You can never learn too much and, of course, language proficiency is always a good aid in any type of business. However, if you are in Cuenca and you own a bookstore, you probably will spend your whole business life without speaking anything other than Spanish. The Internet language is still English. Though there is a big growth of Spanish and other languages, being in the day and “feeling” the United States is a great help.
Many entrepreneurs who come to see me don’t know English. In some cases, they can’t even read it. This is a major drawback; the big opportunities, in many cases, are in the coming together of companies from different countries, and the communication between them is in English. Not speaking English relegates you to a group post and limits your international growth -on the other side indispensable to create big Internet companies- leaving the local market as your only objective.
There are companies that may grow large within only one market, but they are few and they must be the absolute leader of it. It is more profitable and simple, in many cases, to unite with other entrepreneurs with similar companies to create an international leader in any sector.
As bothersome as it is, English is key in many buying and selling negotiations for Internet companies. Bringing a translator is not a good solution.
Translated by Babelic.com
