Achieving success when bringing a product to the US market can be a daunting prospect for New Zealand businesses. However, understanding the requirements for success is paramount to making it in this lucrative yet competitive marketplace.
You must meet several requirements to achieve success no matter where your business originates from. Aspiring entrepreneurs or established businesses need to understand the desirability and feasibility of their products and how they can be developed for long-term sustainability. Below we’ll explore each requirement in more detail so businesses have a better understanding of what is necessary for success.
Before you begin
The first and most essential requirement for any product entering the US market is to meet certain standards of quality and safety. This means that all products must comply with the regulations set out by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as well as those imposed by other relevant regulatory bodies.
In addition to meeting quality and safety requirements, New Zealand businesses should also consider if their innovation has an adequate level of protection from counterfeiting or theft. It is essential to consider trademark registration as well as alternative methods such as trade secrets or patents in order to protect intellectual property rights when selling a product in the US market. If you want more information on this read my blog post here.
1. Validating Desirability
The first step in ensuring your product will succeed is validating its desirability. This involves assessing whether consumers actually want and require your product. Before moving forward with co-man searches, distributors or marketing, businesses should thoroughly research the target audience and ensure that their needs are being met through their product. The product should offer something distinctive versus other offerings in the marketplace in order to gain the interest of the consumer and also convince the retailer there is a reason they should be looking at your product to increase the performance of their category. Additionally, businesses should consider feedback from potential customers and test out different prototypes before settling on a final product portfolio that is suitable for the market.
2. Ensuring Feasibility
The second requirement for success is developing a strategy for getting your product to market and identifying the selling channel where you are most likely to have success. Are you looking to manufacture locally or will you be shipping your product from New Zealand? Are you planning to sell direct to consumers or is retail an option for your brand? Once your strategy is determined it is important to make sure that your products can be made commercially and at an appropriate cost which will vary depending on your strategy. In order to do this, businesses must assess the cost associated with producing their goods, including materials and labor costs. They must also figure out logistics around storage and shipping the items, as well as create a plan for how they will market the products once they arrive in the US market. When developing a marketing plan it may be beneficial to incorporate a degree of market research into this process in order to gain valuable insights into customer preferences and behavior patterns. Lastly, businesses should factor in any additional taxes or fees that may apply when selling items across borders to accurately determine profit margins before starting operations.
3. Developing Long-Term Sustainability
The third requirement for achieving success with your business is looking at the market with longevity in mind. In order to make sure that your business remains sustainable over time, it’s important that you consider trends within the industry to help you stay competitive within the marketplace by anticipating customer demand before it happens. Engage with customers directly through surveys and social media conversations, keep on top of market data using a provider such as SPINS and constantly keep on top of insights into what people want.
Utilizing Resources
Finally, businesses looking to bring their product into the US should take advantage of any available resources which could help make their venture successful. For instance, organizations such as New Zealand Trade and Enterprise provide invaluable information on topics such as exporting goods or setting up operations in overseas markets respectively. They can also provide personalized support such as advice on taxation laws or assistance with securing potential funding opportunities which could benefit new endeavors.
In conclusion, if you’re looking to bring your product to the US market successfully, validating desirability, ensuring feasibility and creating long-term sustainability are all key components of achieving success in this endeavor. By gaining an understanding of what consumers want from their goods upfront as well as researching associated costs beforehand, businesses can set themselves up for success by taking these factors into consideration prior to launch day. It’s important to invest time into effectively researching where to focus and how to win – this will serve any business well on its journey toward success when entering a new international marketplace such as The United States Of America!
