Successful exporting starts with planning – how to create an export plan?
The export plan is the most important factor impacting on the international success of the company and its implementation of export activities. Every enterprise must prepare an export plan. An enterprise should not undertake foreign trade activities without a written strategy, otherwise it may be exposed to company reputation damage as well as financial losses affecting the company’s profitability. Failure to comply with the legal and taxation regulations of the selected foreign market may cause long-term legal problems that may also exist long after the business ceases to operate. In this sub-chapter, basic information regarding the creation of an export strategy will be presented. This will provide the International Service Officer with the requisite information to be able to advise enterprises in selected foreign markets.
The process of creating an export strategy for the domestic enterprise can be divided into two phases. The first phase in creating an export strategy is closely related to the company and its current status, and involves an analysis of company departments prior to undertaking export activities. The key aspects for creating the first part of the strategy are as follows: Foreign trade readiness analysis, financial and personnel analysis and selecting products for export. The second phase in creating an export strategy is the company’s export analysis, which includes the following elements: Analysis of the foreign target market, development of a marketing strategy, development of a production strategy for export and the development of a product distribution strategy. The combination of these two phases will create the company’s basic export plan.
Figure 4 The process of creating an export strategy for an enterprise.