You wake up between Egyptian cotton sheets and brew a pot of Colombia coffee after getting dressed for the day (in a shirt from Mexico and pants made in Sri Lanka).  Then, you get into your Honda filled with gas from Venezuela or the Middle East.  In the US, we are surrounded by imported products and services.  Have you considered exporting your product?  After all, overseas markets may have a need for your product just like you need theirs.  Before you start doing market research and making plans, sit back and look at the current state of your company. 

 　　Why do you want to export?

　　Are you looking to grow sales, to have a more diversified customer base, or something else?  Make sure whatever the reason is, it fits into your company’s objectives and organizational structure.  Exporting will not be a good quick fix for slow domestic sales.

 　　How is the current production load? 

　　Are you at production capacity?  If so, would you be able to fill international and domestic orders?  You don’t want to neglect domestic orders from, especially from repeat customers.  These customers will help pay the bills while you build your export base; losing them is a big mistake.  If you need to add capacity (overtime hours, additional equipment, etc.) to fill both domestic and international orders, how much would that cost? 

 　　If you are under-capacity, would the money and time spent on marketing overseas be better spent marketing domestically?  Are you doing all you can to attract domestic customers?  Attracting domestic customers is usually easier than attracting foreign ones because there are no language, cultural, or trade barriers to overcome. 

 　　How committed is management to exporting?

　　Successful exporting businesses have support from top management that allocates resources toward the export business.  Export operations will not likely be self-sustaining immediately and will likely need at least one staff member dedicated to handling international orders.  In addition, management should decide what their expectations are for the export effort and what level of return they expect on it.

 　　Do you have any international expertise already?

　　Does your company have employees fluent in other languages?  Or international sales experience?  Look around and see if any of your current employees have international skills.  Also, do any of your domestic customers buy your product for sale overseas?  If so, you already know one market that wants your product.

 　　After you’ve taken stock of your objectives, capabilities and expertise, you can begin the next steps for pursuing export markets.  These include making an export plan (this is similar to a business plan), finding markets, developing a marketing plan, making product changes for your export market, and determining your shipping and payment methods.  Sound complicated?  Attend “Expanding Markets Through International Trade: Export Opportunities in Imaging” at SGIA ’07 in Orlando, FL.  You’ll get prepared for the challenges of doing business abroad and learn about the best exporting opportunities for the specialty imaging industry.