LetterBoxChocs is a brilliantly simple idea - 16 luxury Belgian chocolates and a card presented in beautiful packaging, ready to post and designed to fit through any letterbox.

Not settling for strong UK sales, founder Nico Nicholas carefully tailored their product for key overseas markets including France, Germany, the Netherlands, Scandinavia and Greece – researching the intricacies of each postal service and localising the website, cards, packaging and even the brand name. Since exhibiting at the world’s biggest confectionery fair in February 2009, their overseas revenue has grown to 90% of turnover. “LetterBoxChocs was a great idea, but we needed to build on that to make it an international success,” said Nico. “It’s paid to think carefully about the culture of each target market, and above all to speak their language.”

There's no better time than Global Entrepreneurship Week (16-22 November) to hit the world stage. Think about the culture and languages of your markets and like Nico, you can reap the rewards. Just follow these three steps:

1. Plan for success: our Language and Cultural Planner will point you to tailored advice and solutions, whether you need to localise your website or train your team to handle overseas enquiries. 
2. Get online advice: watch video clips created by RLN London which answer key questions on languages and culture for international trade.
3. Talk to the experts: get a subsidised Export Communications Review through UK Trade & Investment or attend upcoming market briefings – Asian markets (1 December), Ukraine (3 December), Brazil (14 January). 
4. Find the right supplier: whether you need to localise your website or train your team for overseas enquiries, the Service Finder makes it easy to locate language and cultural experts.