this will help your efforts to expand into the new market.

2. Adjust to suit the culture

Cultural differences are important and failure to understand them for your market can bear serious consequences. Campaigns may need to be pulled, and last minute redesign and reprinting are not only costly but can be stressful. To avoid this, make sure that images and text are culturally appropriate first, before the translation process occurs.

Colours are another important consideration in cross cultural contexts. For example, blue is a popular colour associated with the ocean and nature. But in Iran, blue is the colour of mourning, and in many countries it is associated with authority and discipline. In many parts of the world Green is a positive colour, associated with good health and life. In China, green is thought to repel evil, and in the Muslim faith it is linked to spirituality, religion and God.

It may seem obvious, but check that your product names do not sound offensive in another language or another culture. You may recall that Mitsubishi had to rename their “Pajero” model for the Spanish and Latin American markets, or Ford their “Mist” car for the German market.

Body parts also play different roles in cultures. A movie poster with a man sitting on top of a Buddha statue caused problems in Thailand, where the head is the most sacred part of your body for people of Buddhist faith.

3. Business cards open doors

Often, thousands of dollars are spent to have websites and materials right, but the design and preparation of international business cards are left to the local copy shop. The right business cards are a powerful means of communication to make a good first impression in your international market.

The title is one of the most significant considerations for an international business, as this will define organisational level. Businesses and organisations want to assign people of the same level to do business with you. In Japan, a business card is of paramount importance; the handing out and receiving is done in a ritualistic format.

The names of the person and the company must be transliterated as a guide to pronunciation, and middle initials are often eliminated for simplicity.

Some countries do not adapt English-like spelling in names for reasons of readability. For example in Czechoslovakia, people expect women’s names to end with “–ova”, and as a result, Sharon Stone is known as “Sharon Stoneová”, and Nicole Kidman as “Nicole Kidmanová”.

Numbers should be arranged in the country’s format. European have phone numbers often running together, whereas in Australia, we separate the area code and then group 4 digits together. Each country will have their own nuances that should be adhered to.

4. Measure your success

When expanding into new markets with a new product or service, we highly recommend to put key performance indicators in place to check how many new customers you have acquired and the results of your investment in translation activities.

Check your export figures to see the financial outcomes gained from your translation activities. Also check the leads or number of inquiries from the overseas market compared to those from within Australia.

By keeping a close eye on these figures, you can clearly calculate the profit generated per translation project to determine their effectiveness and which markets merit further investment.

It is also recommended to build a trusted relationship with an accredited individual or language service provider who gets to know your service offerings, messaging, language and your markets. They will give efficiency and consistency to your communications and be able to offer ongoing guidance on your expansion into new markets.

Accredited and professional T/I’s (Translators/Interpreters) are experts at communication and will be able to let you know any technical obstacles to translation, any confusion that could occur and the rationale for certain actions.

Days of you carrying a luggage full of brochures at tradeshows, waiting in the darkness for the safe arrival of shipping vessels and spending $200 on faxes and $120 on courier for export documents a day, are gone.

Instead, having a teleconference on Skype with suppliers in a remote area while locating your shipping vessel on MarineTraffic and checking Alipay for incoming payment is becoming normality for more and more international traders today.

A transparent world and a shorter value chain

Nowadays, free information is only a click away. Middlemen who used to make a fortune by having access to information and overseas contacts find it extremely hard to operate a business the old way. Wholesalers can easily find manufacturers through search engines, online directories (such as World Directory of Importers Associations) and online marketplaces (such as Alibaba); importers and exporters can search and compare global tradeshows at www.tsnn.com.  Hence the traditional value chain consisting of manufacturers, exporters, importers, distributors, sub-distributors /wholesalers and retailers is being replaced by shorter ones.

The implication for importers and exporters is to reposition themselves and add value to the value chain through

• tailored international trade facilitation services
• development of own brands
• possession of special technology knowhow/intellectual property
• strong expertise in a niche market/focused product category
• strong financing capabilities
• backward or forward integration to shorten the value chain and lift profit margin

More E-traders and more B2C trades

Technology enables international traders to conduct trade via internet. Exporters have started cutting off importers and distributors and built their own online stores to target end customers. They may have their own shopping websites in the target country’s language or have online stores on the target country’s online B2C marketplaces. For example, if you target Chinese end customers, you may consider having a Chinese online store on Taobao or Tmall. The practical procedures are still complex as it may involve third parties to manage the online store and marketing in the target country, but it provides a new avenue for exporters to interact with end customers and improve their bottom line by cutting off middlemen.

Some online export models exporters adopt are as follows:

• An online Brand Store with its own domain name managed by the exporter or its distributor or a third party in the target country
• An online store on a target country’s B2C marketplace managed by the exporter’s own office or its distributor/agent or an online store management company in the target country
• Order function on the distributor’s website in the target country
• Order function on the exporter’s own multi-lingual website

Virtual office and virtual organisation structure

Micro-multinational is a recent term referring to small or micro businesses which operate globally by leveraging the capabilities and expertise of upstream and/or downstream partners at various markets overseas. For example, a one-man-band business in Sydney may work as a consolidator of its own brand, and outsource all or part of research and development (R&D), manufacturing, sales and marketing and after-sale services to third parties overseas. In one case, a R&D academy in California is the business’ R&D department, an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) in inland China works as the business’ production base and its licensing partners overseas are the sales arm of the business. The business does not even have a physical office but rents a virtual office at minimal cost to have a shared receptionist manning the phone nine to five. Although a micro-business is defined by the number of employees it has, the business still has an organisation chart and even generates sufficient revenue to match sizable businesses. Technology enables the micro-multinational business to run on iPhone and iPad and communicate with all its “departments” overseas when the business owner is travelling globally.

In the 21^st Century, Importers and exporters cannot be judged by the size of their office and the number of employees anymore.

Continuous learning and adaptability - a key to success

Global economic landscape in the 21^st century is being reshaped and boosted by knowledge and technology. A key to success for importers and exporters in this century is the ability to learn and adapt to new technology and new models to cope with the ever changing challenges, and seize fast moving opportunities. To catch up with the global industry and technology trend, and be more proactive, importers and exporters may consider taking the following actions:

• Subscribing to industry association and government’s E-newsletters
• Getting involved in social media and check competitors and industry activities via LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and search engines
• Regularly up-skilling through attending training programs and business events
• Allocating 15- 20 minutes a day to go through the titles and key contents in the business sections of major newspapers

Importers and exporters need to accept the fact that change is the norm of international trade today, and there is only one option- learn, adapt and succeed.

Here’s a depressing statistic. There were zero women winners at the 50^th Australian Export Awards this year. That’s right. Zilch, zip, nought.  Congratulations to the finalists, this is no reflection on them. Their awards are well deserved.  But it was confronting and frankly shocking to see a stage full of middle aged men receiving their awards in November, in a year when women’s economic empowerment has received so much attention globally.

There are many successful female exporters in Australia. They number around 10 percent of women business owners, which is low I grant you, but a figure that Women in Global Business is determined to grow. We know there are some fantastic businesswomen out there with excellent products and services, and great export businesses, but they are generally invisible to the general public and especially to the media. Not only do they not put themselves forward for awards and gongs, but they also don’t seek a profile for themselves. With the exception of the usual suspects who pop up time and time again at speaking events and networking sessions, most successful women business owners do not seek the limelight. WIGB and the University of Melbourne have just completed a study of women business owners who have internationalised their business and one of the surprising results is that the majority of these women are aged over fifty. How many of these are household names?

We asked our WIGB Facebook friends why so few women applied for the Australian Export Awards in 2012.  Some of the feedback indicated that it was due to work/life balance issues with business and family responsibilities. Certainly this puts a greater burden on women rather than men given they are still the primary carers. Others indicated women were not aware of the Australian Export Awards. These reasons are all valid and all contribute but perhaps the other key reason is a fear of self-promotion and the lack of appreciation of its benefits.

Women do not seek self-promotion because they have been socialised from an early age to not share accomplishments and achievements but rather operate quietly in the background. Compounding this is the tall-poppy syndrome making is socially unacceptable to elevate your talents and achievements from your peers. This self-defeating conduct is a mystery to our colleagues in the USA, who are confused and confounded by this behaviour, understanding the rule that no-one else will promote you if you don’t. If you look at the Forbes 100 most powerful women in 2012, you see the rewards and success from self-promotion. Whether it is social media, a book, speaking engagements, attending networking events or putting your business forward for the Australian Export Awards, the potential rewards often greatly outweigh the initial investment.

So businesswomen of Australia, make 2013 the year you spend time promoting yourself and your business. Go out on a limb. That’s where the fruit is.

We wish everyone a safe and happy festive season.

The women’s organisation will be providing a comprehensive mentoring program for those women who are unsure about how to take their first steps into an international business arena.

Despite more than one third of small businesses being owned by women, WIGB have expressed concern about female business owners falling behind in the internationalisation of their products. According to their research, 60 percent of Australian business women indicated that they wish to expand their international operations. The research also revealed that those women who were already involved in international business reported a greater risk tolerance than those who had not yet begun engaging internationally.

The objective of the WIGB Mentoring program is to make the challenges of internationalisation seem less daunting to business owners by providing a role model who inspires, acts as a sounding board and who has a wealth of knowledge and experience about the realities of international trade. Mentees and mentors will be matched based on industry, export markets, or on lifestyle factors.

WIGB Mentoring applications close on 31 December with the program commencing in February 2013 for a 10 month duration.

To find out more or to register, click here.

The Confucius Institute at the University of Newcastle is offering a six week online course entitled ‘Engaging With China.’ The course aims to bring potential exporters understanding of Chinese business practices up to speed.

Similar to the earlier online course, this class will teach students some key Chinese business phrases, the important aspects of Chinese business systems and traditions, the ability to recognise and understand negotiating tactics, and of course how to better present your business to appeal to a Chinese audience.

The course runs for 1.5 hours over six weeks from 17 October to 21 November and will be convened by Sara Cheng of Australian Business Solutions.

For more information, visit the ECA website which includes details of a discount for ECA members.

The data, released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, revealed it was the fifth consecutive monthly deficit this year.

The May deficit was $259 million higher than the figure for April, which was revised down from $203 million to $26 million — and came from a two percent month on month increase in exports, to $26.8 billion, and a three percent increase in imports, to $27.1 billion.

Merchandise trade was on the increase however, with Australia’s total merchandise trade with East Asia rising 10 percent, to $26.8 billion, in May.

Exports to China increased 14 percent, driven by a 17 percent rise in exports of iron ore fines and exports to India rose 17 percent to $1 billion.

Trade and Competitiveness Minister Craig Emerson said the results again showed the importance of Australia’s ongoing close engagement with the Asian region amid continued economic weakness in other parts of the world.

“Australia remains focused on building on and diversifying its trade relationships with the emerging economies of Asia,” Emerson said.

“Trade was a big theme during [last] week’s visit to Darwin by the Indonesian President, and this Government will continue to build ever-closer trade and investment ties with our Asian neighbours,” he added.

Exports of manufactures rose nine percent to $3.8 billion in May and medicinal and pharmaceutical exports were up 29 percent, or $103 million, to a record $462 million.  Similarly, there was a three percent increase, to $6.1 billion, in capital goods imports, reflecting ongoing investment in Australia’s productive capacity.

The removal of import tariffs by these two nations would lower the retail price of Australian wine in these markets, making it more competitive according to economic analysis released by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES).

ABARES executive director, Kim Ritman, said Australian wine exports to China and the Republic of Korea have grown over the past decade, however competition has increased from other imported wines, especially those from Chile and New Zealand.

“The strong growth in wine exports to China in recent years from both Chile and New Zealand reflect the market advantage granted by lower import tariffs on their wines,” Ritman said.

Economists estimate that the removal of China’s import tariff on Australian wine could result in a 12 percent fall in the Chinese retail price on Australian bottled wine and a 17 percent drop for bulk wine.

For the Republic of Korea, the fall in retail price would be around 13 percent for both bottled and bulk wine.

Ritman believes the report is evidence that a lower retail price would stimulate stronger demand for Australian wine, desirable results for wine exporters.

“The results of this analysis reaffirm the potential gains to the Australian wine industry of more liberalised trade,” Ritman said.

The full report is available here.

Following on from a 25 basis points cut when the board last met in June, Governor Glenn Stevens said international financial markets have stabilised somewhat in the last month, due to progress toward longer-term sustainability in Europe. Despite this, he said share markets have remained volatile.

Locally, Stevens said recent data suggests the economy grew more strongly than originally thought in the first half of 2012.

“Labour market conditions also firmed a little, notwithstanding job shedding in some industries; the rate of unemployment remains low,” he said.

The RBA said its inflation outlook hasn’t changed, but that interest rates for borrowers have declined, to a little below medium-term averages.

It also said business credit has increased more strongly in recent months, though growth remains modest.

“As a result of the sequence of earlier decisions, there has been a material easing in monetary policy over the past six months. At today’s meeting, the Board judged that, with inflation expected to be consistent with the target and growth close to trend, but with a more subdued international outlook than was the case a few months ago, the stance of monetary policy remained appropriate,” Stevens added.

Last month’s rate cut to 3.5 percent was intended to stimulate growth in the economy, however not all the banks passed on the full 25 basis points cut.

The winner of Dynamic Business’ recent book giveaway via Twitter asked the following question: “My brand is trademarked, my content is copyrighted, my product is unique in the market, do I need a patent?”

As a general comment, Intellectual Property Law is that branch of the law which protects the intangible property rights in a “product” of human intellect and creativity. In the absence of Intellectual Property (IP) rights protecting such a product, third parties are free to copy the product at will. Although this may at first blush appear to be unfair, to ensure competition in the marketplace it is vital that third parties be free to copy products that are not protected by IP rights so that consumers are able to purchase the product from the supplier offering the product at the best price.

Trade marks, copyright and patents are forms of IP rights that protect different types of intangible property. Those rights can be summarised as follows:

Trade Marks: A trade mark is a “sign” that is used to distinguish the goods or services of one person from those dealt with or provided from another person in the course of trade.  Examples of trade marks are names, brands and slogans.

Copyright: Copyright protects unauthorised reproductions and public disseminations of an original work. Copyright protects the particular expression of an idea – not the idea itself.  For example, copyright subsists in original artistic works such as technical drawings. An important limitation to note is that copyright can not be employed to prevent third parties from reverse engineering utilitarian products that are sold on a commercial scale. For example, a person may reproduce a ballpoint pen by reverse engineering a sample of the pen without infringing any copyright. However, it may be that the ballpoint pen is covered by some other IP right such as a patent (see below).

Patents: A patent is an exclusive right to exclude others for a limited period from commercially exploiting an invention within a specific jurisdiction. A patent may be granted for any invention (for example a device, a method or a process) that satisfies certain requirements.

Registered Design Rights: A registered design protects the overall appearance of a product resulting from one or more features of shape, configuration, pattern or ornamentation of the product.

Returning to the question posed above, the trade mark will protect the mark that is used to distinguish the product from other similar products in the market, while copyright will protect content such as advertising material and brochures. The product itself, although stated to be unique, is not protected by any IP rights. If a third party, for example, decides to copy the product it is permissible to reverse engineer the product. If the third party then proceeds to use its own trade mark and develop its own marketing material, it will not infringe any IP rights related to the product itself.

The short answer is “yes”, patent protection should no doubt be considered. Based on the facts stated in the question it appears that it may potentially no longer be possible to secure valid patent and/or registered design protection as the product appears already to be available in the market. We would, however, strongly suggest that professional advice be sought as soon as possible on the possibility of securing patent and/or registered design protection for the product or any possible improvement thereto.

André Meyer is an associate at Spruson & Ferguson Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys.

The Export, Finance & Insurance Corporation’s (EFIC) latest World Risk Developments newsletter believes this is of concern for Australian exporters, with the two countries being key drivers of world growth and Australian exports in recent years.

China and India buy nearly a third of Australia’s total exports between them, being Australia’s number one and number four export markets respectively.

In China, growth in fixed asset investment, retail sales, and industrial production have all eased in recent months. Chinese fixed asset investment grew by 20 percent year-on-year in May, the slowest rate since 2001, while Indian GDP growth saw a nine-year low, growing just 5.3 percent year-on-year in the March quarter.

The composite leading indicators (CLI), designed to anticipate turning points in economic activity, have also found that economic activity in Japan and the United States is improving.

EFIC’s newsletter also shows the World Bank’s latest forecasts, which predict prices for most commodities falling over the next five years but remaining well above historical averages. This fall in prices has been caused by the period of high prices from 2003-2011, which led to investment in new capacity and rising supply.

However, one area that remains unaffected is aluminium, with prices expected to rise as current prices are at or below marginal costs for many producers.

The main downside risk to these forecasts, according to the Bank, is the further weakening of world economic conditions.

Most importantly, a sharper downturn than expected in China would have a particularly large impact, with China consuming over 40 percent of metal production, almost 50 percent of coal production, and approximately 60 percent of the iron ore traded in the seaborne market.