Having worked in the US market for over 12 years and dealt with hundreds of Australian companies trying to crack the world's largest consumer market, I have seen first-hand what makes for a successful market entry strategy. In my series of articles I will outline some of the tricks and traps of doing business in the States.

If I had a dollar for every time an Australian company said to me "If we only get one per cent of the US market we will have it made - I would be a rich man." True, the US market is one of the largest and most lucrative in the world but it is also one of the most competitive. Careful planning therefore, will save you a lot of time, money and energy. A common mistake Aussies make is thinking of the States as one market. Many shake the hand of the first person that shows interest in their product and grant exclusive distribution - Big mistake! It is in fact made up of many significant markets and companies need to carefully segment by geography and industry focus.

It may be that you decide to target only one State or even one region within a State as part of your initial market entry. You may be surprised to learn that 6 US States (California, Texas, New York, Florida, Illinois and Pennsylvania) rank in the top 25 economies in the world. With this in mind, when deciding on your target segment/geography you need to be sure that you do not become overwhelmed by the scale of supply needed to satisfy the demand. Market research is key in this respect and luckily the States is rich in terms of readily available information whether it be statistics on industry scale and demographics or databases of potential distributors and customers.

The bottom line is to take your time, both in segmenting the market and then choosing the right partner for your initial market entry. This will pay off big time in the long run!

"Failure lies not in falling down. Failure lies in not getting up." (Traditional Chinese Proverb)