Unparalleled Opportunity

China represents a remarkable export opportunity forWestern businesses. It is a country with 1.4 billion people and an emerging middle class of eager consumers, and many are captivated by the United States. You see it in streets of the largest cities (Shanghai alone has over 24 million people), where everywhere you look you see young people with English language messages on their t-shirts and other apparel. Advertisements for Western productsabound.

Chinese culture, however, is thousands of years old and anyone attempting to conduct business successfully in the country needs to be sensitive to its nuances. At the same time, just like everyone else, the Chinese are living in the modern world with modern wants, needs and perceptions of themselves. Further complicating things, China is big country with various regional dialects and differences. While they are by and large eager for western products, a cultural misstep could doom a brand’s prospects in China.

The Chinese Marketis now opening up to medium and large companies in the West, creating unparalleled opportunity. The challenge for exportersis determining where they fit in this vast market. From our experience, it is virtually impossible to do this without leveraging in-country relationships. Much of US business is relationship-based: mutually beneficialtransactionsnaturally lead to opportunitiesfor more transactions and more profitability, leveraging the strengths of the familiar parties involved.

It is much the same in China—only the cultural and official landscapes represent unique terrain that must be thoughtfully navigated. Avela Consultingexists to help Western companiesfind the right path to their market niche in China.

The potential for profitis huge, but having the right team is essential. This can involve both Big Dataand Small Data Market Research to identify and define the most profitable segment within an enormous market. In-country marketingcan build a culturally sensitive program to effectively reach that segment, assembling components such as social media, traditional media, key opinion leadersand others as warranted. These components, it should be noted, come with their own sets challenges in China. For instance, while social media is key to any campaign, it is in state of constant flux as technological enhancements and new networking options ripple across the countryside.

On the administrative side, we can make sure the proper boxes are checked and the paperwork filed to protect intellectual property, facilitate logistics, minimize tariffs, smooth the customsprocess, handle warehousingand provide customer service.

This is what we at Avela do: we have been building business relationships for the benefit of our clients in the West since 2002.  As China opens up to import trade with small and medium-size businesses, we are putting those relationships to work for exporters willing to dare to succeed in a land and at a time of unparalleled opportunity.