April 3rd, 2010
Are your company and products ready for global markets? Maybe you’re just thinking about dipping your toes in one or two “easy” export markets like Canada, Mexico, or the UK. Here are some online tools to help you assess your readiness and start thinking through your strategy.
The US Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Services has a simple nine-point Export Questionnaire (not just for ag businesses) that addresses your international marketing plan, available resources, and your existing knowledge of export processes. The result rates your company on a scale of 1–100 and provides comments and next-steps for each question.
The California Centers for International Trade Development offer a more detailed Export Readiness Assessment that covers your present operations, attitudes, and products. Like the USDA’s tool, the assessment gives you a readiness score, point-by-point diagnosis and suggested actions.
Ready to take the next step? Have a look at the US Department of Commerce’s vast Helping U.S. Companies Export site, or give us a call — we’re here to help.
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January 27th, 2010
In his State of the Union address to Congress today, President Obama set a national goal to “double our exports over the next five years, an increase that will support 2 million jobs in America” through a new National Export Initiative. Details are scarce so far, but the White House blog says “the NEI includes the creation of the President’s Export Promotion Cabinet and an enhancement of funding for key export promotion programs.” The focus on small business is encouraging, and we look forward to learning more about the substance of the initiative.
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October 16th, 2009
Keep it simple, smarty!
The new Come Clean Report from KRC Research and Weber Shandwick identifies insufficient and complicated information from vendors as the main reasons European companies are not following through on cleantech purchasing policies. Somebody’s leaving a lot of money on the table, folks. The Cleantech Group has more info here.
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August 4th, 2009
Purchasing.com reports that container shipping lines in the Westbound Transpacific Stabilization Agreement (WTSA) cartel are planning rate increases from $120 to $200 per 20-foot container on US-to-Asia routes effective September 1. The move is an attempt to claw back recent rate declines in response to falling demand due to the global recession.
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June 8th, 2009
BusinessWeek’s Karen Klein offers a few tips on working with international clients through your company’s website: be sensitive to cultural nuance; prepare, and prepare your customers, ahead of time to deal with shipping and customs issues; start by addressing other English-speaking markets, and when you’re ready to publish multilingual web content, back it up with multilingual sales and service staff. (Thanks to Laurel Delaney for the link!)
Many small businesses fall into exporting “accidentally” when orders from overseas customers start to trickle in through their website. Maximize your company’s potential by managing it as a global business from day one. Your business is already global, whether you know it yet or not!
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