Over the past 20 years, the Principals of Eco Access have assisted hundreds of companies (SMEs and multinationals) to design and implement their export sales and marketing strategies. Here are some of the key questions and issues which you will need to address in order to secure success. Eco Access is available to help you at every stage in this process.

INITIAL CONSIDERATIONS

Do we have a product, service or technology with export potential?

Do we want to grow the business?

Do we have a growth strategy?

EXPORT READY

Are we prepared and do we have the capacity to apply the required resources to investigate and develop new markets?

Is our operation scalable - do we have the capacity to meet additional demand from new markets?

Can we access funding if required – trade finance, bank or private capital raising to finance overseas investment? What will be the cost of accessing that funding?

Do we qualify for access to government financial assistance in the form of grants and other incentives?

PATHWAY TO SUCCESS

Export market preparation

How do we choose an appropriate market and a suitable entry strategy?

Essential research

Market information

• Historical, present and future market trends - size and structure, distribution channels, customer profiles
• Competition - local and foreign (including complete SWOT analysis)
• Seasonal and cultural issues
• Packaging – materials, size, weights, labelling etc
• Pricing structures (including exchange rates)
• Industry associations
• E-commerce market tools - internet and other e-advertising
• Logistics - international transport (air and sea), local transport, delivery charges, storage,   costs, time schedules

Legal and regulatory environment

• Health and safety matters
• Compliance with standards
• Product liability
• Intellectual Property Protection (patents, trade marks, copyright, designs)
• Contracts with stakeholders
• Customs Administrations - export / import procedures, regulations, declarations, prohibitions and authorisations 
• Local and foreign accounting / tax regulations

Other considerations

• Economic, political and cultural issues

Export market entry strategy

What are the available avenues to market?

• Assessing and rating potential targets and partners - importers, distributors, wholesalers, retailers, consumers
• Pathways – agent / representative (exclusive or non-exclusive), Joint Venture partners, wholly-owned subsidiaries, branches
• Marketing and sales - alternative avenues for advertising and promotion
• E-commerce – internet and other e-commerce advertising and promotion
• Industry associations – membership, trade events and other networking opportunities
• Setting goals - benchmarks and thresholds, pricing structure, time lines, payment terms, financial returns, expected profits
• Budgeting - what are the true costs to implement each stage of the strategy?
• What ongoing resources and support is required to service the market demands?
• Timing – seasonal and cultural influences and issues
• Risk assessment and crisis management – credit, exchange, transfer, political, sovereign / country, commercial / economic risks, insurance cover and associated costs
• Flexibility – ability to adapt to learned market information along the way
• Assessment of progress and reporting to the Board and / or shareholders
• Is there a Plan B or Plan C? Is there an exit strategy?

Export sales and marketing 

Implementing the strategy

• Who has the responsibility for the strategy and how, when and where?
• What investment is required to ensure success?
• Remember the agreed goals!
• Set pathways (rules and guidelines) and keep to them

There is rarely a clear-cut path to approaching overseas markets.

An initial export market entry strategy should only be developed after due diligence, research and consideration. But even after this preparation, it is common during the implementation phase for targets’ interests and market conditions to change dramatically – often with little warning and for unforeseen reasons.

So the initial strategy must be capable of being changed to accommodate these developments. This process of change in market conditions may be repeated a number of times, requiring further adjustments to the strategy.

Consequently, although the initial strategy needs to be thoroughly considered and tested, it must also be flexible enough to deal with the inevitable changes brought about by external influences.