by: J. F. (Jim) Straw
When most small manufacturing businesses start-up, they
concentrate their sales efforts on the known markets here
in the U.S. Defining their markets as the known users of
their products; known distributors of those products; and
known, or accessible, sales areas within the U.S.,
overlooking the larger, more profitable, markets outside
this country.
Most small manufacturers who do investigate the
possibilities of exporting their products GIVE UP after
reading a number of Department of Commerce publications
detailing the intricacies of export documentation, freight
forwarding, and international banking instruments.
(The same complex, intricate processing, paperwork jungle,
methods I studied when I was 18 years old...and discarded
after I made my first real sale overseas.)
What the Department of Commerce...and other learned sources
...fail to tell you is that ALL of the necessary
documentation, freight forwarding, and international
banking aspects of exporting can be handled...easily and
cheaply...by professional service providers who do it every
day. As a matter of fact, the 'cost' of those services are
so negligible it usually isn't even necessary to make a
provision for them in your pricing structure.
Exporting is, really, no more difficult than marketing your
products here in the U.S. -- All you have to do is...Make
a Sale...Get Paid...and Ship Your Product. The rest of the
procedures can be handled, inexpensively, by the customary
service providers.
Beyond that, exporting can allow a small manufacturing
company to grow...almost exponentially...because you will
experience:
LARGER ORDERS -- Importers in other countries won't just
buy one or two of your products (unless they are ordering
samples). Due to the added costs of freight, insurance,
and customs duties in their countries, they will order in
bigger and bigger volume in order to reduce the per piece
cost.
EASIER FINANCING -- Since export orders are (almost always)
accompanied by some method of payment...Letter of Credit,
Sight or Bank Draft, etc...your local banker will (usually)
be willing to advance funds against that documentation.
Beyond that, both State and Federal Governments offer a
wide variety of financing incentives...everything from free
grants to production financing... for exporters. And, even
the smallest of companies can qualify for that financing
because the financial strength of the foreign buyer, not
the manufacturing company, determines the creditability
of the transaction.
LIMITED COMPETITION -- No matter what you manufacture,
you won't have the heavy competition you might face here
in the U.S. -- Statistically, less than 20% of the
manufacturers in this country export their products - and -
of those companies that do export, fully 50% of them only
export to one (1) foreign country. So, even if one of your
competitors is exporting, the odds are you can still be
the ONLY supplier in a number of other countries...without
competition.
The only concern then is...
HOW TO MAKE THE SALES
...but, just as there are Manufacturer's Representatives
in the U.S. who will take a manufacturer's products
directly to the distributors, there are International
Manufacturer's Reps who will do the same thing for your
company in the marketplaces of the world.
Usually, the employment of an International Manufacturer's
Rep doesn't take any 'out of pocket' money...other than
the provision of your usual printed materials, catalog
sheets and brochures. -- Like Manufacturer's Reps in the
U.S., International Manufacturer's Reps pay their own way
and earn commissions based solely upon the sale of your
products. But, unlike their domestic counterparts,
International Manufacturer's Reps can, and do, assist the
manufacturers in accessing necessary service providers,
freight forwarders, banking and financing.
Exporting truly is the fastest ... and easiest ... way to
grow a small manufacturing business. Just one export order
can turn a small manufacturer into a mid-size manufacturer,
virtually overnight. -- As an exporter and international
manufacturer's rep for well over 30 years...with clients
and customers in over 70 countries....I've seen it happen
countless times. So...
If you are a manufacturer...looking to expand your
business, exponentially, investigate Exporting today.
-- It's much easier than you might think.
See Also:
International Mail order: Exporting is nothing more than selling overseas
... by mail.
Most companies that export their
products do not maintain offices in other countries.
They do not hire and employ sales people in other
countries. Nor do they ever meet the people they
sell to.
Instead of opening offices or hiring sales people
in other countries, most exporters market their
products overseas by mail. They sell their products
in volume to other businesses who, in turn, resell
the products in their country.
