Women Entrepreneurs GROW Global

International expansion offers growth and the opportunity to not only scale a business, but to diversify as well.  And you don’t need a big investment to pull it off.  Here are two cases to prove it.

Chris-Tia Donaldson, founder of Chicago-based Thank God It’s Natural, a line of hair care products for textured hair, grew her global audience through social media—the international orders and distribution requests flowed in from there.  The question for Chris was never should I do this [go global]; it was more, where should I go first?

Jamie (pictured) and Stephanie Kaplan, the sisters who founded Chicago’s Pinch Provisions, which makes “emergency” kits packed with miniature beauty products, bandages and other essentials, saw the opportunity to grow their business internationally fairly quickly but the key to exporting the kits was based on which regulations they thought they could meet as quickly as possible.  They launched in Canada, France and then the U.K., with Australia focused on next.

Chris and the Kaplan sisters offer the following four tips when taking a business global:

1. Decide where to expand.
2. Navigate compliance.
3. Build a retail strategy.
4. Cross barriers (whether it be language, cultural or currency fluctuations).

Read more:  How two scrappy Chicago beauty companies are nailing international expansion

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Note: Don’t miss our next WEGG webinar 6/8 on “Avoiding Scams, Fraud & Deceit in Your International Business: How to Conduct Effective Due Diligence,” and presented by expert Louise Kern. Register here: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3785897085114894084. Event is no charge but you must register in advance to attend.

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