Although both in Indonesia and in Korea I have found myself talking to local companies with regional and global aspirations, not every company wants to expand its business overseas. Here then are ten tips for remaining a purely local player.

1. Make sure your website is available only in your local language. Bad English is an optional addition.
2. Train your call center staff to just put the phone down if the person on the other end is speaking a language other than their own.
3. Ensure that no-one in your organization knows who to refer international inquiries to.
4. Focus all your communications on the things a domestic audience wants to hear – international perceptions of your company are irrelevant if you want to stay a local player.
5. Benchmark against your closest local competitor. There’s no point setting an international standard for quality or performance if you don’t want to compete internationally.
6. Make sure that any emails that you receive from overseas in relation to your product or your business are ignored for at least two weeks. For each follow up mail you receive, add another week.
7. Don’t worry too much about employee engagement. The ones that want to work for a global company will quit anyway and you can get by perfectly well without attracting expensive, top caliber talent.
8. If you are looking for outside support make sure you choose the cheapest possible option. After all, money is money. And see point 5
9. If you decide to market your brand, make sure it is absolutely indistinguishable from your competitors. Prominent, successful brands attract outside attention and you don’t want that.
10. Forget about transparency and corporate governance. None of your local competitors waste time on it, so why should you?

Of course, if you want to be an international player then disregard all the above.