Exporting from a position of strength

In over 15 years of consulting I have come across many businesses which have decided that they need to grow faster and that clearly the best opportunity is to ‘go international’.

Perhaps the most extreme example was an in-house IT department which had developed a ‘product’ which they felt had potential in other organisations.  Their requirement of me was a plan to take the business international.  I soon discovered that no one outside the organisation was using the ‘product’ and that it had been developed specifically as an internal tool for the business, which itself had a number of unique characteristics.

The challenge therefore, without dampening the enthusiasm of the team, was to explain that there were a number of key steps to address before even considering whether there was an international opportunity.

Whilst this is the extreme, many management teams can be seduced and distracted by the attractions of overseas opportunities - the huge market, travel, etc and are blind to the downsides which exist.  Often they can be encouraged by the travel grants available for overseas trade missions from organisations keen to promote their region.

Of course for some businesses moving into overseas markets is exactly the right strategy and for others it may be essential.  In my experience however, for many businesses there is a much stronger case for building a more robust platform in the home market before launching into new export markets.

Businesses need to consider a number of questions which should help point them in the right direction including:

• What is limiting the growth of the business?  Is it the size of the opportunity in the home market?
• What share do they have of the home market?
• What is the reputation of the business in the home market?  Are there good customer references, testimonials?
• Are there further opportunities within existing customer accounts?
• Are there other factors limiting growth in the home market? -  e.g. economy, legislation
• Who are the competitors  -  are they multi-national businesses
• Are customers international businesses - and if so do they require support on an international basis?
• Is timing of market entry important? -  being there before competitors can establish a position. 

Most may then decide that there is still more to be done in the home market.  

For those  that decide to address overseas markets this is just the starting point.   Work must then begin in order to determine, which countries, products, distribution channels, partners  etc.