Beginner's Guide to Exporting. 4th Edition.

2 Beginner’s Guide To Exporting CHAPTER 1 GETTING STARTED 1.1 WHY EXPORT? Amongst the reasons companies export are: • To expand sources of revenue • To diversify markets and reduce risk • To enhance competitiveness • To achieve economies of scale and utilise access capacity • Saturated domestic market 1.2 ARE YOU READY? Before venturing into export markets, companies should consider: 1.2.1 Production • Able to expand production capacity to cater for export demand (e.g, new machines) • Adequate supply of raw materials 1.2.2 Financial • Healthy financial standing • Access to funding (commercial and government) • Understanding of payment instruments 1.2.3 Human Capital • Sufficient trainable and knowledgeable staff (e.g. market knowledge, customs and logistics procedures, INCOTERMS) • Multi-skills and multi-lingual work force 1.2.4 Marketing • Sufficient marketing collaterals • Access to various distribution channels • Knowledge in export market strategy (refer to export market plan)