De-Risking Your Export Strategy

05/03/2010

By Neal Gandhi, CEO, Quickstart Global

It should be a good time for UK exporters. Sterling’s recent fall should give British companies a big advantage — especially in Europe. But whilst companies may find there is demand for their goods overseas — they are apprehensive about entering into commercial arrangements with no guarantee of payment. Export credit insurance is not sufficient, and they cannot put their businesses on the line.

So with the need for UK plc to grow exports to help lead us out of recession, how can exporters minimise the risk involved? As in the UK, it is...

...important to know your customer, find out about their credit rating, but more importantly, build a relationship with them. If you are serious about exporting to a particular country, it makes sense to have a presence there. This may be only a few people based locally, but this can greatly increase your chance of success. Many companies are using Quickstart Global’s In-House Anywhere model to establish their own sales and marketing teams overseas, which helps them to get to know their customers and grow their presence in an overseas market. Some of our clients have only one or two people but they are local people who understand the markets and business etiquette, but are under our clients’ control and understand their aims, products and/ or services. This is especially important in BRIC countries, with their rapid rates of growth, having local people, under your control, who understand your aims and your products or services, could be enough to establish a foothold and help grow your exports.

However — is the Government playing its part in supporting the promotion of exports? German and French Governments, for example, provide their exports with short term export-credit guarantees. ... continued on page two >

 

 

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