Exporting – International Business Development Plan

Whether sketched out, formally written down or informally done at a meeting, planning is always behind most export success stories. An international business development plan is always an important tool for properly evaluating and analyzing factors that would affect the company’s ability to go international.

An international business development plan in exporting should define the company’s commitment to international trade, export pricing strategy, reason for exporting, potential export markets and customers, export financing alternatives, legal requirements, methods of foreign market entry, transportation method, and overseas partnership and foreign investment capabilities.

Knowing your company’s present status, commitment and internal goals through the creation of an international business development plan is very essential, and is also required if planning to seek export financing assistance. Plan prepared ahead of time in making an export loan request from banks, saves time and money. The plan should also include specific objective, timetable for implementation, and highlights to measure success.

The main purpose of the international business development plan is to ready your business to enter the international marketplace. Certain guides will direct you through the process of exporting your product to an international market. Here are some guides to help you with creating your international business development plan for exporting:

Product or Services Choosing the right product to offer internationally is very important. To recognize products with export potential needs careful consideration on products that are profitably distributed in the domestic market. It has to fill a target need for the customer in export markets according to market demand, value to customer or country, and to price.

Planning The planning stage enables you to look at your future business operations and foresee possible things to happen. It is important that the planning comes from you and not from somebody else; it must reflect your ideas and efforts. It is the best way to prepare you for the future and makes you well-informed about your business.

Goal Setting This step is very important in planning your entry into the global market, and shaping your business goals can be quite exciting and challenging. You need to identify your short-term and long-term goals for your business.

Industry Analysis Knowing and determining your business’ growth in the next three years is very essential. Talking to people in the same business, researching, and attending trade fairs and seminars will be very helpful.

Market factor Assessment Analyzing and assessing certain market factors is another important step. Market factors include demographic/physical environment, political environment, economic environment, social cultural environment, market access, product potential, and local distribution and production.

Marketing Strategy The chosen marketing strategy is very important in international sales, as it will involve what the market requires and how much risk you’re willing to take. Pricing strategy also considers value added services in bringing the product to the international market.