Business Expansion
FedEx is a corporation offering worldwide delivery services to other corporations, government entities, individuals and anyone who is interested in quick, efficient and safe delivery of documents and other packages throughout the world. As such, FedEx is constantly looking to expand into additional marketplaces and geographies. Understanding the local economies and cultures of the areas of expansion are key to a successful launch and ongoing profitability when servicing the new areas.
Considering all the various factors that can ensure a profitable expansion venture is an important part of the decision process. A recent report determined that "companies have more than enough data to tell them when, where and who is buying their product" (Neeley, Warnica, Lorinc, Castaldo, McCullough, Nowak, Toller, Beer, Evans, Melanson, Barmak, McCullough, Shufelt, 2013, p. 36) but that is only part of the equation. Knowing who is buying your product does not necessarily equate into those people buying your product. Additionally, just because those customers might be purchasing your product, does not guarantee that they will do so at a high enough rate to make the entire venture profitable. A recent article in Money magazine by the Small Business...
48). Pofeldt states that you may have to work with customers that have to be taught what services you have to offer and to make sure that your services are not only profitable for your customers but are equally as profitable for your company as well. Pofeldt states "working with customers or offering products that can't achieve healthy profit margins can sap time and stifle growth" (p. 48).
FedEx will not only wish to ensure that they have willing customers regularly purchasing profitable services but the company will have to consider other factors as well when seeking to expand into Canada. Comparing the size of Canada to FedEx's largest customer base (the United States) shows that Canadian expansion would be a large and costly venture. Brigit M. Klohs talks about 'going global' in a recent report in the Economic Development Journal and states that "successful economic developers must have a solid strategy for how, why, and where they can effectively build international business relationships" (Klohs, 2012, p. 27). FedEx is already firmly established in many…
