What it takes to succeed in emerging markets
• Do your homework – You have to know the market. Finding a local partner—a business
owner with similar interests or an adviser who knows the landscape—is your first step.
• Gain familiarity – You have to understand cultural nuances, as these will allow you to see
the full potential. Social and religious beliefs often drive the nature in which businesses
operate and have an impact on consumer spending patterns. Familiarity with these nuances
will help you adapt your product or service to best fit the local market.
• Focus your market entry strategy – Recognize that countries like India have diverse regions.
If you’re focused on a specific region, you must tailor your market strategy to that region.
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• Apply what you know – Canadians have a
lot to offer in terms of capital, technology
processing, infrastructure, efficiency, and
supply chain management experience.
Build a strategy to take what you know
and adapt it to the emerging market.
• Think long-term – You have to have
patience when it comes to everything in
an emerging country—from changing
consumer habits to red tape. If you want
to get in quick and make money right
away, an emerging country like China or
India might not be the market for you.
• Tap into available resources – Beyond
your network of advisers (accounting
firms, law firms, colleagues, and peers),
there are numerous organizations that can
support you in developing and executing
an emerging-markets strategy specific to
your business. These include:
Business associations, such as the
Canadian Chamber of Commerce, the
Canadian Council for the Americas,
and other associations focusing on
specific emerging markets (for
example: the Canada-India Business
Council and the Canada-China
Business Association); and
Government organizations, such as the
Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade
and Development Canada, provincial
trade ministries, Export Development
Canada, and emerging countries’ high
commission and consulate offices in
Canada.
Do you have an emerging-markets
strategy?
Canadian businesses need to focus on where
the growth opportunities of the future will be.
If the rapid pace of growth in these emerging
markets is any indicator, the opportunities
are heading east.
Sukesh Kumar is a partner and head of the
India Desk at KPMG LLP in Canada.
THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
16
CPABC in Focus • Feb/Mar 2014