Expanding Your Business Through Exporting

When a small business owner is looking for a way to expand into their business, they may look for avenues where their industry has not yet made a name for themselves. However, many rarely consider exporting as a viable growth opportunity, particular if they are a relatively local and small business. Yet, the possibilities with looking exporting are viable ones. Let’s explore what exporting could mean for your business.

Benefits of Exporting

When a business is considering moving into exporting, then they may wonder how it could benefit their business. One way is that it can provide access to a larger number of consumers, which could increase sales and profits over time. Nearly 96 percent of consumers live outside the United States, so you would be significantly expanding the reach of your business.

Two-thirds of the world’s purchasing power is actually located in foreign countries, so by reaching out to them, you can tap into that purchasing power for your own business. If you are in a business that has significant fluctuations due to seasons throughout the year, exporting may provide a way to stabilize your business income throughout the year.

Getting Started in Exporting

Now that you have decided it might be worth exploring exporting for your business, then you will need to complete a few steps as part of the process before you can begin. The first step is to register your business with Export.gov. There you will take a readiness self-assessment. It will help you to determine if your business is ready to move into exporting and will also give you advice about expanding into new markets as a source of growth.

The next step involves training and counseling that is offered in person by the federal government. This can be helpful to a small business just starting out, and it will help them to find export financing, as well as locating potential business opportunities available overseas.

The U.S. Commercial Service provides a network of export and industry specialists located in over 100 U.S. cities and 80 countries. These professionals provide free counseling and a variety of services to assist small and midsized U.S. business export efforts. This database of companies and individuals providing fee-based consulting services to small businesses who are interesting in expanding into the import and export aspects of international trade.

Create a Business Plan

In the course of choosing this type of expansion, your business will need to create a business export plan. This will help you to define your company’s present status, internal goals and the overall commitment of your company to this type of business. It will also help you to develop your objectives by assembling facts, identifying constraints and setting specific goals for your company to define how successful the endeavor has been.

As part of the business plan, you should also complete market research that will help you to learn about your product’s potential in a given market, what your best prospects are and even the local common business practices for those areas where you hope to expand.

Finding Your New Buyers

The federal, state and even local governments are all active in organizing highly focused export events that would directly put U.S. sellers and potential foreign buyers in contact with each other. Opportunities range from meeting foreign trade shows to signing up for a foreign trade mission or overseas trade show.

As part of reaching your new buyers, you may need to get an influx of capital for this next stage of business growth. Therefore, it is important to get to know any financing options that may be available to you, such as through the Small Business Administration and their lending partners. There is also various federal financing, insurance and grant programs that can help you fund your expansion. At the same time, these sources can assist you in ensuring that you receive foreign payment and manage or remove the risk within the equation for both you and your financial institution.

For most small businesses, foreign exporting can become a significant way to grow your business. However, it also requires that you do your homework, both about your potential areas of export and the types of investment capital it will require for your business. Therefore, it is important to take advantage of the opportunities provided by the federal government to assist you in growing your export business. With a quality business plan, you can grow your business in a substantial way that can provide a new income avenue.