For this assignment we had to pitch for VERYSUN on further steps for entering the European Union market. But how do you enter a new market?
Step 1: Check the social weather
What do people know about your product? Is it new to them? Do they want to use it? Is your company relevant for this new target audience?
Step 2: Do a background analysis
Check what the negative aspects are of your product. What is the public opinion on your type of product in the country you want to establish yourself? Are there any laws that either benefit or hurt your plans?
For VERYSUN, we concluded that tanning salons are not really common in the UK. The UK is considered a self-tanning country. Which is a challenge for VERYSUN. There is also an age restriction in most EU countries that needs to be taken into account.
Step 3: Create a stakeholder map
Gather all known and unknown (potential) stakeholders and put them in a map. Rate the stakeholders based on interest and power. See who you need to involve, who you need to inform and who can help you.
Step 4: Look at the objectives (and be realistic)
What can you do to be accepted into this new environment. Dream big, write down everything you can come up with. And start to categorize and prioritize. Be realistic, because you probably will never change a fundamental law in a short time frame. And if you can do that, please contact me because I really want to know how.
Step 5: Come up with a strategy
What steps will you take before, during and after launch. Especially the last part is usually forgotten. But it is a crucial one. You have to keep working in order to keep being needed.
Step 6: Measuring
Measure, measure, measure. It is important to see if what you are planning is actually working. And if it is not working, you need to see what you need to change in order to fix it.
Step 7: Hope for the best
In the end, you can only hope for the best. No matter how great of an idea you have, how brilliant your execution is, if nobody is buying you will go out of business.
Below you can see how we took this steps for VERYSUN.
