This is not a secret. Most multinational corporations already know that they should be diversified across a number of markets, not just the United States. They do so by localizing their products, or services, to a variety of foreign markets. This approach seems to be ignored not only by small to medium companies based in the United States, but also very large foreign companies that happen to consider the United States and the European Union their only sources of revenue! This makes sense from the perspective of such foreign corporations, considering that the United States and the European Union together account for over 50% of the world’s Gross Domestic Product. However, there are markets out there that businesses could easily tap into if they were so inclined. At the very least, diversifying revenue streams can minimize any potential impacts resulting from local regulations or other geopolitical actions beyond an organization’s control.
By localizing your product or service, you may be able to increase your organization’s revenue, possibly by a signifcant amount. Granted, there may be reasons preventing you from doing so, and you may need to take action to help you get to the point where your organization is able to localize your product or service to a new region. Issues such as protecting your intellectual property rights, trademarks, among other legal issues may stand in the way, though once resolved, you may be able to expand upon new territory and capture market share that your competitors only dream of.
To support the argument that a significant percentage of revenues could be coming from other countries which do not happen to have English as among their high-ranking languages, one need only review corporate financial filings of a limited number companies. It matters quite little what type of product or service is being delivered by any given company, the truth is that by localizing your product to a variety of significant markets abroad, it may be possible to gain a new set of customers that one would not normally secure within one’s own borders. Further, there may also be customers within the United States or the country which you reside in that could benefit from your product or service in their own native language of origin.
Finally, while there may be additional costs in tapping into additional markets through way of sales, marketing, and support (not to mention currency differentials and foreign taxes), there may be additional streams of revenue that could suddenly be tapped into. These new revenue streams could help lay the groundwork for your company to establish itself abroad as the leader within your industry. Best of luck!