How to deal with international business transactions

Is your company international? Before you answer the question for yourself, let’s quickly back up. You’re gut instinct may have been to say no because you deal with primarily with local clientele. That’s fair enough but what about your funding or your materials and supplies? Also, you might have dealings with clients online.

In which case, it’s almost certain some of your business proceedings occur internationally. But, international business transactions can lead to a whole list of problems. So, we have written this guide on how to handle them effectively.

Get to grips with legality

When you’re dealing with transactions, you’ll be under two different types of laws and regulations. One will be for the international company you are dealing with, and the other will be for your own. Different countries have trading laws that you must abide by when handling business transactions. Or you could find yourself facing severe consequences. For instance, if you are working in Britain you may find there are sanctions are trading with certain countries, or at the very least limits. But it’s not just about trades, it’s about contracts. A contract that might be binding in your country might be different in theirs. Again, this can lead to problems down the road so you might want to hire a lawyer to get you through the legal minefield that is international trade.

Cutting costs where you can

We think the main area that you can cut costs when dealing with international business transactions is travel. There are many business owners; you might be one of them, that believe in securing a deal you need a face to face meeting. But this isn’t true and in fact, more often than not, the person you are making a deal with would probably prefer a simple call. Of course, if you want to have a face to face meeting you can, but you don’t have to catch the red eye to do it. This is just building up your costs and you should instead use conference calling software. That way it will be like being in the same room without actually ever having to leave the office.

If you are travelling

While we do believe that in most cases travel is not necessary, there will be rare occasions when it is. But, you have to be careful here too and this is not about protecting your business, it’s about your own personal safety. You need to be completely aware of the economic and political climate of the country you are visiting. You should also make sure you have an accurate weather forecast and that you are not visiting in a tropical storm season.

Money transfers

Obviously international business transactions will involve currency exchange. To ensure this occurs smoothly, you should be using an online service that specialises in this type of transaction. That way, you can be certain your money is secure, and it will not be affected by any changes in rates.

We hope you have found this advice useful. Remember, every market is getting more global. If your business isn’t yet dealing with international transactions, it soon will be.