Researching the Mexican market

Many messages I receive ask for assistance to find a particular type of business such as medical or computer companies. Often the person will state they want to find these companies "in Mexico".

Here's a potential problem. When someone simply asks to find companies in Mexico, what they are often saying is they have not researched the Mexican market. These professionals believe or "feel" that Mexico is a good market for their company's products or service. However, they may have few hard facts or industry reports to back up this belief about Mexico's market. I'm also making a generalization as if all of Mexico would equally welcome a company's product or service.

U.S. companies may assume that because their product or service is doing well in the U.S., this automatically means they will do well in Mexico. These companies could be correct. Or they could suffer massive losses as Wal-Mart did with the German market.

Wal-Mart is known as a company that does its homework before entering new markets. For whatever reason, Wal-Mart entered the German market without having a clear understanding of the demands and desires of the German consumer. Early on Wal-Mart suffered massive losses. One industry observer commented that Wal-Mart might eventually prevail but only because of the company's deep pockets. Last year, Wal-Mart pulled out of Germany. Imagine the billions of dollars Wal-Mart lost trying to enter the German market.

All companies including those of the U.S. would do well to emulate the example of Japanese businesses. They have a reputation of investing no less than two years to research a market before a sell is ever attempted. For many companies, two years is too long; however, the time spent on researching a market will give huge returns on investment either through increased profits or saving.

Preparation is vital for companies looking to enter the Mexican market. Research will provide guidance on where in Mexico your company should focus. When your company is ready to move forward, you will be working from a position of strength and knowledge rather than from a weaker position of uncertainty. And you'll be able to tell others exactly where you're going in Mexico.

Saludos,

Richard Villasana
Expert on Mexico culture, communication and business practices