Are British Companies Easy Prey?

They certainly seem to be when it comes to transitioning overseas. As more and more UK companies want to escape from a fairly flat home market into more attractive opportunities in the EU (notably Germany), they are in danger of becomíng victims of ruthless and low-quality service providers intent on making money.

Take translations: Very few British people outside the academic world can speak any other European languages. A British marketing manager intent on entering an EU market will be faced with the daunting task of having all the promotional literature - brochures, information material, newsletters, tags but most prominently websites - translated into a foreign language which he or she will have no clue about. It’s all gobbledygook.

And unfortunately, this is often what the translation reads like, too. If you are a German or French speaker, you can easily check yourself. Bring up any UK website and click the foreign language (flag) button. I was so shocked by one of them - Next Fashion - I actually wrote to the Marketing Manager and told them that their German website was so badly translated, it was almost incomprehensible. Fortunately, they reacted quickly and have now got a much better German website and newsletter.

A badly translated website isn't just an embarrassment. It can do serious damage to a company’s reputation - bearing in mind that it won't be as well-known as in the UK - so will be judged largely by its promotion and presentation.

Of course, the transition into another country is not just about translation. It's a step into a fairly different culture where other priorities, cultural signifiers and different tastes have to be carefully considered. Whilst not as intricate to handle as say, Japanese culture, European countries have their own sensibilities and ideas. For example, over-empasizing the money saving aspect - which is undoubtedly an important promotional tool in Britain - may come across as odd on a website designed for the continental consumer.

It's not uncommon for companies who did inadequate market observation, intelligence and research to fail. Domino's, the pizza company, just had to issue a profit warning because their German operation underperformed. A clear case of the company not having done its homework - and a costly reminder what can happen if you don't.

Here are 5 tips that companies looking to expand abroad should follow to avoid the most common pitfalls:

1. Spend time researching the market you’re looking to enter. Does it really make sense to come in as a new player who is largely unknown, when the market is already saturated?  (pizza delivery is a good case in point).

2. Talk to locals about your offering - website, products, communication collateral, before you actually do anything. Engage a transition specialist to help you negotiate this, they will be happy to improve even small details which count for a lot: Native-speaker consumers will notice anything odd

3. Invest in the highest-quality translations you can manage. This means not chosing any available translation agency but spending time finding a truly bi-lingual person - they're rare, but worth the effort.They will get the tonality, not just the wording right - so your positioning is attuned to local needs, and locals "get it" immediately. Great for business, especially when you're just starting out.

4. Start with small test markets before you go national, use them as learning grounds. Always listen and learn - engage in ongoing market research, qualitative and quantitative.

5. "Continually adjusting" is the recipe for overseas success. No one gets it right first time in foreign markets - there are too many things you might be unaware of. The trick for success is to keep listening, monitoring customer feed-back continually - and then to adjust as quickly as possible. Marks & Spencer got it horribly wrong first time in the 1990s - now they're back with better translated websites, and locally relevant ranges -all of which will translate into healthy topline growth.

Europe Is What You Want It to Be

What is Europe? Nobody knows - and even reduced to a geographical concept it tends to get a bit murky in the East - are  the Urals its border? Who knows? Europe is obviously something different depending on your viewpoint. It could be a postwar dream of a peaceful harmonious union of thriving countries working together amicably. It could be a similar concept to the United States of America. Or it could be the ugly bureaucratic face of a monolithic ogre.

Whatever it is, it isn't ONE thing. It's a multi-faceted concept which - importantly - is subject to change, and can be changed and moulded according to specific needs, most obviously economic ones.

So... if you don't like what you see, or you think it should be different, or put more emphasis on an aspect you find important - why not change it accordingly? Say, you think there should be more ethnic minorities represented in the European Parliament, then why not make yourself heard? Why not actively go out, and do something about it?  Because you can. Everthing is possible. There are so many initiatives, grassroot movements, working groups of all descriptions, internet opportunities to take part in, to ask questions and get answers, to move things around when it comes to European affairs.

I agree that they may not be brilliantly communicated (maybe the EU knows better than to waste money on expensive PR campaigns - unlike so many local governments?) but they are there. A little internet research will open up a whole avenue of participation and interactive opportunities. You can follow every EU organisation on social media, thousands of EU representatives are on twitter, and will actually follow back and engage in conversations,  they're very active and approachable! There is stuff for children, for teachers, for language-learners, for students.. you name it! Just have a look and get involved, have your say!

But don't just shoot the whole thing down on the basis of grumpily saying "Naa, bunch of bureaucrats who got us into the mess we're in". Because it isn't like that.

Europe is fun, it's varied, it's anything you'd like it to be. Just give it a go!