The Sunday Business PostMay 17, 2015 SFA annual conference 15

It’s not too difficult, on paper at least, to make the case why SMEs should expand their business internationally. In particular, for those compa-

nies that have managed to grow their business successfully within the domestic marketplace, taking their business international can often be the logical next step.

But making an academic case is one thing; actually doing it is a different matter. It’s not necessar-ily important what industry sector you operate within. It’s much more significant to have researched your target market, and to be absolutely clear on your market-entry prop-osition.

If you can do this successfully, there is a good chance that you can differentiate your product or service from the local competition. These should be the key building

blocks for the development of your export plan – thereafter, it’s about having the courage of your convictions to execute your plan and establish the local customer relationships you will need to build a sustainable export business.

But that’s not to suggest that it’s easy, and no company should dive headlong into the export market-place without completing the nec-essary due diligence and research. There is a wide range of valuable resources available to help you de-velop your export plan and address the key issues that you’ll need to consider before making any sig-nificant financial commitments.

At DHL, we have developed a

self-help website for new or pro-spective exporters, at dhlguide.ie. This guide is designed to accom-pany an SME on every step of the export journey and to help make growing a business internationally a straightforward and rewarding experience. It’s ‘jargon-free’ and provides guidance on everything from customs documentation, International Commercial Terms (‘incoterms’), financial risks etc. etc.

At the outset, I said that it’s not too difficult to make the case why SMEs should expand their business internationally. In par-ticular, by developing your busi-ness overseas, not only can you

tap into significant new market opportunities but your business can also reap many other benefits. In particular, it can help spread your business risk and enable you to achieve greater economies of scale which in turn should help you to become more cost-com-petitive. It can also increase the skills, knowledge and expertise within your company and, in turn, create a virtuous cycle which can facilitate greater capacity and ca-pability for future growth.

It is well established that the exporting sector has been, and will continue to be, critical to Ireland’s economic success. Our world of today, with its evolution-

ary technology, creates enormous opportunities for small businesses that have the advantage of being flexible and innovative since they are not cluttered with layers of bu-reaucracy. With this in mind, it’s likely that some of the small in-digenous exporters of today will be the major exporters of tomorrow, if they decide to take the plunge into international markets.Alison Moore is Brand Communica-tion and Marketing Manager of DHL Express in Ireland

Going global in order to grow

Aisling Heaton, ex-

ecutive, Small Firms

Association

Commercial profile: DHL

Alison Moore of DHL Express explains why she believes small businesses should look beyond these shores for growth opportunities

Alison Moore