Are you export ready? Is your company ready to take the leap beyond your home markets, or perhaps the neighbouring region? Which are the questions that top international trade advisors will ask you if you are thinking about expanding overseas?
By that, I’m not talking just about the adapted products, translated website or the cash flow needed, although those are certainly important. I’m referring to the mindset and expectations you need as a small or medium company. You should consider these questions for yourself before working with an export consultant.
Table of Contents
Key considerations for both yourself and also import-export consulting specialists
Have you got an international strategy?
Have you thought through your strategy for your international markets? If you’re not sure about the answer to this question, then it’s probably a no. Whilst many companies want to export and see it as the next step in their expansion plans, they often don’t really have a strategy as such, other than following the crowd or going with a gut feeling.
You can find some thoughts on developing a global brand strategy here (this isn’t an intro to strategic theory, but more of an export strategy checklist). There are also articles around making an export plan on this blog. You can find part 1 here and part 2 here.
Is the management team 100% on board with the plan?
This is really a key question for top international trade advisors because without that internal alignment, the taste for risk and willingness to invest a certain budget isn’t certain.
It sounds obvious but I had a number of conversations recently that eventually ended in a frustrated sales manager (& a frustrated me having invested time and energy into a proposal) because the owner or top management hadn’t realise what exporting would mean in terms of the risk profile, investment (time, energy, resources) or perhaps the cash flow.
You need to be clear up front what the implications of an export project are and what that may mean for the rest of your business. Yes, you can gain new consumers whilst increasing sales and profits, but it’s not a quick fix solution. International expansion when done well can take years to be truly sustainably profitable, unless you are able to surf the wave of a trend in your chosen market. One of the advantages of working with export consultants is that they will ask these difficult questions up front, before moving on with your project.
Problems hit differently in export – working with top international trade advisors can help reduce those issues
Fact: It’s harder to solve a problem on the other side of the world in a foreign language, than it is to deal with the same issue within a legal and economic system you understand 200km up the road from home.
The brutal truth is that the further away from home, the more exponentially potential problems seem to grow. It’s not just because you probably don’t speak the language, it’s the fact that the legal and regulatory environment is usually completely different. A time difference of more than 4 hours can make it tough to react quickly to questions and this can combine with the other factors to make problems worse.
If you’re working with an export consultant who knows the market well they should be able to steer you away from many of the most obvious ones. eg not registering your IP properly in China prior to market entry. Of course, it doesn’t meant that nothing will go wrong, but at least you should be saved from making additional mistakes out of a lack of experience.
Flexibility is a key part of being export ready
Exporting might just break your processes!
By that I mean you may need to change your basic processes to fit the way the rest of the world expects you to work. Working in international markets might pose challenges in the way you develop your new products, carry out your quality control or develop marketing campaigns. You might need to make changes in the way you ship products, answer customer service enquiries or even structure your contracts, warranties and terms and conditions…
What I’m saying is, you certainly need to be able to adapt if you intend to take international trade seriously.
However not every company has the bandwidth or willingness to be as flexible as is needed. That’s also ok, but if you are not prepared to make changes, you probably shouldn’t be considering exporting further afield.
Are you ready for the long game?
However good your products, however good your partners, however experienced your consultant, it takes time to build a brand in an overseas market. (And anyone who claims anything different to you is talking rubbish)
Of course there are 0.00001% of brands who hit like a bomb and truly “blow up” from the first day but those are the lucky exceptions. Truth is, like with building a brand in your own country, it will be a slow task where you hear lots of “nos” before you get to the yeses
It can take several months to really gain traction on a partner search, depending on your product, brand awareness and the competitive & economic situation in the market you’re targeting. A distributor who is “ideal” on paper, might not be taking on new brands right now or could be busy focusing on some kind of internal restructuring.
It’s not just the partner search that takes time: you have to register products in many markets, the shipping time can take longer (including delays with import processes) and perhaps most critically to know, the payments can take longer. Yes, you can request payment up front on the first couple of shipments, but that’s unlikely to be a long term solution so you need to consider how to find a mutually acceptable payment rhythm with your importer that won’t destroy the cash flow situation of either company. Because, realistically speaking, you also need your partner to have the cash to grow your business in the market, not just for purchasing from you.
Are you open for training the team also on intercultural topics?
If your team has no international experience, it doesn’t mean you can’t start to export, but it does mean that management and the team have to be ready to embark on a steep learning curve, both in technical skills and also intercultural ones.
It’s not enough to just know how to prepare the paperwork, you also have to know how to work with your new business partners without offending their cultural sensitivities.
Being open and having an international mindset are essential!! This applies to the whole organisation, not just the client facing roles. It’s important to think about this as part of your self audit around the question “are you export ready”.
Of course, this kind of learning is also a two way street and perhaps your new distribution partner will have to learn some things about your culture which feel unusual and perhaps weird for him at first.
Are you prepared to allow local teams to infuse some of the “cultural personality” into their marketing?
How much global vs how much local is a perennial question for international marketing teams, & it’s a hard balance to get right because the answer varies from one market to the next.
Insisting that everything should come from head office or just allowing your local partner to do what they think best without any inputs from your side is seldom the answer though…
Yes, it’s important to have brand books and marketing guidelines for your overseas partners, but you also have to allow them some leeway to transcreate the activities for their market. Being too inflexible on this point will not only cause resentment but also slow down your growth in your focus market.
Working with an export consultant:
Have reasonable compensation method expectations
Don’t expect your consultant to work on commission only unless you both are in a very specific situation (there are agents who work this way). Partner search is a long game and expecting an import-export consultant company to wait for perhaps a year before they see any money is unreasonable – why should they carry the risk of your brand?
I’ve had clients before now who I introduced to excellent distributors, but they “messed up” the negotiations in the relationship building phase. Success isn’t wholly down to your consultant so don’t expect them to carry the risk or use the argument that they need “skin in the game” – they are using their reputation and contacts to introduce you to companies. That is always a certain risk for us & already a certain level of risk that you could “burn” the relationship for any future projects…
Commission can be a part of the compensation, but shouldn’t be the only component.
Please listen to what they recommend and their reasons for doing so
Of course, you’re not obliged to take as gospel what import-export consulting specialists recommend to you – after all, you know the specifics of your company best.
BUT don’t reject the advice out of hand without serious consideration. Make sure you understand the reasons for the recommendation & don’t be “that” boss who doesn’t take coaching or advice from anyone.
I’ve seen it happen to a colleague that the client ignored his advice, failed in their project and then went around telling the world “oh but we worked with “Consultant Smith” and it went really badly”. See my point earlier about flexibility and willingness to learn new skills.
No top international trade advisors are going to give you advice that is completely random – their reputation and a part of their payment is on the line after all.
Are you prepared to hear uncomfortable truths and adapt accordingly?
You pay a consultant to also tell you things that perhaps an internal person either wouldn’t recognise (because they are too close to the issue) or wouldn’t be listened to if they said it.
Uncomfortable truths may be obvious in your processes or could also be feedback from the market that your product simply doesn’t match preferences there in the present form.
This applies not just in export obviously, but if you receive uncomfortable feedback you need to be ready to do the soul searching and if necessary adapt! Are you ready for that?
Are you prepared to pay an external company to do (part of) the job & find the answer to are you export ready?
Think about budgets in advance. Selling products successfully in an overseas market requires various budgets to cover marketing, cashflow, regulatory, customs and if you are outsourcing documentation or partner search, then also a consultant fee.
If a consultant sends a proposal that doesn’t align with your budgets please politely decline. Communicate openly with that company, but don’t ghost them. If you really don’t have the budgets, think of amending the project scope perhaps, but don’t pull the “we’re a small company so please give us a discount” card, especially not to a sole trader.
Of course, there are people out there who seem excessively expensive – they are not the right consultant at this time for your company if that is your gut reaction.
Oh, and please pay your bills on time…should go without saying…but unfortunately can’t be taken for granted.
What did I not include here? What other points should small and medium companies be considering before working with a consultant for their export business? Are YOU export ready?
Export strategy (incl. market ranking), partner search and fractional sales services, along with training for teams or individuals are key parts of the services I offer.
Thinking that working with a consultant would accelerate your international expansion?
If you’d like to learn more about working with me for support on your internationalisation projects or personal export knowledge, you can book a 30 minute international clarity call here.
If you haven’t already signed up for my free e-book about how to select which international market to enter next, you can do so here, or using the form below.
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If you are interested in working with distribution partners in your export markets, you might find these posts also interesting:
- Define Your Ideal Distributor Company Profile to Succeed Internationally
- Carrying out an Annual Distributor Performance Review
- Are you a great supplier?
- Factors to Consider when Deciding on Payment Terms
- Advantages of Working with a Distributor in Export Markets
- Making the Best First Impression in International Business Meetings
- Finding the Perfect Partner: Distributor Dating in a Hybrid World
- Store Checks in International Sales: a Retail Audit Example
- How to Make an Export Plan Part 1
- How to Make an Export Plan Part 2
- Starting to Think About Your International Distribution Agreement
- An International Distribution Agreement Checklist Part 1
- A Distributor Contracts Checklist Part 2
- The Legal Requirements in an International Contract 3
- Types of International Distribution Channels
- International After Sales Service
- 55+ Questions to Ask When You’re Looking for International Distributors
- International Customer Service in Korea: Dealing with Media Crises
- Why an Integrated Business Planning Framework could Improve your Exports
- Export Pricing Strategy in International Trade as a Key Factor of Product Market Fit
- Why and How should you Enhance Distributor Loyalty in Export Markets?
Kathryn firmly believes that business is done between people, and therefore places her focus on building strong relationships that form a solid foundation for doing business.
When she's not travelling around the world, Kathryn enjoys playing clarinet in her town's wind orchestra or sharing her love of the outdoors with her Scout group.