So you’re confident that your business is ready to go international or has an appeal to international customers. In addition to shipping your merchandise, you’ll need some extra utilities to kick-start your new international business, such as the ability to receive orders, accept payments, and send receipts. Here are 5 helpful tools and apps to get your business off the ground and selling to foreign consumers.
UPS TradeAbility
In order to ship out orders, you’ll need to understand what you can and cannot do in an ever-changing shipping industry. UPS TradeAbility enables you to predict the cost of shipping internationally, keep up with foreign shipping laws, have your products quickly arrive at their destination, and reduce the risk of getting slapped with a fine or sanction. This is probably one of the best ways to avoid unnecessary hiccups when shipping overseas and provide better customer service.
Paypal
Whether you’re paying your vendor or accepting a payment from a customer, Paypal can help. Their services are widely used across 20 of the largest countries and they even have a mobile app so you can access your money anywhere you are. There are fees involved, however. For each international transaction you’ll be required to pay 3.9 percent of the transacted amount and an additional fee for receiving the money. Don’t let this deter you, however. Paypal is still a great tool for accepting payments securely and quickly.
MetroFax
When sending and receiving faxes, such as receipts and statements, you might wish you had a better and more efficient way of doing so. While you can stick to doing everything the old fashioned way and be tied to your fax machine or computer all day long, know that your smartphone can be just as helpful. Save time and resources by downloading the mobile version of MetroFax to send and receive faxes on the go.
In addition, you’ll receive a multitude of features, such as competitive international rates, and others that are too numerous to name. Suffice to say, there are more than you’ll ever need and the app comes in an easy and understandable format.
Google Translate
This may not seem important now, but later down the road when you’re struggling to translate those documents or customer service requests from your customers, you’ll wish you had this tool. Google has made it fast and simple to translate different dialects so that you can understand what people from other countries are saying without losing your mind trying to find proper software.
U.S. Department of State
This allows businesses in the U.S. to compete with foreign traders without letting them have an uneven playing field. They allow you to have access to various departments, websites, and services that are strictly there to help promote international trade and let you do so in a way that best suits what you’re trying to sell. Additionally, you can keep up-to-date on trade regulations and know what you can and cannot do when selling products or services to overseas clients.
Conclusion
Being informed is half the battle, though you should also take advantage of the tools available to you that can aid you in your success. Don’t let yourself fall behind the competition and always aim to please your customers. Whether you’re sending faxes on your phone with MetroFax, accepting payments through Paypal, or shipping your packages across the ocean, you’ll never be at a disadvantage.
The post 5 Apps and Tools to Help Your Small Business Succeed Overseas appeared first on MetroFax Blog.
