How to Identify Your Target Export Market

First step of export marketing is to identify target market and market needs where your products/services have good market potential and demand. There are many countries in world and you should pick right one(s) for your product and services. If you know your target market and market needs, you could easily get export orders from those countries.

You can identify target market by conducting International Market research activity that will give you detailed knowledge of opportunities in International market. It can confirm that an opportunity actually exists in a particular market and can help you to understand the market's characteristics. It can give you insight into how a new market can be developed. Most important, it helps you to identify needs of your potential customers and factors influences their buying decisions.

Types of Market Research

There are two main types of market research: secondary and primary.

Secondary research
This can be done by using data and information gathered from periodicals, studies, market reports, books, surveys and statistical analysis available through various sources like chambers of commerce, economic development organizations, industry and trade associations, websites, libraries and government sources.

Primary research
This can be done by using data and information gathered by Interviews, Focus groups, Mystery shopping etc. Primary research almost always demands personal involvement through interviews and consultations. Your foreign or domestic contacts will be able to help you better if you state your company's objectives at the outset and present your questions clearly.
Though Market Research is a complex process but following three simple steps will help you to identify target with secondary research approach.

Step 1: Collecting data

- Collect statistical information of related sector that show export data of your product or service to various countries. You can collect those data from various sources like periodicals, studies, market reports, books, surveys and statistical analyses published by chambers of commerce, economic development organizations, industry and trade associations, Export promotion councils.

- Many country's concern Govt. dept. publishes export-import statistic data on their websites also. For Example, in India, Ministry of Commerce & Industry's website- http://commerce.nic.in/ publishes export-import data categorized by HS code.

- Other online sources like Comtrade also publishes International trade statistic data.
Step 2: Screening

- From those collected data, select 5 to 10 countries where your product or service has maximum volume of export from your country. Check them over the past three or five years to know whether growth been consistent year-to-year? Did import growth occur even during periods of economic recession? If not, did growth resume with economic recovery?

- Also select some smaller emerging countries that may hold ground-floor opportunities for you. If the market is just beginning to open up, you may not have as many competitors as you would in an established market.

- Screen and target three to five of the most promising countries for further analysis.

Step 3: Analysis

- Analyse market trends and situation of those screened countries that could influence demand for your product or service. Calculate the overall consumption of your products or services category and identify the amount imported.

- Study the competition, both domestic and non-domestic. Look at each competitor's market share.

- Identify what affects the marketing and use of the product or service in each market, such as channels of distribution, economic situation, cultural differences and business practices.

- Identify any foreign barriers (tariff or non-tariff) for the product or service being imported into those country affecting exports to the country.

- Refer websites of WTO, Euro monitor, Country reports and screened country's specific business portals which will help you more to analyse current market trends and situation. There are many other sources on Internet, publishing useful information on current global market trends and situation.

After completing these three steps successfully, you will be able to identify your target market and restrict your marketing efforts to those countries only. New-to-exporting companies should concentrate on fewer than ten markets. One or two countries are usually enough to start with. You can then begin to develop your export marketing strategies and plan accordingly.

International market research activity needs expertise work so recommend you to get expert's advices on performing research activities because if you have identified your target market wrong, all your efforts for export marketing will go waste from the first step itself.

Azaz Motiwala is a marketing consultant and CMD of IKON Marketing Consultants India, a leading marketing consultancy company assisting corporate companies and SMEs with expert advices and solutions on various areas of marketing. http://www.ikonmarket.com

How to Identify Your Reliable Import Export Trade Partner

To make your trading experience simple and secure, confirm the testimonials of potential partners before engaging in export import trading. Be sure to confirm contact information of all prospective associates before initiating any business over the World Wide Web. Always make sure if the phone number, billing address (wire transfer) and email address given to you by your trading associate belongs to the same company.

It is always prudent to get in touch with the potential export import trade partner by telephone prior to the exchange of products, services, money or contracts. If a trader gives contradictory contact details, for instance an address in Malaysia and phone number from some other nation, we advise that you find the address in the local phone directory to get the phone number. Call this number to verify that the person you are in touch with really works for the company. Be doubtful of any dealer (buyer or seller) who uses only a cell phone and email address and is unwilling to disclose a fixed telephone number.



A background confirmation from independent third-party sources involves a search for lawful registration and credit information. In various nations the existence of a firm and its legal status is a matter of public documentation. You can find out the background of recognized manufacturers or wholesalers with trade institutes, local or online credit organizations, or online services portals.

Ensure with the companies registry in the prospective trade partner's nation to make sure that the company exists with a legal registration. If you cannot find independent access to the trader's registration information, inquire your partner to give you with a Certificate of Good Standing issued by the companies' registry of his nation or state/province.

You can also expand further knowledge about your associate by ordering a credit history report from a local credit bureau. Credit history information includes data about the partner's business background and their relationships with banks and other trading buddies.

Unluckily, only limited resources are available to confirm the legality of newly established businesses. Be especially cautious when trading with new businesses.

At last, whenever possible, meet up your business colleague in person and visit the company's facilities. The online websites may give general information on your prospective partner, but it's always better to have face-to-face meeting when engaging in novel business.

Aana Sharma is staff writer for Cybex and has been associated for many years with Cybex Exim, India largest import export data portal provides Foreign Trade Data, Tkd Import Data, Customs Data and detailed import export shipment data records from various major ports around the globe.

Import-Export - 5 Key Market Research Factors

Whether you are approaching the Import/Export (IMEX) game as an export management company (EMC), export trading company (ETC), or trade merchant... a market research plan and execution of it is mission critical to your success and sustainability.

Knowing what the key relevant factors are is the difference between being properly informed to make the best decision or deciding your companies commitments off of guesswork and irrelevant factors.



5 Key Market Research Factors are:

GLOBAL COMPETITORS
- Which other companies (if any) with similar product(s) are targeting the same market?
- Do they have any advantages? If so, what (political ties, personnel from the market, etc,.)?
- Keep asking questions...

LOCAL COMPETITORS
- Are there any existing local companies in your target market with similar product(s)? If so, how many?
- How long have they been operating?
- Keep asking questions...

SOCIAL CHANGES
- What kind of social changes are occurring in your target market that would affect your product(s) success?
- Which changes are trends and which are new models of living?
- Keep asking questions...

SUPPLIERS
- How many potential suppliers do you have currently compiled for your product(s)?
- How strong is your supply chain (fiscally, historically, logistics, ability to meet future demand, etc,.)?
- Keep asking questions...

GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS
- Compile a list of freight forwarders with successful track records in your target market to be called upon.
- Does your home government have any special regulations involving trade with your target country? If so, what?
- Keep asking questions...

(Click here for 5 More Market Research Factors)

Be relentlessly thorough in pursuit of all facts and relevant data to your potential venture. Leave no stone unturned. What may seem insignificant may (and usually does) lead to something that will make you adjust your entire market entry strategy.

Being detail oriented in this step of your due diligence will reap large rewards in the near future and facilitate the development of a platform for long-term sustainability. Ask questions, ask some more questions, and then add a few questions to that for good measure... and that doesn't mean that you should stop asking questions at a certain point. Always seek new information so that you can stay lean and flexible and harness the directions of today's volatile markets instead of being caught flat footed by them.

Being well informed allows you to make educated decisions and thereby ensuring your companies competitiveness, sustainability, and profitability.


Click here for The 5 Missing Market Research Factors

Andrey Polston manages Optimum Outcomes, LLC an export management company (EMC) helping small and medium sized business' find and develop global sales markets.
Click here Optimum Outcomes for access to a library of freshly updated news, tips, links, and tutorials on Import/Export.

How I Became A Successful Import Export Agent

http://importexportbusinessinfo.blogspot.com/Several years ago, when I was invited to sit on the board of Wade World Trade, an educational institution established in 1946 to help entrepreneurs become import/export agents, I thought I would try it out for myself. I have to say that although I am not a natural entrepreneur (I hate anything which smacks of ‘selling’) I have never regretted the decision.

My first challenge was to find something to import or export. After much thought I decided I had to pick an area I was interested in anyway so I chose food. Since ‘artisan’ food producers are not very commercial it was a good decision. They find it easy to sell their products locally but tend to be hopeless at marketing overseas. I soon negotiated agency agreements with half a dozen companies for a range of related products – jams, chutneys, oaten biscuits, relishes, tea, hot chocolate and chocolate. All were manufactured (or at least packaged) in the UK and none had ever been exported.



The next step was finding possible buyers. My approach was to send an email containing photographs of the products I had on offer to – literally – thousands of buyers in Europe, the USA and Commonwealth countries. In the email I offered a ‘sample’ pack for the cost of postage. I also sent out about 2,000 mail shots. All together I must have spent close to £1,500. But I received requests for 70 sample packs and from this I obtained 15 regular customers. With three months I had made back by £1,500. Within a year I was generating a very nice income. It probably absorbs about 8 or 10 hours a week of my time BUT the beauty of it is that I can work at it largely when it suits me – in the evenings and weekends.

How to get into the lucrative world of Import/Export without a penny in capital and without leaving home.

If you would like to know more about becoming a successful Import/Export Agent then why not visit the Wade World Trade website (http://www.wadetrade.com). If you decide to take their course as a reader of the Power Report you will be entitled to the full £100 discount.

How to Find Success in the Import Export Business

Take advantage of world politics today and start your own import export business. Are you organized, efficient, and ready to make your future in an opportunity all your own? Import Export Business Opportunities are expanding and there is room for you!

In the early nineteen eighties, one of the most popular things in Soviet Russia was American made blue jeans. Exporters made money hand over fist selling American made products to the East. Now, twenty years later, we have seen the fall of communism in many cold war countries. This has opened the door to the import export business companies to make handsome profits by moving goods from one continent to another.

Blue jeans in the former Soviet Union sell as good now as they did twenty years ago. But now it is not only blue jeans. American cars, computer and electronic devices, even beauty products are becoming a big business all over the eastern continents.

China has shown automobile sales in the last two years that rival the United States. Western culture, a mythical and mystical thing to many eastern countries, is being shipped in everyday. Trade embargoes are loosening and the profit margins are now being recognized all over the world.

Even the European nations are seeing an increase in their exports to the East. There are world economics at play now that were not even dreamed of twenty years ago. Imports and exports are being moved everyday, and you could play a profitable role in it all with your import export business.

Not only is there still the crave for Western Culture in the East, there is the need for lower cost goods here in the West. Importing goods from these same places can be as profitable as exporting to them. Imported products can be sold in a variety of ways from online stores and auctions to a storefront in your hometown.

There are also companies set up online that do importing and exporting and will contract you as a reseller. This can become extremely profitable. Most of the time you are not even required to keep an inventory. There is also a market for buying the imports these companies bring in and reselling them on auction sites and in retail outlets.

You will need to be aware of any taxes involved in both importing and exporting goods. Customs regulations and federal laws on imports and exports will need to be clarified before you start. Make sure that everything you are moving is legal and acceptable between countries.

Also, having a little capital to work with, say around one thousand US dollars; will allow you to get off to a solid start. Exporting goods on the Internet is one of the least expensive ways of getting started and can be done through existing import export companies.

Researching import export businesses can be done effectively online. There are many such small businesses (or at least, they started that way) who are willing to share the secrets of their success. Importing and exporting is not rocket science, nor does it require you to have a Ph.D. in economics.

One of the easiest things about import export businesses is that you are not dealing with direct sales. Most of your sales will be in bulk to distributors on the other end. This means that you will have to have little or no technical information about the products themselves, only whether they are legal or illegal to sell to that location.

Once started, you will be surprised at the income levels that can be achieved. Most importers and exporters say they were shocked that they could turn so much profit in so little time. Investigate your own import export business today!

© Copyright Randy Wilson, All Rights Reserved.

Randy currently has a website dealing with Reviews of Coffee Related Products such as coffee makers, espresso makers, coffee, k-cups, and more plus articles on coffee enemas and other coffee and health related topics. He also has a website of Reviews of Small Appliances such as ice cream makers, vacuum cleaners, mixers, irons, toasters, food processors, and many other appliances.

Starting an Import/Export Business? 4 Questions You Must Ask Yourself First

A game my 8-year old son and I love to play in a department store is to race to be the first to find an item that is Made in the U.S.A. Sometimes the race takes more than 60 seconds. Try it yourself. Our marketplace has turned into a global bazaar. Shirts made in Honduras, mangoes from the Philippines, dog collars made in Indonesia, Italian leather handbags made in China. In this day and age, importing from abroad is not just good business sense, it is necessary for survival.

But you don’t want to be just a consumer at the end of the growing multi-billion-dollar trade chain. You want to be part of the international trade money flow. Before you order your first shipment though, you need to ask yourself - is this business right for you? Here are 4 simple questions to help you decide that.

Question #1: Do you have a connection to the supply source?

You are trying to import something from a foreign country to sell in the U.S. What’s different about you that you can do this more profitably than others?

Familiarity with the source country – maybe you spent a number of years in the country, you are familiar with the culture, the language, the industry. Those things provide considerable advantage.

Contact with sellers – you may know of reliable suppliers in the foreign country, you may have met them in person, or have been referred by a trusted source; you may have established a prior business relationship with them. Trust is key in the business and having prior relationships with sellers you trust gives you a leg up.

Merchandise with huge price gap – You may be aware of merchandise that cost much less abroad than in the U.S... A large price gap allows a lot of room for testing, learning and experimenting marketing channels.

Love and pride for a product or process – you have in-depth knowledge about a certain traditional manufacturing process - hand-batiking, for example. Marketing is about crafting stories and your love and pride for a traditional craft will make a great foundation for a marketing story.

Question #2: Do you have a connection to the demand market?

Familiarity with the destination country – you are familiar with the culture, the language, the seasonality of the market, the clientele. That knowledge and familiarity provide considerable advantage when it’s time to market your products.

Contacts with buyers – One of the surest ways to start an import business is when you already have a buyer in mind. Maybe you work in a corporation that purchases a certain merchandise from a U.S. broker. You have contact to a supplier abroad who can supply the merchandise at a much lower cost. When you have cartons of products crossing the Pacific or Atlantic Ocean, those importers who already have buyers for those products sleep a lot better than those who will have to look for buyers when the shipment arrives.

Knowledge of the competitive landscape – You are aware of the competitors in the market for your particular product line. You know where they are strong in and where they are weak in and you have targeted for yourself a niche where you can provide the greatest differentiating edge and advantage. For example, I am aware that skilled crafts labor in the U.S. is very expensive. In Bali, Indonesia, young girls start crafting beaded sandals as part of their cultural heritage. By the time they are adults, they can skillfully craft beautiful exotic beaded sandals at one tenth the prices here in the U.S.

Knowledge of market trends – whether it’s pashmina scarfs or ipod cases, knowledge of development of market shifts and trends in your home market can help you identify whether there is a growing or shrinking demand of your product line.

Question #3: What business skills do you bring to the table?

The business skills you have picked up in your day job or prior jobs will come in very useful.

Industry experience – Many successful importers worked in the import/export industry before they launched their own business. Not only had they become familiar with the customs and regulations of the business, they made many contacts that they can consult and seek help from. Do you have work experience in the industry you will be importing products for?

Sales and Marketing skills – Even Donald Trump says that very few are born salesmen, ‘the rest of else can learn it’. If you have been learning and developing your sales and marketing skills in your day job, you will find yourself using and enhancing them even more. You should spend the biggest proportion of time on income-producing activities.

Organizational skills - This is not a career for the organizationally challenged. This business involves a lot of details and follow-up, compliance to rules and regulations. Definitely not for the let-the-devil-handle-the-details type. Hopefully your day job has developed your organizational skills as well.

Analytical skills – any start up business requires you to analyze performance of product lines or marketing channels or promotion programs. You cannot improve if you do not measure. If your day job has familiarized you with using spreadsheets and creating simple what-if scenarios and simple spreadsheet formula, you will be comfortable analyzing your new business, strategizing changes and improvements, and analyzing the results of those changes.

People management skills – You will find that entrepreneurs need to manage other entrepreneurs. This may be harder than managing employees. Entrepreneurs are not tied by organizational structure but by win-win partnerships.

Question #4: Are you crazy enough to be an entrepreneur?

Do you have the mental courage and perseverance to be an entrepreneur? I worked in corporate America for many years before jumping into business. I found that corporate America is about my physically showing up for work and applying my intellectual training and experience to accomplish preset goals. When I became an entrepreneur it struck me how it is mostly a mental game. The struggle is mostly mental, and less about your physical or intellectual abilities. For example, you will find that your biggest competitor is not ABC company. It is you.

Do you have friends and family support? That’s great. The most important supporter and cheerleader you need is…You. You have a winner and a loser in you. Don’t let the loser win. That depends on who you feed and encourage: the loser or the winner. Your first 12 months will be wrought with successes and misses. I always tell myself, “Sometimes I win, and sometimes I lose, but I always learn.” I’ve found this quote so true in my own journey: “While you build the business, the business builds you.” You will end up at the end of this journey a very different person.

About Author:
Myrtha Chang, based in Boston, MA, is an importer of hand-crafted sandals and bags from Bali, Indonesia. She also helps entrepreneurs start up their import/export business. Her latest book, "Your First Year in Import Export Business" can be found in http://www.1styearimportexport.com/