The trend is obvious. US firms crushed by a credit crises and fear in the private equity and capital markets need to look elsewhere for money. Many are looking overseas for Chinese, Japanese, and European investment.

Hat in hand, our executives travel to these far off and distant capital markets in search of money to grow, and money to survive. Many come back empty handed.

How can a US firm position itself to get foreign investors?

1) Follow the first rule of sales: make it easy to buy. Put your literature, marketing materials, and website in localized forms for overseas audiences. When using English, simplify it. When selling a piece of your firm to Germans, have the courtesy to remember that English is not their first language.

2) Commit or Forget. Partnerships are harder than marriages. If you take someone else’s money, you take on their demands, curiosity and compliance requirements. You will need to cater to them, not the other way around. You may have business and social demands placed upon you.

3) Be extremely flexible. People from various cultures handle money differently. They may have meetings at times of the day or week that are unusual for outsiders. They may spend much more time getting to know you than you are accustomed to. If you can’t bend, you will break.

4) Forget the rush. When I hear things like: “We need Chinese money and we need it now,” then we know we have a recipe for disaster. Most countries move more slowly than we do. And our emergency is, quite frankly, not their problem. There is nothing more ridiculous than an American CEO telling a Chinese venture fund that they need the money in 30 days. Save the plane fare if that is your approach.

5) Make a safe haven for them. Investors need to know they will be welcome (not just their money). Make sure you have an appropriate place for them to stay when they visit, with appropriate meals and activities. Bring them translators and culturally sensitive people on this side of the ocean.

6) Ditch your NDA and your Non-Circumvent. That’s like starting a meeting and saying, “hello. I don’t trust you, but need your money.” And you won’t enforce them anyway, because you can’t!

7) No power point. No “canned” presentations. You will be better off asking your investors about themselves, their goals, their fears, and their frustrations in foreign investing. If you need to present something, use creative words and communicate to a partner, not an audience. Remember, business is not business. Business is personal.

Plan your investment meetings as you would sales calls. Have a schedule of meetings, a follow up program, a customer contact program, information sessions, and frequent get-togethers. It’s hard to sell Wall Street with a one-call close. How can you sell Hong Kong with that approach?

9) Listen, listen, and listen. Too many presentations (money raising or any others for that matter) are “presentation focused.” It’s better to ask than tell, and better to show you are listening than to be the best pitchman in history. Many cultures are indirect. Hence, you may require listening lessons.

10) Offer a menu of options for amount of funds needed. It’s best to offer more than one way to participate. The successful money raising deals I’ve been involved with utilized a menu of options. “if we get X, we can do Y and you, the investor, get Z. If we get X+2, we can do Y+3, and you get +4.”

11) Offer an array of options for the investment vehicle. Loans, equity, warrants, stock options and combinations of these vehicles should all be utilized to increase the investor’s comfort.

12) Don’t meet without “deal authority.” Nothing will be more infuriating to an overseas investor than someone who is representing the opportunity, but doesn’t have the authority to change or close a deal.

13) Be prepared to do favors. These can range from helping the investor’s other business interests (carrying their products, structuring their export departments, or training their staff for examples) to helping the investor’s personal interests (helping their children find housing in the USA, for example)

14) Consider opening a bank account in the investor’s country. Why should someone who is helping you have to deal with currency conversion, exchange rates and wire transfers? Remember that first rule of sales?

15) Consider opening a subsidiary of your firm in the investor’s country. This allows the investor a chance to recoup losses, have local presence, add or subtract funding as needed, while learning more about your business. It also shows a major commitment by you to the country and the culture

These methods should be used in combination with each other. None of them are a guarantee you will get your funding. Omitting most of them will probably guarantee that you won’t.

The term “America” or “American” will always strike emotion overseas. Many other countries seem more neutral, but the United States has its history, its power and its media.

Now more than ever, the United States is a controversial business ally. In addition to fighting two wars, we have a declining stock market, CEOs going to jail, widespread corruption in industry, banks that can’t lend and the biggest job losses in decades.

How then, can we possible sell our wares abroad? How can we overcome the new stigmas that are being piled onto the old ones?

Below are some survival tips for those firms that need overseas marketplaces. None of them are panaceas, (as there isn’t a single cure to our damaged reputation).

No moralizing: Companies and universities throughout the United States are continually talking about corporate governance and business ethics. Some universities teach courses on it. Firms are discussing it more and more. The sad truth is that few people believe it. Few people overseas ever believed that the United States was the moral and ethical leader of the world.
Now with constant scandals, CEOs taking bonuses the night before they receive government aid and a complete mismanagement of taxpayer funds, there is doubt we can ever talk about ethics without being laughed at.

If you want to be taken seriously overseas, don’t talk about your corporate ethics. Ethics are a suit of clothes anyway, so it’s prudent to remember that an overseas customer may have different ethics than you and still consider himself to be ethical.

Get local: The less you are an American, the less baggage you carry with you. If you can establish your firm as a local firm in your market (for example: you become a German firm in Germany), you will be seen as local. Localize your website, your marketing materials, your product and your staff. Let your German employees deal with your German customers.

Find a partner: If you can wrap your product in a foreign partner’s wrapping, you are doing better. Better for you to supply the technology to a Japanese website, or put your cereal into a French box, than to go it alone. The more French you appear to be, the more likely your French customers will buy.

Go person to person: Because international business is done though relationship, it’s time to think of yourself (not your firm or your country) as the business partner. You may be trapped in a country with controversy, and your counterpart may be living in an impoverished country, but it’s the two of you that have the bond, not your respective countries.

Bank overseas: One of the first things that a firm selling abroad should do is have a local banking relationship. Make it easy for your clients to pay you locally. Ask them which bank they prefer to do business with. This will enhance transaction ease and trust at the same time.
Remember we aren’t alone: If you’re realistic, you are carrying a sense of embarrassment with you. Because the current recession is indeed global, your counterpart’s country has its own woes and issues.

If you can remember that whomever you meet may have a sense of shame greater than yours, you can work on future cooperation instead of assigning blame.

Use “power distance” to your advantage: Power distance refers to the emotional distance between a citizen and those who govern the citizen. We call our president “Mr.” and critique him constantly (low power distance). We refer to our CEOs by name (often first names). Increasing that power distance helps separate you from your leaders. By contrast, the leader in Iran is called Ayatallah (reflection of Allah).

Offer financing: With trust at an all-time low, be ready to finance your deals for your clients. If you are shipping sports drinks to Mexico, you may not get paid until way after the drink is consumed. Be ready to wait and assist your clients in financing.

Be prepared to admit it: Telling an overseas business person that you don’t wish to discuss politics is the same as saying “I don’t want to know you.” Prepare to play the diplomatic role and be questioned on U.S. politics, progress and other issues. Admit our wrongdoings and ask for forgiveness.

Don’t take it personally: Listening to someone badmouth your country, your company, your family or even your street isn’t easy. Remember, most people have their opinions shaped. Few take the time to realize that while we have many firms in trouble, we also have firms that provide good wages, clean jobs and add value to society. We have a recession; things haven’t grinded to a haut.

These pointers should be used at the best of times to help with international market shares. They are certainly necessary at the worst of times.

Technorati Tags: international market entry, international business, global business, international marketer, Obama

1.Lack of preparation.
The three P’s of negotiation are preparation, preparation, and preparation. Do you know about the people with whom you will negotiate? Do you understand anything about their history, culture, or needs? Have you researched the firm you are speaking with, and brought in a guide to coach you as to what to expect? Is your negotiation team prepared, with each member having assigned roles and responsibilities?

Has your team practiced speaking through an interpreter (if that will be necessary)? Are they carrying the correct audio visual aids, and translated materials?

2. Lack of control
It is essential to try to control the timing, pacing and venue of negotiations. Where will these negotiations take place? Under what circumstances, and naturally, what points will be covered? Has your team submitted and agenda, and had that agenda been agreed upon? Has the negotiating team received the correct buy-in and deal authority from headquarters?

Most importantly, it is necessary to control one’s own emotions and prejudices

3. Assuming the other party is “unethical.”
The US “cards on the table” approach is seldom used overseas. Many negotiators have additional points or concessions they wish to discuss after the large, basic framework has been agreed upon. Many negotiators may move from point to point without necessarily agreeing on previous points, whereas US negotiators like to finish points, sign off on them, and move on.

The Japanese non-confrontational style often involves changing a contract and submitting it their counterparts, without any verbal discussion. This behavior often infuriates Americans, who feel that altering the document implies subterfuge.

4. Assuming the negotiations has “rules.”
Many foreign negotiators will not necessarily abide by agreed upon agendas, timetables, or protocols. When we negotiate overseas, we need to remember that we are guests in their country. Americans often feel that negotiation takes place at set places and set times. Japanese, Chinese, or Greeks may prefer to continue informal talks over Sake, food, or Ouzo. Russians can shake hands in a meeting, and expect the other party to abide by what has been stated, well before anyone writes it down and puts the agreement in writing.

5. Perceiving that whoever has more money, will win the negotiation.
Certainly Americans must have heard of union negotiations in the USA. Labor negotiations overseas are even more difficult, and the almighty buck does not hold the same clout in most markets. Asian factories can be difficult to work with, as those factories require finessing and nurturing as well. The one liner: “you may have the money, but they have the market.”

6. Sending in the wrong negotiators
This error takes many forms. “Meyer the buyer” who has been making coffee mugs in Asia since 1975 is not the correct person to negotiate market access in China. A Spanish speaking engineer should not be chosen to spearhead an acquisition in Venezuela. The greatest Mergers and Acquisitions specialist who needs to speak entirely through an interpreter and can only look at the financials of a deal should not solely be representing a firm in Malaysia. Americans often send in three teams to enter a market; a research team, a negotiation team, and an implementation team. This approach is also confusing to many Asians and Eastern Europeans, who seek one “champion” of the project.

7. Not getting your counterparts to buy into the process
So rarely do we actually “frame” a negotiation; whereby we discuss how we would like to proceed, what obstacles may exist, what the likely outcomes may be, and what strategies we may employ to solve differences. For example, are we using market rate to determine the value of a piece of real estate, or the building costs? And if we use market value, how will that be determined?

8. Not establishing a personal relationship with your counterparts
Business isn’t business. Business is personal. Most cultures don’t look at the deal as the end result, but the relationship which will last for many deals. Americans often find questions about family, friends, experiences, and hobbies somewhat offensive. These probing questions are asked so that the other party can get to know the people involved, and personal questions are meant to bridge, not to pry.

9. Time
The biggest difference between cultures is the perception of time. American s refers to time as no other culture does (overtime, spend time, waste time, time is money). And if we are to build personal relationships and iron out differences, then we need to be prepared to spend a lot of time; dedicated, executive time, in working together. A quick rule of thumb…if one is going overseas to negotiate, never plan on going for less than a week, and be sure to leave dates of the next meetings confirmed.

10. Assuming the contract is “holy.”
Americans place undo importance on the written contract as the binding document. But even in America, contracts are constantly broken, and renegotiated. Many cultures refer to a contract as an “outline.” The one liner: “1st a contract, then a negotiation.”

Technorati Tags: international market entry, international business, global business, international marketer, Obama

The trend is obvious: U.S. firms, crushed by a credit crisis and fear in the private equity and capital markets, need to look elsewhere for money. Many are looking overseas for Chinese, Japanese and European investment.

Hat in hand, our executives travel to these far-off capital markets in search of money to survive and grow. Many come back empty-handed.

How can a U.S. firm position itself to get foreign investors?
• Follow the first rule of sales: Make it easy to buy — Put your literature, marketing materials and website in localized forms for overseas audiences. When using English, simplify it. When selling a piece of your firm to Germans, have the courtesy to remember that English isn’t their first language.
• Commit or forget — Partnerships are harder than marriages. If you take someone else’s money, you take on their demands, curiosity and compliance requirements. You will need to cater to them, not the other way around. You may have business and social demands placed upon you.
• Be flexible — People from various cultures handle money differently. They may have meetings at times of the day or week that are unusual for outsiders. They may spend much more time getting to know you than you’re accustomed to. If you can’t bend, you will break.
• Forget the rush — When I hear things such as, “We need Chinese money and we need it now,” then we know we have a recipe for disaster. Most countries move more slowly than we do. And our emergency isn’t their problem.

There’s nothing more ridiculous than an American CEO telling a Chinese venture fund that they need the money in 30 days. Save the plane fare if that’s your approach.
• Make a safe haven for them — Investors need to know that they (and not just their money) are welcome. Make sure you have an appropriate place for them to stay when they visit, with the proper meals and activities. Bring them translators and culturally sensitive people from this side of the ocean.
• Ditch your nondisclosure agreement and noncircumvent agreement — That’s like starting a meeting and saying, “Hello. I don’t trust you, but need your money.” And you won’t enforce them anyway, because you can’t.
• No power point — No canned presentations. You’ll be better off asking your investors about themselves, their goals, fears and frustrations in foreign investing. If you need to present something, use creative words and communicate to a partner, not an audience. Remember, business isn’t business. Business is personal.
• Plan your investment meetings as you would sales calls — Have a schedule of meetings, a follow-up program, a customer contact program, information sessions and frequent get-togethers. It’s hard to sell Wall Street with a one-call close. How can you sell Hong Kong with that approach?
• Listen, listen and listen — Too many presentations (money-raising or any others, for that matter) are presentation-focused. It’s better to ask than tell, and better to show you’re listening than to be the best pitchman in history. Many cultures are indirect. Hence, you may require listening lessons.
• Offer a menu of options for amount of funds needed — It’s best to offer more than one way to participate. Successful money-raising deals utilize a menu of options. “If we get X, we can do Y and you, the investor, get Z. If we get X+2, we can do Y+3, and you get Z+4.”
• Offer an array of options for the investment vehicle — Loans, equity, warrants, stock options and combinations of them all should be utilized to increase the investor’s comfort.
• Don’t meet without “deal authority” — Nothing will be more infuriating to an overseas investor than someone who’s representing the opportunity, but doesn’t have the authority to change or close a deal.
• Be prepared to do favors — These can range from helping the investor’s other business interests (for example, carrying their products, structuring their export departments or training their staff) to helping the investor’s personal interests (helping their children find housing in the United States, for example).
• Consider opening a bank account in the investor’s country — Why should someone who’s helping you have to deal with currency conversion, exchange rates and wire transfers? Remember that first rule of sales?
• Consider opening a subsidiary of your firm in the investor’s country — This allows the investor a chance to recoup losses, have local presence, and add or subtract funding as needed, while learning more about your business. It also shows a major commitment by you to the country and the culture.

These methods should be used in combination with each other. None of them guarantee you’ll get your funding. Omitting most of them probably will guarantee that you won’t.

Technorati Tags: international business, international advice, international strategy, foreign trade, market entry, funny business

What the world told me about Tuesday’s election.

Who am I?
As a regular global business columnist for the DBJ, many have read my thoughts and tips on global business. My field is international market entry, and my firm specializes in taking firms into foreign markets through sales, distribution, acquisitions, and strategic alliances. I only mention this to demonstrate that I am in touch with people from overseas regularly, often daily. The magnitude of work my firm performs forces long term, intimate relationships with my clients and business associates. We are able to speak directly, and no issue is considered taboo. I’ve been at this for over 25 years, and worked on 6 continents in 72 countries.

Disclaimer
As a disclaimer, I cannot begin to speak to or surmise what 6 billion people think of the US Presidential election. My knowledge is limited to my own span of attention, and much of the reading comes from my own Outlook in-box.

Oddly enough, this weekend I was raking leaves at my home, when a woman from England came to my door to campaign for Obama. She and several other Europeans had flown in for election week. How many times have we heard of that? We all knew that the world has been watching this campaign, but this is the first I have heard of Europeans campaigning on US soil, for an American election!

This morning I woke to hundreds of emails congratulating me on our new President, and expressing cheer in my being American. The emails received from my colleagues expressed gratitude, relief, enthusiasm, optimism, and of course, curiosity. When companies allow you to build markets for them in unfamiliar territory, trust becomes the most important issue. Hence, I trust what I have read and heard this morning.

Some noteworthy examples (with names omitted for obvious reasons):

“Bill, it’s about time the world’s most powerful nation did something for itself….”
- CEO, French petroleum company

“You took your country back”
- CEO, Irish Media company

“I can’t begin to tell you how happy we are in London about America’s great success. We look forward to a different kind of soldier and a different kind of way to relate to each other”
- Chief of International Development, British Real Estate Development firm , one of the world’s largest property managers

“Maybe this guy will speak TO us and not AT us”
- Executive, Dutch Trading (import/export) company

“Dear Bill, The rumors that Obama is Muslim are outrageous. As a devout Muslim, it is difficult when Americans think that all Islam is bad, and therefore the best way to slander an American is to call him a Muslim. I do think that Obama will be the first American President not to hate all Muslims. Allow me to buy you dinner next time you are in Dubai.”

- CEO, Dubai and UAE investment firm

“I guess all Americans aren’t ugly”
- Secretary, Polish TV station

“Now we don’t have to hate you, or pretend to hate you”
- CEO of several Canadian companies.

“Does this mean we are safer now?”
- Japanese “salaryman” (middle manager at an electronics firm).

“With a man like Obama in charge, this is probably good for women.”
- Swedish commercial airline pilot (female)

In the past, my firm’s experience has been that many deals originating from the US carry a stigma. We are often shunned in business due to military, economic, or foreign policy issues. (All over the world, these issues are related to business. Most countries don’t “segment” them the way we do in the US. The Ford Motor company knows this, and conducts all international export and licensing activities through Ford Canada, a Canadian company.

Several years ago my firm had scheduled a 13 country sales trip through central Europe. Due to US foreign policy, most of the CEO’s had cancelled my meetings. Only the Poles met with me and enlightened me about the marriage between US foreign policy and US products selling in Poland.

“The door is now open”
- Polish entrepreneur and industrialist

Now it seems many of our cooling relationships with our allies can warm up, creating larger and better markets for US products and services abroad. We may even thaw the ice with some of the countries who have hated us the past, creating brand new opportunities for US firms. We have learned that the more we are entrenched with other country’s economies, the less likely we are to have war with them.

As the Polish entrepreneur said so succinctly,
“The door is now open”

Technorati Tags: international market entry, international business, global business, international marketer, Obama

Can manufacturers use a foreign trade zone to be competitive?

In 2000, Congress passed the Trade and Development Act, to create Foreign Trade Zones. Foreign Trade Zones (FTZ’s) exist throughout the USA to help domestic manufacturers save money and defer expenses. Think of an FTZ as a small island somewhere in the USA that is exempt from US Customs duties. An FTZ can be a port, part of a port, acreage in an industrial park, a warehouse, or even an office building! Anywhere goods can be imported, stored and then re-exported can be an FTZ.

According to the National Association of Foreign Trade Zones (www.naftz.org) activities that can occur in an FTZ include: assembling, packaging, destroying, storing, cleaning, exhibiting, re-packing, distributing, sorting, grading, testing, labeling, repairing, combining with foreign or domestic content, or processing. Hence. Almost any manufacturers dealing with imported material can benefit from an FTZ.

An example might be a bicycle manufacturer in Colorado. If the manufacturer is working with any imported components they can keep those components in an FTZ until they are ready to use them. They can also work on those components while they reside in an FTZ.

This means that the bicycle company will not pay any US duties on these components until they are ready to exit the FTZ (thus “entering” the US market).

This is a great boost to the company’s cash flow. By saving money on duties, the firm can order more pieces of components and take advantage of bulk pricing. And when properly managed, the finished product wouldn’t leave the FTZ until a customer was ready to buy bicycles. If the bicycles were being exported, there would be no US Customs duty whatsoever.

In our example, if the bicycle firm bought components from Japan, steel from China, and tires from Malaysia, and built bicycles for export to the UK, the firm could import all of these pieces duty free, build the bicycles, and then export them, duty free.

This alone could make any US manufacturer more competitive.

The benefits continue though. If that bicycle company uses imported machinery to assemble bicycles, then a portion of that imported machinery would also not incur US duties. The labor and overhead affiliated with the production process (for export) would also be exempt for US customs duties.

If the UK client returned bicycles to the FTZ, there would be no duty collected on those returns either.

Many firms don’t export, so let’s take an example with a domestic customer. What if the bicycle company was in Colorado, but its clients were say, in Pennsylvania?

The Colorado firm could store parts and produce goods in a nearby FTZ. After completed, the finished products could be shipped to an FTZ near the Pennsylvania client. Duty would only be collected when the bicycles leave the Pennsylvania FTZ for delivery to the client.

In many cases, such as with Swedish giant Ikea furniture, the duties incurred upon leaving the FTZ are borne by the customer. Ikea is able to offer its clients better pricing provided the clients take that burden, as many are willing to do.

Most manufacturers reading this article will be able to calculate their cost of duties, and their cost of capital to estimate their savings. However, few will be able to calculate the costs of the paper work associated with paying duties and registering goods. By consolidating into an FTZ, much of the paperwork associated with individual imports can be minimized.

FTZ users can engage a practice known as the Weekly Entry Procedure. This procedure allows the FTZ user to file one Customs Entry per week (as opposed to filing one Customs Entry per shipment). Picture our bicycle maker getting several hundred boxes per month, from various suppliers.

Only an employer can tell you their costs per employee, per minute. But if we assume a two dollar per employee minute cost rate, and save hundreds of hours in filing time per month, savings add up quickly.

The FTZ has several other benefits. Savings can occur on personal property tax, harbor fees, spare parts inventory, destruction of obsolete parts and insurance rates on inventory.

Landlords can greatly benefit by activating an FTZ within their real estate. If our bicycle manufacturer has several locations to choose from, it may pick the location that is already established as an FTZ.

According to the NAFTZ there are over 250 U.S. communities with zones, and all 50 states have zone projects. The FTZ’s handle some $400 billion worth of merchandise, and FTZ’s employ over 300,000 people. $19 billion worth of goods are exported from FTZ’s

So in short, some paperwork and compliance can save a manufacturer money and hassle, very quickly.

How much money can be saved?

To stay with a bicycle example, Huffy Bicycles of Centerville, Ohio claims to save over $1 million a year in duties and paperwork.

If your business spends more than $100,000 in duties and paperwork, an FTZ should be part of your plan.

Technorati Tags: international business, international advice, international strategy, foreign trade, market entry, funny business

1) Make no investment in the country. Don’t learn any of the
language, don’t read about the culture, and don’t visit frequently.
Why waste your valuable time?

2) Don’t spend any money. Use a “straight commission, no cure
no pay” business model. After all, no one else is interested in the
Chinese market, so remember that people are actually waiting around
for your product.

3) Keep those business trips short. The culture is over 4000
years old, but you can do a deal in a weekend. And if you can, keep
all meetings to 20 minutes or less.

4) Show the Chinese “who is boss.” Dictate all terms. Be as
inflexible as possible. This will force them to respect your
authority.

5) Don’t bother with costly translations and interpreters. If
these people don’t speak, read and write English, then it is your
duty to modernize them.

6) Ignore local laws. Law is law, but business is business.
Nothing hinders a deal more than difficult, ancient laws. To
overcome Chinese resistance, force your laws down their throats.

7) Arrive late to meetings. “A busy man is an important man.”
Command respect immediately by making the Chinese wait.

Remember the American sense of humor. The best way to get a
point across is using a little joke. Sex, religion and politics are
always suitable topics to pass a few laughs with.

9) Critique that government. Everyone admires the American
sense of free speech. If you disagree with government policies or
officials, don’t’ be shy about broadcasting your opinions.

10) Change that culture. If you are unhappy with “the Chinese way
of doing business” then do things your way. Live by the motto:
“It’s my way or the highway.”

Technorati Tags: international business, international advice, international strategy, selling in China, market entry, funny business

The whole world is watching the Olympics. And as we cheer on our athletes, can we cheer on our companies? What specific business opportunities is the Beijing 2008 Olympics creating for American companies?

Below are the top 10 that are the most apparent:

• The first three: English English English — English language, English media and English educational products.
English language instruction is paramount. We’ve seen it happen all over the world: When the Olympics come, the street signs become romanized (using letters instead of characters), and countries strive to learn English.

Any visitor to China will instantly see that the country is rapidly leaning English — businesses, students, even taxi drivers (who must speak three sentences in English to patrons). This creates opportunities for English schools, English learning websites and English workbooks.

English media is also desired, such as movies, DVDs, songs, bands and magazines. Even old, antiquated TV shows, “B” movies and unheard-of story books have a market waiting in China.

English educational products refer to products that teach in English. For example, accounting journals that teach accounting methods. There’s a strong desire for master’s-level curriculum on anything for agriculture to industry to medicine. Chinese production engineers want to learn the latest techniques, and to do so in English.

• Western service techniques — With more exposure to the West, the demands for service have changed. Hotels, airlines, restaurants and resorts need to learn to cater to Western tourism students and businesspeople. This new level of service may differ greatly from the old-style communist service industries.

There’s an enormous opportunity to teach customer service basics, sales, change management and problem solving in these industries.

• Chinese business education — China’s new leaders want business education from the best of the West. The large, famous Western universities are already in China.

However, there are many vertical markets that remain up for grabs. Associations such as the American Society for Quality (ASQ) already are teaching executives their ways. Western manufacturing standards are being taught in China. Environmental remediation firms are making inroads into China.

• Western business education (about Chinese) — China’s new markets bring opportunities for those of us who can educate Western firms about how to do business in China.

Cross-cultural training, interpretation and translation firms all receive enormous benefits, and there’s an eager audience in the West. The West needs to learn culture, standards, business practices, law, finance standards and, of course, Chinese languages.

• Promotion of Chinese brands (show off the technology) — The billions of dollars China is spending aren’t just to give athletes a better swimming pool or a nicer volleyball court. China is showing the world that it can be a world-class manufacturer, and that its technology and design will be second to none.

These new Chinese brands will need Western marketing muscle, technology and business savvy to efficiently penetrate Western markets. Western firms in advertising, logistics, marketing, distribution, media, law and finance all can seek new clients from China.

• Promoting foreign brands in China — We can’t all be Coca-Cola, which will spend billions to conquer the Chinese soft-drink market. We all can’t be Starbucks and open hundreds of outlets.

However, with the Olympics comes interest about Western goods and services. New Chinese consumers will thirst for Western soft drinks, hunger for our foods, crave our consumer products (hundreds of thousands of Iphones in China, which have been illegally unlocked) and be fascinated with our recreational activities.

Not only will the companies that produce the brands benefit, but so will firms that facilitate brand promotion. These firms include shipping companies, advertising agencies, banks that finance deals of this nature, brokers and consultants.

• Importing from China — As Chinese curiosity grows about us, so does our curiosity about things Chinese. Consumer food firms may wish to add a Chinese line. Chinese music has yet to be commonplace in the United States. Chinese games, sports and recreational activities (board games, dance and art) will find a new home outside Chinese borders.

Firms that can import these products or concepts will realize additional revenues, from their existing clients and from many new customers.

• Business centers (to help foreigners in China) — Planes full of Yankees are heading into China. Most of them have no Chinese market savvy.

When these executives don’t pay to hire the right people, or learn about the Chinese market, they’ll be in for a shock when they hit Shanghai.

Business centers are a common quick fix to this problem. A good Chinese business center should be able to supply translation, interpretation, training, logistical support, tourism, hotels, concierge services, health care and banking relationships to unprepared clients.

These centers aren’t restricted to China, and whoever takes this market space will enjoy a loyal clientele.

As we cheer on the Olympic Games, we should be aware of the business prospects that are created. We can do a lot more than put an athlete on a box of cereal.

Technorati Tags: international business, international advice, international strategy, Olympics, China, Olympic Games, Chinese market, Chinese business