With the market shrinking, it seems like there aren’t many opportunities for international trade. But, you’d be mistaken in thinking that. Here are just some of the many reasons why exporting still makes sense.
Exporting Gives You Diversification
Exporting goods gives you good product diversification. But, beyond that, it also helps boost your profits. Making more money is good, right? Well, when you move into new markets, you pick up new customers – more money.
But, it even goes beyond that. The diversification that exporting gives you often translates into more stable income, not just an income boost. This bleeds over into establishing higher QA standards. When you’re not so concerned about where your paycheck is coming from, you can focus more attention on quality.
Some Markets Are More Popular and Robust Outside the U.S.
More than 70 percent of the world’s purchasing power is outside of the U.S. If you let your competitors have that, you’re sunk. Especially if you hang onto a shrinking domestic market until the very end.
For example, companies like ISO Stainless make steel strapping. Steel strapping is a healthy industry in the U.S. if only because of logging and other commercial services. But, it has a huge market in foreign countries – especially in developing countries where manual labor is necessary to build infrastructure and transport goods.
There Are Programs In Place To Help You
One of the best things about exporting is that there is a lot of help out there from the U.S. Government. Specifically, the U.S. Commercial Service. In 2013 alone, this department provided assistance for more than 18,000 transactions worth billions of dollars.
Trade specialist who work here help small businesses set up shop in other countries by performing several important tasks.
First, they help translate your business’s marketing into the local language of the market you’re trying to enter. They also help distribute your marketing and collect sales leads. Those leads are then handed over to you but you’re not left to fend for yourself.
Trade specialists actually help you negotiate the deal. There is a cost for this, but it’s nominal, which is great, since it’s an unusually great service for companies that need to make headway in another country, but don’t speak the language and don’t know where to start.
It’s also a good idea to hook up with a trade specialist if only because it’s a good idea to understand the local laws and regulations governing your business and industry.
You Have a Competitive Advantage
The U.S. is still known for its exceptional manufacturing quality. In fact, the reason more businesses don’t set up shop here is because of the high cost of doing business.
When you export that high quality to other countries here’s what you’ll find: people in foreign countries will pay a premium for your products. They’ll do this because the competition isn’t able to provide the same level of QA that you are.
Steve Smith runs a small export business. He likes to share his industry insights online. His articles appear on industry and business sites.
Image Source: BigStock
