Your export plan: the evaluation phase

Colin Crabbe, international trade manager with BGI, is a highly experienced exporter with over two decades of experience in diverse markets in Africa, the Middle East and the Far East. In this section, he passes on some words of wisdom on the topic of creating the all-important export plan.

Some tricks of the trade

"Any successful, working export plan should have three levels – an evaluation of the current situation, setting your objectives and then quantifying your targets.

Clearly the latter two depend on how well you have evaluated both your in-company resources and your market opportunities.

A positive place to start is with an appraisal of your recent successes – major tender awards, successful contracts, satisfied customers and so on.

Be as honest as you can – can you repeat these successes in another business environment?

New products are the lifeblood of many businesses, but it’s very tempting to stick with what you’re good at."

Rigorous analysis

"One major company I worked with in the pharmaceutical industry used to strip out the sales of all products over five years old from their sales analysis. That meant you couldn’t depend on a false momentum from maturing products – you really had to keep your eye on the new developments coming through.

Be equally rigorous in testing the uniqueness of your products or services. Is the uniqueness exportable – can you target the same specific needs in an overseas market?

Don’t forget to evaluate your company situation. Have you the resources you’ll need for exporting – especially the skills in areas like documentation? Can your cashflow cope with, perhaps, no sales revenues for 6/9 months against a possible cash burn of £2000 per month on export expenses like travel and accommodation?

Above all, does the company have commitment to this tough first phase – what will your co-directors say when the expenses bills start coming in?"

Skeletons in the closet

"It also pays to examine your past record on exports very carefully. I know of several companies which had undergone management changes and didn’t know they still had old distribution agreements in place which had lapsed but never been cancelled – and it cost them money to get severance.

Once you have evaluated your company situation, it’s time to look at researching some new markets, and don’t hesitate to enlist the support of BGI to help you develop any stage of your export plan.

Through a wide range of initiatives, we can help you with tailored market information, market introductions, missions and many other activities.

As the old saying goes – nobody plans to fail, but far too many fail to plan!"