Diversify Your Markets to Increase Revenue: Brazil

Right now the economy in the United States is struggling. Sales are down, the unemployment rate is up, and investments in real estate and the stock market are bleak - let's just say the US has seen better days. The good news is there is a solution to this - opening up new markets, either domestically or abroad.

There is a simple truth we must consider, and that is whenever one economy is struggling, another is thriving. So instead of being depressed about what is going on, as business leaders we should look at creative ways of how we can balance our businesses by serving new markets. Today there is a great place to target, and that is Brazil.

The economy in Brazil is thriving, and Rio has now passed New York as one of the most expensive places to live in the world. GDP growth in 2010 was 7.5% and expected to be similar for 2011. Classified as a developing nation in Latin America, in recent years Brazil has really turned itself around and is emerging as a new powerhouse and is the leading economy in not only Latin America but the world, being ranked last year as the 31st fastest growing economy out of over 200. More importantly, they have averaged over 4% economic growth for the past 5 years, a very strong indication the growth is stable. Compare that to the United States, which has seen an average economic growth over the same period of .82%.

Business leaders should expect this to continue for at least another 5-10 years. Brazil has been elected to host the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016, two events that individually have had tremendously positive economic impacts on countries (96 Olympics in Atlanta, 10 World Cup in South Africa). Having them back to back like this has never been seen, so the business environment should be intense. The reasons here are that when hosting these types of events, countries and businesses make huge investments in infrastructure and real estate anticipating the huge wave in tourists and external investments.

While this sounds like a great opportunity, jumping straight in will not necessarily lead to an increase in sales for your company. There is a different language, culture, business etiquette, and overall way of life that unless businesses cater their messages to accomodate they will fail.

First, one should start by studying the language, which is Brazilian Portuguese (slightly different that that of Portugal, similar to difference from the English spoken in the US and England). Not that one needs to become 100% fluent, but having an understanding of the language and at least attempting to throw in a few words here and there will go a ver long way. Even doing this domestically can help attract Brazilians with fat pockets to your stores, as can be seen with retail operations in Miami:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/28/us/miami-courts-free-spending-brazilians.html?_r=1

Next, if you have never conducted business abroad, you should look into a good cross cultural communication training program. Some psychology and communications experts report that only 7% of communication is verbal, and the remaining 93% is non-verbal. This includes the things like distance in between people, the clothes you wear, what different colors represent, the tone in your voice, and how you manage time. This all has a huge impact on the business etiquette, which one must be very respectful of in order to succeed in Brazil, where people do business with people and not companies.

Bolder Languages offers programs that can help you accomplish your goals, including classes in Portuguese and Cross-Cultural Communication, as well as market research, consulting, and translation services.

In the meantime, here are some other resources that will help you prepare for a business venture in Brazil:

http://www.maria-brazil.org/business_in_brazil.htm

http://www.doingbusiness.org/data/exploreeconomies/brazil/

http://data.worldbank.org/country/brazil

Vocabulary for Business Spanish - Banking

Here is some vocabulary you will encounter as you do banking in Spanish speaking countries. Keep in mind that each country may have its own set of words it uses.

Nouns

account - la cuenta
account balance - el saldo
bad check - el cheque sin fondo
balance - el balance
bank - el banco, la banca
bill - el billete
branch - la sucursal
business day - el día hábil
cash ratio , liquidity ratio- el coeficiente de caja
check - el cheque
checking account - la cuenta corriente, la cuenta de banco
clearinghouse - la cámara de compensación
code - el código
correspondence - la correspondencia
deposit - el depósito
devaluation - la devaluación
due date - la fecha de vencimiento
electronic transfer of funds (ETF) - la transferencia electrónica de fondos
entity - la entidad
exchange rate - el precio de cambio
foreign currency - las divisas
funds - los fondos
hours - el horario
loan - el préstamo
maintenance - el mantenimiento
mortgage - la hipoteca
number - el número
operations - las operaciones
overstatement- la sobrevaloración
password - el código de seguridad
portfolio - la cartera
reserve - la reserva
safety box - la caja fuerte
savings account - la caja de ahorro
signature - la firma
teller machine - el cajero automático
time deposit - el depósito a plazo largo
title - el título
transaction - la transacción
transfer - la transferencia
window - la ventanilla

People

The following can be made feminine by adding an a to the end of those that end in r.

auditor - interventor, el auditor
banker - banquero
bearer - portador
creditor - acreedor
customer - cliente
debtor - deudor
legal representative - apoderado
manager - gerente
teller - cajero

Adjectives

bounced - rechazado, rebotado
branch - sucursal
counterfeited - falsificado, falso
holiday - feriado
maximum - máximo
minimum - mínimo
monetary - monetario
mortgage related - hipotecario
payable - pagadero
private - privado


Verbs

to cancel - cancelar
to cash - cobrar
to deposit - depositar
to endorse - endosar
to fix - fijar
to guarantee - garantizar
to withdraw - retirar, sacar
to transfer - girar dinero
to loan - prestar
to issue - emitir

What does Globalization mean to you and your role in business?

I found this discussion online and wanted to share it with Bolder Languages' supporters. By reading the responses, you can appreciate how important it is to learn a new languages and step out of your own cultural norms.

This question was asked by Philo Holland senior globalization advisor, philos collaborative partnerships, on LinkedIn recently.

Please feel leave us your comments below too!

* Include industry you’re working in, your profession or function, your country of origin(s) – Where were you born? Where did you live until the age of 7?

Here are some of the responses:

Babu Mohanan

CEO Phykon Solutions

I will say that globalization has changed my life totally. Now I am able to exchange ideas with a global community and it has give me a lot of hope and confidence in myself. Coming to my business, I am in the IT field and its very existence in my country depends on the globalization.
I am heading a company(as CEO) in a little known small town in India. Until the age of 7 I was living in a remote village close to a forest. I still hold memories of people going into forest to collect firewood.

Tanja Marchman

Owner of English & German Virtual Services

Industry: Virtual Assistant
Title: Owner
Birthplace/until 7 yrs.: Nuernberg, Germany. Small village about 20 min. outside of Nuernberg.

In my industry globalization is a big part of the business. Since the idea of the Virtual Industry is that you can get assistance with your administrative needs from someone that is not located in your city or state or even country. So many things can be exchanged virtually these days, that I can promote my business to companies of all sizes in every corner of the world. And in this rather slow economy at the moment, it works to my clients advantage to use my services, rather then hiring a part time or full time person in their office, who they have to pay overhead expenses for. Since there are no overhead expenses to be paid for an independent contractor like myself, this can mean tremendous cost savings for my clients, plus they have more time in turn to focus on promoting their business globally, if they so desire.

Alvaro Arias

Regional Sales Manager at Schneider GmbH & Co. KG

I have lived in four countries. Am married to a lady born in a different continent where I was born. I email daily in different languages with people in different countries. I Skype with my parents, and talk to them regularly as if we would be sitting in the same table, as we did when we were living in the same city, some years ago.

At work, I am responsible for a geographical region which comprises many countries and cultures and obliges me to speak several languages. I take several planes every week, and can even take each meal in a single day in three different countries, and still sleep at home.

I would say this is globalization at 100% brought down to a quite basic level.

Denise Pirrotti Hummel

Founder and Managing Director at Universal Consensus

Without globalization, my company wouldn't exist. I am the Founder and Director of Universal Consensus, one of the largest cross-cultural training institutes and global development consultancies on the globe (we're in 14 countries). As for the answers you wanted (let me know why you're interested especially in where I was living until 7 years old.

Profession/Title: Cross-Cultural Consultant, Trainer & Curriculum Designer (Director)
Birthplace/until 7 yrs.: Brooklyn, New York, U.S.A.