Doing international business by having customers or business partners from all over the world is always exciting, but also can be tricky sometimes. Different time zones, currencies, languages and connectivity can complicate the daily work. By using the right professional tools, you can control those constraints, and you can handle your international business without further headaches. In the music industry and the associated creative industries, we usually do not know borders and frequently collaborate with people from everywhere on the globe. Let me show you five handy tools that facilitate your international business!
1) Transferwise
Since years, I am a satisfied customer of Tansferwise, a service that enables you to transfer and exchange money in various currencies without paying the ridiculously-high fees of the traditional bank system. Another benefit is the always up-to-date, real exchange rates (mid-market rate) that are usually also better rates compared to the banks. From experience, sending and receiving (Transferwise's borderless account + free Mastercard also available) money takes only a few minutes and is faster than everything I experienced before. Separation of private and business accounts is also possible. Excellent products meet great design and fair fees - a no-brainer since I started using the app.
2) Rebtel
Rebtel allows you to call every phone number in the world via an internet connection or your local phone line just paying a small fee to Rebtel instead of huge and non-transparent fees of your phone provider. The app is well-designed and easy to use. Furthermore, speech quality is just fantastic! I regularly use Rebtel to call landline numbers in the US which is free of charge! All other countries have different fees, but those are super transparent. I highly recommend this app when you regularly need to call phone numbers overseas and cannot do Skype calls for any reason.
If you want to give Rebtel a try, click here to register and get a 5€ welcome credit!
3) Time Intersect
Time Intersect is a powerful tool to manage the difficulty of different time zones involved in your daily business life. The app helps you to keep track of the various time zones your customers or business partners are located in, to find the best suitable meeting time and to provide you with useful information about specific locations such as currency information, visa requirements or specialities regarding the outlets in the country. A lot of functions are already available in the free version. However, the smart meeting planner and the removal of the advertisements requires a one-time-payment of 5,49€ for the Pro version.
4) WeTransfer
Since 2009, WeTransfer is an excellent choice to send large files through the internet to your business partners, service providers or customers. You upload the data to the WeTransfer service where they will be stored for a particular time. The recipient receives an e-mail with a download link of your files immediately after the upload.
The free service allows a file transfer of a total size of 2 GB and a file availability of one week. The so-called WeTransfer Plus makes a transfer of up to 20 GB per delivery possible, provides you with 100 GB of online storage and the possibility to protect the file transfer with a password and to define the duration of the files' availability. The Plus version costs 120€ per year.
5) Dict.cc+
Even if we speak several languages, our skills may differ between the languages, or we do not know quite specific terms in a certain language. Therefore, I am sure that everyone would agree that a fast and easy-to-use offline dictionary is always a helpful tool in an international business environment. I sometimes had the situation when I needed to look up a specific term during a Skype conference quickly, and Dict.cc+ installed on one of my mobile devices helped me a lot in such moments. The fact that this app is downloading the full language packages on your device, you do not depend anymore on Wifi or mobile internet connection. Dict.cc+ can be part of your app collection for only 0,99€ per year.
What are the tools that you use every day for handling your international business? Let us know in the comments below.