5 Tips for Successfully Exporting Your Products

Believe it or not, exporting beyond your community isn’t only for large businesses. Small businesses are often discouraged from exporting their goods due to high shipping costs and the fear of less demand, but these factors are not that impactful. Smaller businesses can emerge in more competitive markets with detailed planning, expertise, and patience.

If you’re ready to take your business to the next level, follow these five tips for successfully exporting your products.

Research Your Market

Research is the key to successfully exporting your products. This is the time to identify your target demographics and competitors. While researching, you should look into the import and consumption figures to gauge your business’s success in a potential new market.

Create an Export Plan

How will you enter a new market? It would be best if you considered the following questions while creating your export plan:

• Can you recruit team members to keep your business afloat?
• Do you have enough space to meet a new market’s demands? Do you need to rent out a larger space?
• Does your packaging need an upgrade? Do you need to add any legally required labels?
• What else should you know about these markets? Do you need any certifications?

Choose a Marketing Route

You have four options for marketing routes:

• Create a joint venture
• Use third-party logistics
• Sell directly
• Use a sales agent

Whatever option you choose, it’s always best to weigh each one and see what’s best for you financially and time-wise. This is also a great time to establish policies and procedures for managing your sales presence in these new markets.

Set Aside Your Resources

You’ll need more resources, time, money, and information to succeed in your venture into a broader market. While large companies have many resources, you may have a different experience. When entering a large market, it’s best to learn more about exporting, new requirements, and in-house procedures, like packaging or processing sales.

This is a great way to scope out your competition and see what works and what doesn’t in their operations. Then, you can change your methods to stand out in the market.

Have a Trusted Partner

The best way to get your operations rolling is by having a trusted partner with experience in exporting goods throughout the country. Your partner should walk you through the processes of labeling, invoicing, packaging, and anything else your shipments may need. Your partner should also be aware of any state or city laws your market may have so you won’t run into unnecessary trouble down the line.

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