Are you considering starting a business abroad or are you already there and want to continue delivering your product to the South African market? There are several resources that can be utilised to help even the smallest enterprise do business globally. Doing business online is the obvious choice and research by eMarketer indicates that global online sales will exceed the $6,5 billion mark in 2023. That is 14% more than in 2019!

Guess which countries are the easiest, cheapest and most convenient to start and manage online businesses in? Topping the list is Denmark, then Switzerland, the Netherlands, the United States of America, Norway, Sweden, Singapore, Germany and Canada. If you consider factors such as internet speed, business tax, payment systems, registration procedures, number of internet users and logistics, these countries are way above the rest. Singapore, for instance, has an average internet speed op 229,42 Mbps, in Canada the process of registering a business usually takes no longer than two days, and Switzerland’s postal services scores full marks in every category. Regardless of where you are in the world, you can use online resources such as Ecwid, TradeAbility, Paypal and Lingo.

Ecwid

Ecwid is a web platform that allows you to create a free website and synchronise it with any other platforms such as WordPress, Instagram or Amazon. You then only need to create one website on Ecwid while it synchronises with three different websites, each aimed at a different target market or country. You can also link other market platforms such as a Facebook shop. It is the ideal tool when you do business in more than one country and need to operate more than one website. Ecwid also connects with your paypoint if you have a physical shop and automatically updates your stock. This means you can operate a shop and sell your product on Amazon, while everything is synchronised on one platform.

TradeAbility

One of the biggest challenges in operating a business across borders is courier services. If you have a business abroad but need to ship your products from South Africa, you can use UPS’s free international courier app, TradeAbility. It makes it easy to calculate courier costs and check import tax. Apart from UPS, Fedex and Aramax also offer good options to make international shipping possible.

Paypal

Paypal is probably the best way to receive and make payments abroad. The full range of their services are available in 20 countries, and they charge a 3,9% transaction fee. Paypal integrates with most web platforms, and you can draw money from your Paypal account via your normal FNB account. Cryptocurrency will also be used increasingly in the future for international transactions, and you should consider enabling cryptocurrency as a form of payment on your website.

Lingo

Operating a business abroad means clients still have to be able to conveniently reach you. There are better options for international calls than WhatsApp, Skype or Google Voice. Lingo offers unlimited calls to 45 countries at a set monthly fee of $23,95. Clients can easily contact you and at a minimal fee you can be reachable all the time.

To start operating a business in another country can be challenging, but with a few reliable online resources, software and the willingness to learn, you can achieve anything. Stand strong and discover new markets abroad!