If you’ve never done business in Latin America before, you might be surprised by the experience when you begin doing it. For starters, business tends to get done much slower in Latin America, and you might get frustrated by it at times. In the U.S., everyone is always go, go, go when it comes to business, but in Latin America, deals take time to develop and even routine meetings can present unique challenges. Therefore, you need to develop patience when working in Latin America. Here are some other things you will learn.
Building relationships is incredibly important to doing business.
You might be thinking “Isn’t building relationships important to doing business in the U.S.?” right now, and the answer is obviously yes. Building relationships is essential to all business. But it’s even more important in Latin America, where it’s often considered rude to walk into a meeting and start discussing business right away. Instead, you need to form close connections with people and be genuine. Otherwise, business will move even slower than usual.
Keeping everyone’s emotions in mind during business deals is important, too.
Many Americans do their best to keep their emotions out of the boardroom. Even if they feel emotional about something, they often won’t speak on it. But in Latin America, emotions tend to play a key role in business deals. If you reject an idea or shoot down a negotiation, you could risk offending someone and killing a deal completely. You need to think about what you say and how to say it at all times before you say anything at all.
There are more risks associated with doing business in Latin America.
There is always going to be an element of risk whenever you do business anywhere. But it can be even riskier doing business in Latin America because the customs and cultures are different. Things that would be frowned upon in America are openly accepted in Latin America. So you could end up running into issues if you assume too much risk in business deals.
SMG Consulting Services can serve as a bridge for those companies looking to expand their businesses into Latin America. If you are currently making a push to do more business in the region, you should learn more about how we can help. Contact us today for more information.
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