Doing Business in India For Dummies®

Avoiding Potential Pitfalls

Conducting business from around the globe presents a set of challenges and concerns, and your dealings in India are no exception. Certain aspects of doing business in the West that you take for granted may not be guaranteed in India, and questions that you’re not accustomed to asking need to be addressed. For example, have you made certain that you’re not involved (directly or indirectly) with child labor? Are hazardous materials being used improperly?

This section sheds some light on the potential problems that you can face while managing your Indian business dealings from afar.

Make personal visits

You can operate your business without having a physical presence in India and be content with what you can achieve sitting continents away. But getting up close and personal may be even better. If it’s possible make the trip to India to see for yourself the way your business is being run. It’s hard for you to get a feel for your Indian business—no matter how large or small—without first-hand experience. See for yourself the setup and the people, make face-to-face assessments, and ensure that things are headed in the right direction.

Ideally, you should have a small team from your Western office in the Indian office initially, at least until the business is stable and running smoothly. Even for a tried-and-true process, a representative should visit the Indian operation periodically to conduct quality audits and proactively address other process improvement ...