Why Do So Few U.S. Businesses Sell Internationally?

World population has reached 7 billion and 320 million of them live in the USA. According to the latest statistics only 1 per cent of the American based companies are engaged in export business. This percentage is even lower than in any other developed country. Furthermore, the greater part of the US companies export only to one country. As we see there is a lot of untapped potential for American companies. The exporting experience of companies shows that selling or sourcing products worldwide helps businesses to grow faster with less risk.

Here are some tips to help you to expand your business globally:

1. Know your market: Before exporting your products to new markets it is important to determine the target persona for each country.Remember the golden rule: ''Each product has a specific market''. This information will help you to tailor your products so they will resonate with your potential clients in that specific market.

2 Create demand: To generate demand for your product requires much more than simply releasing it onto the global market. Each territory has a different media mix. Determine what is the best for your product and find the right expert to build the marketing strategy.

3. Expand the reach of your business by localizing your online presence: It is highly recommended to translate your entire website, including all its videos. Make sure your potential customers find and understand everything they need when visiting your website, to shop easily.

4. Master global shipping: There's lots of shipping companies around the world. They will help you with export and import procedures, custom clearance and export and import documents, in other words will all the regulations that could delay your shipment.

5. Stay agile and responsive to stay competitive: Once you get the formula right in a new market, you can try to duplicate your business success in other markets. But remember the cookie-cutter solution is not aplicable to every country and every product. This variability is part of what makes exporting so challenging and rewarding.

If you do your homework well going global could be one of the most profitable moves you've ever made. Otherwise, you may be overlooking increased sales, new experience and most importantly - higher profits.