Buy Local – Sell Global

Earlier this year I attended the Business Matter’s Einstein Lunch whereby the discussion was around the concept of Buy Local, Sell Global.

There were some interesting discussions from the panellists and I thought I would share with you a couple of business thoughts that were put forward that you may be able to implement into your business:

1. Globalisation is here to stay, how do you adapt your business product or service?

Over the past 12 months we have seen numerous announcements of jobs going offshore due to the cost of labour in Australia. How do you as a business adapt to this?

In the marketing space we see that designers now need to focus on becoming project managers to remain relevant, as more and more design work is sent offshore.

More and more in the accounting industry, businesses are engaging bookkeepers offshore as opposed to local due to the cost savings. The need then is for our businesses to offer a higher level of knowledge about business and taxation.

2. Are we providing a benefit to another country by supporting Globalisation?

Gideon had an interesting concept that “as a nation we can help 3rd world nations improve their standard of living through the use of outsourcing”.

So whilst in business we are not only saving costs we are also helping other nations who cannot generated enough business within their own country to support the people.

3. Human factor of business

People also discussed the need for human interaction and the benefit of employees locally that you can sit and talk to. There are no culture barriers.

Overall the main points I took away from the discussions were:

1. There is no right or wrong with the debate. Every business is different and how you set your business up is through your belief system.

2. The world is changing and as a business community we need to ensure that our businesses are adapting to the changes so as to not be left behind. Also for those with children the skills they will need to enter the workforce in the future will be very different to the skills I needed when I finished high school.

What are your thoughts about this topic?