Recently, a small-scale survey was interesting.
Over the past month, a cross-border platform surveyed hundreds of small and medium-sized business owners, narrowing down more than 150 questions to create the "Annual Question" list.
These questions cover a range of topics, including market selection in the context of new trade dynamics, industry development paths, and the application of new technologies. Despite their diversity, each question is simple yet highly practical, perfectly capturing the essence of today’s challenges, and they are the types of “choices” that every international entrepreneur faces in their daily operations.
These questions likely represent the key concerns of today’s global entrepreneurs. Building on these insights, EJET Global has added three more questions based on our observations, hoping to provide additional perspectives for reflection.
In today’s uncertain environment, should businesses focus on developed markets or emerging markets for expansion?
Given the backdrop of global uncertainty, trade professionals need to assess the risks and opportunities of different markets to determine the focus of their future business strategies. Developed markets tend to have mature consumer bases, stable environments, and higher purchasing power, but they also come with intense competition and higher entry barriers. Emerging markets, on the other hand, often offer greater growth potential with unmet market needs and untapped opportunities, although they may also face challenges like underdeveloped infrastructure and less stable regulations.
In this competitive landscape, should businesses deepen their presence in niche sectors or expand horizontally into new markets?
As competition in international trade intensifies, the trend of market saturation, or "involution," has become more prominent. Focusing on niche sectors allows companies to specialize and develop a competitive edge by deeply exploring market needs, enhancing product or service precision, and improving customer loyalty. However, this approach may face limitations in market size. On the other hand, expanding horizontally requires businesses to break out of existing niches and venture into related or unrelated fields to seek broader market space and growth opportunities. This strategy demands stronger resource integration and adaptability but also involves new competitive challenges in unfamiliar sectors.
In the face of technological disruption, is AI more beneficial for startups or established enterprises?
AI, as a rapidly advancing technology, has had a profound impact on the international trade industry.
For startups, AI can be a game changer in improving operational efficiency and reducing costs despite limited resources. For example, AI-powered marketing tools can precisely target potential customers for effective market promotion, while AI-driven customer service systems provide 24/7 support to enhance customer experience, helping startups gain a foothold in a competitive market.
For established enterprises, which typically have more extensive data resources and streamlined business processes, AI can enable deep data analysis and mining. This allows businesses to make more informed strategic decisions, optimize production, management, and sales, and further strengthen their core competitiveness, facilitating transformation and upgrading.
In the context of today’s foreign trade professionals, which is more valuable: the success of the first generation of entrepreneurs or that of the second generation?
This question reflects the different environments and challenges faced by entrepreneurs from different generations.
The first generation often entered the foreign trade industry in the early days of China’s reform and opening up, when the market was less developed, information flow was limited, and resources were scarce. With courage, wisdom, and perseverance, they built their businesses from scratch, laying the foundation for the development of China’s foreign trade sector. Their success is a testament to hard work and determination.
The second generation, on the other hand, inherits their family businesses and faces new market conditions and competition. They must balance tradition and innovation, preserving the strengths and competitive advantages of the previous generation while integrating new ideas, technologies, and management models. Their success requires substantial effort and strategic vision to ensure sustainable development in today’s market.
In the reshaping of global supply chains, should businesses stick to localized procurement or pursue diversified sourcing?
As the global supply chain landscape evolves, this decision is crucial for foreign trade enterprises.
Localized procurement allows businesses to establish strong, stable relationships with local suppliers, ensuring better control over product quality and delivery schedules, while also helping to reduce transportation costs and mitigate risks associated with trade tensions. However, localized sourcing may be limited by the availability of resources and price fluctuations from local suppliers, which could restrict opportunities to obtain cost-effective raw materials and components.
Diversified procurement, on the other hand, enables businesses to tap into global supplier networks, leveraging regional resource advantages to secure better quality materials at more competitive prices, ultimately boosting product competitiveness. However, this approach demands higher supplier management capabilities as companies must navigate diverse trade policies, cultural differences, and logistics complexities, which increases the uncertainty and management costs associated with the procurement process.
In the wave of green trade, should businesses take the lead in green production or wait for clearer industry trends?
As global awareness of environmental protection grows, green trade barriers are gradually emerging.
Businesses that take the initiative in green production can establish a strong corporate image in international markets, catering to the increasing consumer demand for eco-friendly products, which in turn can help capture greater market share and command brand premiums. Additionally, early adoption of green production may offer advantages such as government policy support and subsidies, strengthening their competitive position in the long run.
However, green production often requires substantial investments in equipment upgrades, technological research, and process improvements, leading to higher short-term cost pressures. Businesses opting to wait and see may save costs in the short term, but they face the risk of having their products outdated or eliminated from the market once green industry standards are established, potentially putting them at a disadvantage in future market competition.
As cross-border e-commerce flourishes, should businesses focus entirely on online channels or maintain the dominance of offline traditional channels?
The rise of cross-border e-commerce has opened up new sales opportunities for foreign trade enterprises.
By fully embracing online channels, businesses can break geographical barriers, directly reach global consumers, lower marketing costs, quickly gather market feedback, and implement targeted marketing and personalized services. This increases sales efficiency and profit margins.
However, offline traditional channels still hold significant advantages, such as long-term stable relationships with clients, face-to-face communication that enhances customer trust, and the fact that certain large orders are still predominantly handled through offline channels. However maintaining the dominance of offline channels could cause businesses to miss out on the tremendous market growth opportunities offered by cross-border e-commerce, gradually losing ground in the digital era's competitive landscape.
These questions may not have answers. Each business owner must evaluate their situation, resources, market positioning, and long-term strategic goals, weighing the pros and cons carefully to make the most suitable decision. This is the key to success in the journey of going overseas.
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