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CHAPTER 9 GROWING YOUR BUSINESS EMPIRE

are making consistent profits. At the same time, your business
model should be refined and your operations systems and
procedures should be in place. Only when your local business
can run smoothly without you doing the day-to-day operational
work can you (and your top directors) afford to spend the
time needed to build more businesses overseas.

Another indicator that you can use to tell you when you will
be able to open an overseas office, and make a success of
it, is when you start having demand from that new market.
For example, we started venturing into Indonesia two years
ago because we found that there were increasing, a large
number of Indonesians who were flying down to Singapore
to attend our courses.

Many of them learnt of my courses through the Internet and
through the word of mouth of friends who were working in
Singapore. At the same time, we found that my books (translated
into Bahasa Indonesia) were selling like hotcakes there. The
same was true when we entered other markets like China,
Malaysia and Vietnam.

So, do your best to build a demand for your products and
services -- even before you officially enter a foreign market.
The best way to do so is through the Internet. Advertise your
company’s products and services through the Internet and
specifically target those countries you are interested in
penetrating. You can even sell them your goods or services
direct through your website.

For example, Options University (from the United States)
decided to enter the Asian market recently because they were
already selling many of their options home study courses
through the Internet to the Asian market. In the two years

280 SECRETS OF BUILDING MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR BUSINESSES