If you’re not respected at home, don’t expect to be lauded overseas. Businesses all too often forget that the bigger picture is always subject to the smaller picture, not the other way around. As a business owner, you must be able to have a good stronghold of local consumers before you begin looking further afield. Why is this needed? Well, if a business cannot get to grips with the needs and desires of the people that live around it, it won’t be at that stage whereby it can understand a foreign market. It’s also a pride thing, as being able to meet the desires of your fellow countryman is something that should be taken very seriously. Businesses that don’t protect their patch, will soon find that they have been left behind and are strangers in their own home. So don’t overlook domestic customers and take pride in being their favorite brand to go to when they need a particular product. Also, you’ll be more respected in your industry if you are one of the top dogs from your nation, as they can see that you have earned the right to be recognized as a modern business success story.

Uphold and respect locals

Imagine for a moment that you wish to be an internationally recognized chocolate maker like Lindt. If you cannot create the best local delicacy and favourite chocolate treats, will you be trusted by foreign buyers to make their favourite treat? It’s a kind of proof is in the pudding thing. That’s why your business needs to focus on upholding the values and consumer culture of your local populace and not take your eye of their needs. This will need to start out small, by being well-loved in your city. Next you will need to expand outward in your region. And of course next is multiple regions to eventually conquering the national consumer world.

How you do this is by respect the desires of local people. For example, if you were an Italian bakery in Milan, your business should give the people what they want. Bake an item in the traditional way and keep it simple. Don’t take a favourite kind of treat and experiment with it or change the recipe. Just give the consumers who have history and culture in what they like, the products they want. Then when you have mastered this very simple concept and make the best, you can begin to understand other consumer cultures and make products for them.

 

Write a proud story

Content is still king when it comes to marketing. Brilliant business blog posts, great backstories and profiles of employees really does go a long way. Writing a proud story of your beginnings and the love you have for your customers, is something you need to be doing right now. Consider speaking to a professional SEO company that knows local SEO optimisation like the back of it’s hand. What they will do is first audit your profile and see where you’re more popular and for what reasons. Then after finding your local consumer base, they’ll begin populating listings with your content. There’s a big chance you’ll already have some kind of local listings as Google does show your address, phone number and location such as post code. Eventually, you’ll be floating around in these listings, so for anyone searching for a product or service you offer in your city or region, will be more likely to find your business. Of course, this comes with the need to continually make sure you’re optimisation is up-to-date with modern standards.

Show your face in public

Communities love to hold festivals and events that bring local businesses and local consumers together. That’s why the ‘farmer’s market’ is still so popular all around the world. Farmers that usually sell their produce to big food store companies and abroad, are still keen to have local people who they live among respect their businesses too. Showing your face in public at such events, strengthens your customer base. No business can hope to survive during tough times if it doesn’t have a very loyal and loving local customer base.

In fact you don’t need to wait for any kind of local celebration be it a holiday or festival, to show your face. You can set up a stand or booth in your local area and or hold some kind of public presentation. There can be competitions held where people can win prizes, they can be a potluck draw and perhaps a hands-on reward such as a personalised gift for a particular customer. If you don’t want to go out on a limb like this by yourself, you can always make this year the year you are the peacock of any festival. Maybe this Christmas you have the biggest decorations, the best prices and open your business doors the longest. Small things like this go a long way to showing appreciation for the local people.

Meet the press

Having your business splashed all over the front page or near enough of it, will boost your publicity levels higher around your city and or region. Whether it’s a local newspaper or some kind of regional broadcaster, speak to the press about your business. Maybe a media company is running a story in your city about business growth and consumer confidence. Let every media company in your area know that you are more than happy to be seen and heard on their station or in their newspaper. What this does is again, cement your name among the customers that live in your patch. You remain a figurehead of the community and show your rivals that you have strong roots which cannot be so easily destroyed. It’s also a sign of confidence that you have with the local population by appearing in the media. You have earned your right to say, this is your patch and you serve the consumers well with your products and services.

Every business needs to have a firm grip of their local consumer base. How can you expect to be successful overseas if you cannot hold onto your own patch at home? Focus on festivals and showing your face around the city and region so you remain a known business name with the local people.