Why Localize At All?

This question seems more dangerous than it really is.

You should be asking it at the beginning of your localization lifecycle, because you need to convince yourself and others in the organization that the effort will pay off, or at least that the gamble is worth it. The decision to go global ripples to every department in the company, and some companies in certain vulnerable points in their life are not ready for it.

But you'll transform the question from, "We shouldn't localize at all," to "We shouldn't localize right now." So you engage in healthy waiting.

Later in life, after a few rounds of localization, somebody will pose the question again. "The extra revenue isn't worth it. We're spreading ourselves too thin. Why localize at all?" This too is healthy questioning. (There's usually a "Why don't they all just learn English?" from somebody on executive staff. It's best to just smile and steer the conversation away from such ratholes of hopeless ethnocentrism.)

At this point in company history, you'll likely rephrase the question to "Are we really localizing as smart as we could be? How can we do it more efficiently and only for the most profitable regions?" You'll introduce more efficiency and raise the profile of localization.

Go ahead and keep asking "Why localize at all?" It's good for you and for your organization. Start worrying when nobody poses the question any more.