Top Tips For Conducting International Business – VistaTalks Ep 104

In this episode of VistaTalks, Kathryn Read joins host María Roa. Kathryn is an international sales and marketing consultant with over 25 years of experience developing products in more than 150 countries. Kathryn helps companies to break through international barriers, creating successful entrepreneurs and a thriving global marketplace. She is a partner at Uniconsult-Wick & Partner Consulting, focusing mainly on countries east of Austria, especially Asia!

When not traveling around the world, Kathryn enjoys playing clarinet in her local town’s wind orchestra or sharing her love of the outdoors with her Rover Scout group.

Having spent almost twenty-five years working for various companies in numerous fields, from automotive to baby food, Kathryn explains that she always had an idea that she would like to be her own boss.

Kathryn focuses on building strong relationships that form solid foundations for successful business relationships. A critical aspect raised early in the conversation is that companies must look at themselves internally and be very honest. They need to ask the question, are we ready to export?

Kathryn addresses another common question many businesses face: what are the most important things a business needs to consider when deciding to take their brand global?

In this episode, we discuss legislation and if any countries or geographies are more favorable for global expansion.

What countries are particularly challenging in this regard? Kathryn explains that the most demanding markets to enter are often very high legal and regulatory barriers to entry.

Kathrin discusses her thoughts on the US, Canada, Europe, and China. She conveys how China is a very complex market. Many people underestimate this complexity, which extends to the sheer level of competition in China and the challenges of conducting international business in this area.

As an international expert with a deep, insightful knowledge of expanding into Asian countries, Kathryn shares additional thoughts, including crucial learnings, opportunities, and mistakes she often observes.