American Dream No Longer All American

American Dream

Can you hear the giant sucking sound? The one Ross Perot warned us about in 1993 when the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was ratified? Well, it's more of a whirr, and it's global. The whirr is the sound of an efficient and robust world economy, accelerating as transportation systems for data and goods get faster, cheaper, and link ever-more remote peoples.

Barriers and borders have dropped. The result is that you're no longer in the U.S. pond, protected by its borders. You're now swimming and competing in one large ocean - planet earth.

The good news? The world is your oyster. You can dine on profits earned the world over.

The bad news? The world is now free to fish in your local honey hole, and it's no longer cost prohibitive for them to do so.

True, in one way it's business as usual. You need to continue to:

• Lower costs (yours and your customers')
• Improve value
• Find more customers

But the rules have changed. The opportunities for you and your competitors to do these things - lower cost, improve value and find customers - have exploded. Who will find and adopt them faster, you or your competitors?

Similarly, rapid change means your products and services will more swiftly move from 'best seller' to 'cellar'. You'll need to improve your products and services ... even reinvent them ... at a much faster pace. Re-create them before they are obsolete, using means available anywhere in the world, not just in the U.S. or in the English speaking world. Who will do so more quickly, you or your competitors?

The global pond is much more interesting and exciting. More places and many more potential customers. But there are also many more competitors. And more ways your established competitors can compete against you. To survive, and thrive, consider the following:

Get Focused: To be a player in a more competitive world, you must get better. You must be better. Focus on your strengths ... the things at which you can be the very best. Become a hedgehog, as Jim Collins labels it. Work at the center of your concentric circles (see the accompanying graphic). For more information read Good to Great by Jim Collins and the book review that appeared in the September-October issue of The Business Owner Journal.

Get Plugged-in: Technology is the grease lining the tracks of the global market bullet train. Communication technology. Shipping and logistics technology. Financial technology.

Technology can help you locate new sources for goods and services; obtain those goods and services more cheaply; advertise and sell more cost effectively; deliver more value to your customers; and listen more closely to the needs of your customers.

To compete in the modern economy, you must constantly be learning and experimenting with technology. For example, today you should be expanding your utilization of the internet, websites, email, blogs, podcasts, etc. They're not just "fun" or alternatives to the telephone and snail mail. They each offer unique attributes. Each is a special tool that should be in your toolbox and you should know how and when to use them.

Get Diverse: If you wish to find opportunity beyond the borders of the United States, you must populate your company with people from beyond its borders. Many business owners that have successfully "gone global" explain that by hiring a diverse workforce they were able to begin to more fully understand important differences in cultures and customs. Further, doing so helped them to spot opportunity outside the United States.

Get Relationship Driven: Whether your strategy is to source products or services overseas for sale in the United States, or sell your products or services overseas, it begins with relationships. People make the world go around. If you are to succeed in your international effort, you will do it by finding people who know the culture, customs and laws of your target market - people who live in the country you target and will take a special interest in guiding, or even leading, your efforts.

Where to begin? Your trade association will have members and staff with contacts in foreign countries. Another resource is your local U.S. Department of Commerce office. They have staff with relationships all over the world. The tourism and trade department of your city can also help. For example, sister-cities programs can be a great place to start.

Get Local: We've all heard "When in Rome, do as the Romans do" and "To get along, go along." When you strike up an overseas relationship, heed these two pieces of wisdom. People the world over conduct business and relationships in different ways. For example, Luis Doménech, a native of Mexico and an Oklahoma International Trade Representative, explains that closing a deal with a Mexican buyer usually requires a large lunch with appetizers, three courses, dessert, and a couple of tequilas. The conversation during lunch is about life in the other country, family, trips, and apparently nothing related to business. However for the Mexican buyer, all that conversation relates to business as he is learning how he will use the profits made with your products. If he sees that you have traveled the whole world, live in a beautiful place, have kids and are successful, his interest in working with you will increase. After the deal is closed, your Mexican buyer will most likely invite you to see his house, meet his family and dine in a nice restaurant. If that happens, your business in Mexico is going to grow fast. In Japan, business deals are closed not in a law office (U.S.) or restaurant (Mexico), but on the golf course.

Get Skilled at Change: Transforming into a global player will be quite a change. We've been insulated in the United States for many years. No need to learn other languages, customs or laws. But that world no longer exists. To continue to thrive, we'll have to expand ourselves - broaden our knowledge and learn new skills.
Push into uncomfortable areas. Try new things. We must become more willing to try, fail and try again. Just ask Don Ohlig, President of OLEC, a manufacturer of pre-press printing products. He's been selling overseas since the 1970's. It took him ten years to break into Japan. He says, "Persistence and patience is imperative."

In summary, you're no longer an American. You're a citizen of the world. Advances in technology, communication and democratization have made traditional boundaries of state and country all but meaningless. The change is profound and impacts every facet of business. It's opened new ways for you and your competitors to reduce cost, add more value, speed delivery and reach more prospects.

Sure, it's still 'survival of the fittest.' But in an era of change, survival will be reserved for those best able to listen, learn, adapt, adopt and focus on what they can do best.

The following contributed their experience and expertise to this article:
John L. Becker II, President - J. L. Becker Company (Plymouth, MI) Mike Lehman, President - Bard Manufacturing (Bryan, OH) Mark Jacobson, Vice President - Econocorp (Randolph, MA) Jerry Roby, CEO - IMC Networks (Foothill Ranch, CA) Louis Doménech M., Oklahoma International Trade Rep. - Oklahoma Dept. of Commerce (Mexico City, Mexico).