From one-woman shops to hundreds of employees. From every conceivable product and service including food, cosmetics, plastics, slurry pipes, wind chimes, wine, liquor, software, engineering, and more. 300,000 small business owners have embraced exporting as a way to increase revenue. Why haven’t you?
In celebration of National Small Business Week, and every week, EXIM trade finance experts are ready to help you discover the opportunities of international sales. Yes, the U.S. market is big, but 95 percent of the world’s consumers reside outside of the U.S. Yes, exporting does carry reporting and other administrative overhead, but it also reduces the risk of relying solely on the health of one market, smooths out seasonality, and provides markets for products that are reaching their mature life cycle domestically.
When asked what advice they would give about exporting, here’s what other small business owners said:
- “International markets offer exceptional expansion opportunities to stay true to our brand positioning and purpose,” explained Chris Bracamontes, director of international sales for Nulo Inc. “In spite of the many operational complexities involved in expanding into new markets, it is worth the effort to deliver the best pet nutrition available to dogs and cats around the world…”
- “EXIM has given us the confidence to work with new distributors in more risky countries as well as expand our sales to existing distributors, giving them more credit — and increased sales — over time,” said Dr. Wei-Shin Lai, physician and founder of AcousticSheep.
- “Exporting has helped us reach customers in global markets and increase sales,” said Mark Anderson, director of finance at Chefmaster.
When asked about risks associated with exporting, particularly the risk of nonpayment by international buyers offered open account credit terms, they said:
- “EXIM offers excellent tools to assist businesses in overcoming the many challenges and complexities of exporting in order to expand into global markets.” – Chris Bracamontes, Nulo*
- “We used to worry about doing enough due diligence on international partners or asking them to pay up front. Now, we are still careful, but we know that EXIM has our back if anything goes wrong.” – Wei-Shin Lai, AcousticSheep**
- ”For those (customers) that want payment terms, we use EXIM’s Export Credit Insurance to reduce our risk by extending credit to foreign customers as a way to compete for sales, and have the backing of EXIM in these transactions, if we do not get paid.” – Mark Anderson, Chefmaster***
Some companies think they’re too small to do business with EXIM. In fact, we do business with companies of all sizes. Do you have one employee? That’s big enough for us. No company and no deal are too small!
If you are ready to begin your journey, your local EXIM representative is ready to help you get started. Reach out for your free consultation today!
*Nulo is supported by EXIM registered insurance broker United Risk Consultants.
**AcousticSheep is supported by EXIM registered insurance broker Meridian Finance Group.
***Chefmaster is supported by EXIM registered insurance broker Brett Tarnet Insurance Services.
