August 5, 2005

AOL's Latin America Failure Can Teach Small Business So Much

When AOL launched in Latin America, everything could have gone great. However, USA Today writes

The failure is a result of getting into the area's Internet boom late, underestimating the competition and a stubborn reliance on strategies more suited to the U.S. market, analysts say.

AOL "was basically trying to transport their business model intact into Latin America," Gartner analyst Juan Fernandez said. "A lot of what differentiated AOL in the U.S. particularly really didn't relate well in Latin America."

When YOU launch your online operations, don't get cocky. Instead, be humble, learn, listen and HAVE local expertise. Don't think just because people in South Dakota like your cardboard boxes a certain way, that translates into Nigerians liking it that way. When going local, BE local.

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