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Posted: Mon 6th Nov 2023
This piece was published originally at the Santander Breakthrough website.
SMEs are the lifeblood of our economy, accounting for 99.9% of all UK businesses and generating around 50% of turnover in the UK private sector.
They also account for an increasing amount of the UK's international trade, either directly or as part of wider supply chains. So, if you've never considered exporting as part of your business strategy, where should you start?
To help you take that first step, we spoke to 1,000 UK business owners and decision-makers to ask them about their top tips for success. Here's what they told us.
There's no guarantee there will be a demand in every overseas market, so to maximise your chance of success, think about what research you'll need to carry out.
Establishing your home market is an important step, especially as it enables you to develop key processes before embarking on expanding your market.
This should save time and money in the longer term and will help you mitigate against any potential barriers to entry.
Your chosen market might not turn out to be the right one, so while you're doing your research explore one or two alternatives. That might also include diversifying at home through reaching a new audience or developing a new product or service.
Don't feel you need to restrict your ambitions to English-speaking markets. Having language skills in your team could help enormously when breaking into a new market. That applies across websites, marketing and even the currency of the ecommerce platform.
The business owners we spoke to also shared the adaptations they made to their business to ensure success abroad. These included:
increasing social media presence in the market
marketing and advertising products or services differently
changing the pricing structure
offering more products or services
hiring local staff
introducing new products or services
adapting the product/service to suit the local market or comply with in-country regulation
working with a local partner or distributor
If this gives you the confidence to take your first steps towards exporting, you can find out more about the support we can provide to you at the Go Global hub in partnership with Enterprise Nation.
