Think Globally— Act Globally

Excuses, excuses.

It never ceases to amaze me how so many U.S. suppliers refuse to look beyond the North American market for new opportunities.

I've put the question to dozens of execs over the past six years. Most reply that they already sell to the largest consumer market in the world; the rest isn't worth the bother. The quantities are too small, the logistics too inconvenient.

However, to hear the folks who are making the effort tell it, there are more 100-store and 200-store chains out there than one might imagine. At last week's Heimtextil trade fair, a number of exhibitors mentioned new business coming from emerging nations. The three most often-cited areas were Eastern Europe, Russia, and Dubai.

Some are selling directly into these markets. Others opt for licensing their brands. One exec who's opted for the latter marveled at the respect with which brands are treated outside the United States, with shop-in-shop concepts in some nations, licensee-supplied in-store attendants in others, and regular advertising of brands in consumer shelter books in many.

China and India, as the mass consumer business media keep reminding us, represent enormous potential for the future. I've yet to meet anyone who's cracked either market (except, of course, some of the manufacturers native to each). At a time when numerous off-shore manufacturers are shopping for joint ventures and — especially those from India — U.S. acquisitions, the potential for getting a foothold in a rapidly developing market might be a factor worth considering when evaluating a potential deal.

Another reason I hear for not doing business outside North America runs: "All my stuff's made in China, not America. How am I supposed to pass it off as an American product?"

Well, Nike manages to do it. So do a lot of other globally distributed "American" brands. And remember, once upon a time, nobody in Japan or Europe or Australia or China had heard of any of them.

The global option may not be right for everyone, but there are a lot of creative, niche suppliers out there for whom a 150-door placement at Bed Bath & Beyond represents major business. So why not a 130-door placement in the United Kingdom, or a 40-door placement in Russia?

You allergic to money or something?

Carpe mundus. Seize the world.