Take your business to the next level with international exports

Top tips from Makemedia.

As the nation faces up to a double dip recession, successful businesses are the ones who are looking for fresh solutions, and for many that is through international exports – something that is just as applicable to SMEs as it is to large, corporate business.

Recognising that 2012 is a great year for Britain, with the Jubilee, Olympics, Paralympics and other events, the UKTI launched the GREAT Britain campaign to promote British tourism and business abroad to support the economic recovery. Makemedia have recently represented UK business by showing our work at the Australian launch of the campaign in Melbourne, alongside a number of Grand Prix legends and the Minister for Sport and Olympics. In fact, exports have been vital when it comes to the growth and success we have enjoyed in recent years and we are particularly pleased to have cracked the Australian market.

Richard Morris, Director-General of UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) for Australia and New Zealand said, “British companies see that Australia has weathered the economic storm well and are keen to do business here. British exports to Australia continue to grow strongly. It is good to see British exporters, with great products in a range of sectors, taking advantage of the current exchange rate between the British pound and the Aussie dollar.”

The trend for British exports is positive with an increase by 10% in each of the last two years. So what does this mean to smaller businesses? The Prime Minister has issued a national challenge to raise the number of SMEs exporting from the current level of one in five, to the European average of one in four, by 2020. He set targets to double exports to £1 trillion and to remove the trade deficit by that time too.

So if you are thinking of where to start when it comes to boosting your business with exports in 2012 here are our top tips:

1, Are you choosing the right market?

We aim to target strong and growing markets, such as the BRIC area (Brazil, Russia, India, China), and countries that have not been as hard hit by the recession, such as Australia. There are also strong industries in these areas that would particularly benefit from the products that we are developing, for example, construction in Australia.

2, Research the value of the market.

What can you offer your target market that is unique? What kind of competition will you be facing in the local area? As well as looking at these questions I recommend undertaking research into the value of the business in the area you are looking at. If you can work out how many potential clients exist in the area and how much they might pay for your service then, based on expected conversion rates, you can decide whether this is going to be a good financial investment for your company before committing too much effort and expense.

3, Be prepared to invest money.

Skyping and phone calls will only develop your relationships so far. We would need to fly out to our clients to deliver their projects but this is also a great opportunity to develop our relationship with the client - and an opportunity to discuss other needs and potentially increase their spend with us. Of course, flying half way around the world does come at a cost!

4, Make the most of your time abroad.

You could be investing a substantial amount of your cash into visiting your client so to make the best of this spend you should look at other local potential clients you can visit whilst you are in the area. We would try to contact these companies beforehand to set up meetings and, with an honest, straightforward approach, often find them to be open to meeting a new provider. We would also try to contact local organisations that may be able to help us infiltrate the market further.

5, Seek support from local contacts.

There will be a number of organisations you can contact, such as industry associations and business groups local to the area to which you aim to export. You may also want to set up a local contact to assist you with your business dealings in a different culture. However, number one on your list should be contacting UKTI, both abroad and in your local area. We have found their support to be invaluable for research, setting up meetings and press coverage.

What do you think? Is exporting the route to recovery for Britain? Lets start the discussion and please do add your tips for businesses looking to export to the comments below.

To find out more about Makemedia visit www.makemedia.com or follow them on Twitter @makemedia or on LinkedIn.

For more information on UKTI visit www.ukti.gov.uk.

If you're interested in exporting there are still a couple of places left on the UKTI workshop on June 18th, 2pm-5pm. For mroe info or to book, click here

If you want to contribute to the Chamber blog, contact us on hannah@brightonchamber.co.uk