Exporting?

Going global is a big step for many companies who are only familiar with their domestic market. It is important for the health of your business to really know why you want to export. On average, it takes about a three-year commitment to establish a presence in a foreign market. This will require the resources of people and finances during this developmental period. Checking the feasibility of the venture is an obvious exercise before you go global.

You may want to examine whether your interest in exporting is market driven, or
product/service driven. Here’s the difference...a market driven entry would look at what the foreign market wants, and how you will fulfill that need. A product/service driven entry would be, here’s what my company offers, now let’s find sales in a foreign country. The common link is that both require feasibility and a lot of resource planning.

Preparing an export plan is a fundamental first step in any export strategy and will help structure your decision-making throughout the entire export process. Developing a simple, practical and flexible plan will help you focus your activities to ensure you achieve defined outcomes.

The purpose of developing an export plan is to assemble facts, constraints, and goals into a comprehensive action statement. A good plan will lay out what needs to be done, a timeframe for completing it, and allow for marking each milestone in order to measure success.

http://www.unzco.com/basicguide/table2.html
A sample outline of an export plan.

http://www.wiuec.org/workshops/IntTrade/indexImport.html
This website provides questions you may want to ask yourself as you develop a plan to expand into the global market.

http://www.freebizplan.org/export-plan.htm
A more instructive guide to developing an export plan. Includes templates for outlining strengths, weaknesses, goals, etc.

http://www.smallbusinessnotes.com/
Information and resources for small business owners. Contains many useful resources when developing an international trade plan.

http://strategy.sauder.ubc.ca/antweiler/baim500/exportplan.html
The University of British Columbia provides a plan that you may find valuable as a beginning exporter.

http://www.buyusa.gov/northbay/
Getting started exporting


Remember that good market research allows an exporter to have confidence in the market they plan to enter. Targeting the correct consumer base and exporting the right product could make all the difference in your export experience.

Market research should always begin by researching previous studies of markets as well as other information available on the internet or in libraries. It is far less resource-intensive than primary research and can be conducted in a more timely manner. Secondary research will most likely have been collected for a reason other than your own, so it is benefi¬cial to gather from a variety of sources.

http://www.sba.gov/idc/groups/public/documents/sba_program_o_ce/oit_bitg3rd_wb.pdf
An international marketing plan workbook that asks important questions and covers many important topics such as setting goals and de¬ning your strategy.

http://fita.org/
Federation of International Trade Association’s website an excellent source for international trade leads and events. It also links to thousands of international trade related websites.

http://www.census.gov
Government website covers research on regional business profiles and statistics,
demographics and geography.

http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/www/press.html
Reports about exporting from the United States as well as useful statistics.

http://www.uschamber.com/default.htm
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce provides a start for secondary research.

http://www.buyusainfo.net/adsearch.cfm?search_type=int&loadnav=no
The Market Research Library; select your industry and this tool will pull articles and research that may be of use.

http://www.americaneconomicalert.org/news_home.asp
The American Economic Alert provides recent news from around the world that could affect your export business.

http://www.citd.org/Booklets/index.cfm
Center for International Trade Development’s resource guide to finding the best market for your product.

Perhaps the most common method of payment, a Letter of Credit (L/C) is a letter from a bank guaranteeing that a buyer's payment to a seller will be received on time and for the correct amount. In the event that the buyer is unable to make payment on the purchase, the bank will be required to cover the full or remaining amount of the purchase.

Understanding a Letter of Credit
http://www.crfonline.org/orc/cro/cro-9-1.html