Study your sources of revenue and rank them according to contribution to overall revenue.

Recognize your target market(s). Group your customer base by ethnicity, country, or any other classification that will benefit your marketing efforts. Find out the country of residence and local languages of your major customers. If this information is not immediately available, conduct customer survey to determine current customer profiles and potential markets; or find customer information from those closest to your customer base, such as your account representatives or customer service personnel.

Cost and Benefit Analysis. Prepare an estimate of incremental revenues associated with the projected localization effort. Do not include current revenues. They are not relevant because they include a number of customers who are doing business with you, even though you do not offer localized materials. A competitive analysis of local and/or international competitors will be helpful for revenue projections.

Proceed with the localization option only if you conclude that benefits exceed cost. Even if your business is conducted domestically, consider multicultural niches in areas, such as Los Angeles, where the Spanish speaking community is second to English in numbers of consumers.

In-house or sub-contract? Most companies prefer to sub-contract localization projects. Some have their own localization department due to high volume and because they prefer to have more control over the process. However, even these companies occasionally buy translations when the demand exceeds their staffing levels.

Project Review. Periodically, compare actual incremental revenues with historical revenues to see how localization is impacting your business.