Exporting provides companies with great growth potential and even many small firms decide to go global even though their domestic markets are huge. Why? You may ask. Obviously, to the less adventurous this may seem like a daunting task, but it does hold many advantages. Some successful exporting companies point out the following reasons:

• Extend the Product Life Cycle - You can extend the sales life of existing products and services by finding new markets to sell them in.
• Diversify Risk- You can reduce your dependence on the customers you have developed in the domestic market.
• Balance FluctuationsIf your business is plagued by destabilizing fluctuations in your market due to seasonal changes or demand cycles, you can even out your sales by entering into markets with different or even countercyclical fluctuations.
• Exploit Know-how- You can exploit corporate technology and know-how in more virgin markets.
• Unlimited growth– obviously, we musn’t forget that once we have broken into the international market the world’s the limit.

But does exporting only provide rewards? As you can imagine you may reap great rewards from exporting, but to do this you must avoid the many dangers involved in turning a company into an international enterprise; this is no easy task and by no means risk free. Here are some pitfalls that you must watch out for when initiating international expansion:

Failing to plan your strategy – both small and large enterprises fall into the trap of lack of planning. This is vital to all business areas, but the higher the uncertainty the greater the importance of planning and there is nothing more uncertain than venturing into an unknown country.

Chasing inquiries the world over – Just because dozens of countries show interest this doesn't mean you're ready to market your product everywhere. Patience is key.

Assuming if it works in your country, it will work anywhere – This isn't true, you need to tailor your sales and marketing efforts to each country. Don't ignore the cultural differences of each marketplace.

Understand their language – Familiarise yourself with the local language and use interpreters. Knowing good Business English is an advantage, but don’t underestimate the need to speak their native language. People don’t buy what they don’t understand.

This is just the tip of the iceberg of the exporting topic. There is much to talk about here so we will most certainly further indulge in exporting in following articles.

What other reasons are there for export failure?

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