Business networking across boundaries

The world is getting smaller; the barriers for movement of people, products and services have largely been removed.  Therefore it is now very easy to look outside your country for networking and business opportunities.

Travelling abroad is easy, and thanks to the low cost airlines it is not very expensive either. Of course it’s wise spending a bit of time in planning before rushing off to the airport and catching the first available plane and this is mostly because a planned trip will most likely be a successful trip.

Will your trip be a study trip or a networking trip?

Study Trip- Research your product or service in other countries and identify a company that you would like to engage with.

Ensure that the product target market, business size and production capabilities are attainable within your business. There is no point visiting a Coca Cola factory if you're selling drinks to your local shop. Coca Cola production costs and marketing strategy will not be relevant to you!

Networking Trip- Search for events such as conferences and check with local business supports and networks to see if they are aware of the upcoming events.

If the local language is different to yours, promotional material should be translated into the local language if possible. Promotional material in English however is used throughout Europe so should be acceptable if your budget does not allow for translations.

Basic knowledge of common phrases in the local language is polite. There are some great online courses available for free for example onwww.livemocha.com, or otherwise look for language schools in your area that have simple beginner's conversation classes.

Once you have identified where you will go and what you will do, try to extend your stay for a day or two more in order to allow for other bi-lateral meetings that might arise. It’s never a good idea to go and disappear immediately after meeting, especially if you want to network and make contacts for your business.

Planning your participation is important so make sure that you have all that you need with you before travelling – whether it is business cards, brochures, profiles, product samples (if easy to carry) and PowerPoint presentations with photos of your product or service.

Remember that business culture in the country that you will be visiting might be a bit different to what you are used to. Check out the European Business Culture module for more information on meeting and greeting in Europe.

After the trip make sure that you try to follow up as quickly as possible. Put all the business cards and company information of the people that you have met in a database (or even a simple Excel). Email them, stating how pleased you are to have met them and that you look forward to cooperation between your two businesses in the future. After this, email your new contacts with further information that may be of interest to them. Making contacts in other countries requires a lot of time and some expenditure but it is a good way of establishing links for your business. These will be some of your most useful contacts when doing business abroad.