Flourishing in the “same same but different” continent

Between the Asian and Western (US and Europe) markets, the latter was once considered the more lucrative option of the two whereas the former was dubbed as slow-paced and laggard.

But this concept has changed dramatically over the past decade.

More and more international giants have steadily set foot on the Asian soil and are continuing to do so.

Asia now holds many profitable business prospects given its changing economic scenario — the steady progression of its countries are now leading more people to embrace technology.

Hence, there is a huge untapped potential in the developing Asian markets due to the surplus of mobile devices, internet accessibility, and cloud technology.

That being said, the big commercial ventures that have been successful in the Western markets have not yet been able to obtain a stronghold in Asian markets.

In fact, many businesses have tasted failure when they set foot there.

Why? That is because they have failed to alter themselves to better suit the Asian market.

See, Asia is a diverse community where preferences change every mile.

The local customs and traditions are so varied that businesses need to make a complete change in their marketing strategy or partner with local businesses in order to secure a place in the Asian markets.

Let’s see what challenges business ventures face when they decide to enter the Asian markets.

1. Which country?

First, know that each country in Asia is different.

India, China, Indonesia, and Japan — all these countries share very little in common from the language spoken to the food consumed.

In Asia, businesses have to use a step-by-step approach; taking one country at a time.

Once they familiarise themselves with one country, making a business mark on the second would be more easy and comfortable.

2. Similar yet so diverse

As pointed out before, Asian countries seem similar to outsiders but are in fact vastly different. Thus, businesses will have to sort out or alter their plans for each country based on local preferences.

Take McDonald’s for example. The fast-food giant famous for its non-vegetarian menus had to insert vegetarian meals when it entered India.

In a similar vein, Subway segregated its vegetarian menu from the non-vegetarian menu to avoid offending Indian sentiments.

Culture is the defining point of making a good entry into the Asian markets.

Imagine McDonald’s entering the Indian market with a completely non-vegetarian menu. Would it have been able to taste success with such a strategy?

So it is simple.

What works for the US and European markets might not necessarily work for the Asian markets.

3. Local competition

If you want to succeed in the Asian market you will have to deal with the stiff local competition.

Local businesses have flourished in their markets because they have a better understanding of the local preferences.

An Uber would not work in a country like Indonesia simply because locals prefer the two-wheeler ride here. That is because it is cheaper and easier to commute in the traffic snarls than hitch a four-wheeler ride on the roads.

This is where local businesses come into play.

They understand the local challenges better and design their businesses around it.

4. Payment options

Asia is a place that uses cash as its main mode of payment. And because of that, many businesses have failed to take off in Asian countries.

Therefore, the wise thing to do is to start accepting payments in cash. Remember that the card-only mode of payment would never work in Asia.

Another challenge is that of online shopping.

Also Read: Why brands fail on e-commerce and what they can do about it

Till businesses start to accept cash on delivery as a mode of payment, it will certainly find few takers in the Asian market.

5. Political challenges

The governments in Asia are very finicky when it comes to foreign investments.

Recently, many countries have tweaked their rules and regulations to be more inviting, of which cyber and encryption laws are included.

With the many cases of cyber data misuse, the Asian governments demand that the customer databases be maintained in their respective countries only.

These new laws on data protection have to be adhered to.

Also Read: On Cybersecurity and Digital Forensics: How Group-IB is Reshaping What We Know

The fake news issue on our social media platforms is another grave challenge that businesses have to resolve before entering the Asian markets.

This, in turn, requires sharing the customer database with the local authorities so that they have full control to monitor content closely.

6. Local mobilisation

For effective business strategy, it is wise for international businesses to align their interests with the local partners.

This will help them initially to gain ground and lay a strong foundation.

The local recruitments and the sourcing of raw materials also become easy once they partner with a local team which will help take care of rules and regulations.

The fragmentation found in Asian countries has definitely been a challenge that any business would face when trying to gain entry there.

Thus, this has to be rectified by finding trustworthy local partners.

Conclusion

Setting foray into Asian markets is easier said than done.

It is beyond the obligatory handshakes and the bows.

Many-a-times, you will need to micro-manage things to resolve disputes at the initial stages itself before it gets into a full-fledged problem.

Asia is every businessman’s dream. It is developing much faster than any other European or American nations.

Just get your priorities and risk recognition in check and seize this golden time to penetrate the Asian markets!

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