Steps of Export Development

Each company that decides to become international takes following steps in its export development:

Are You Ready To Do Business Globally?Identification of a need is the step when a company realizes why it must go international (e.g. due to the competition or limits of a local market).
International market screening is the step when a company identifies preferable countries (foreign markets) for its products or services and designs a roadmap for foreign markets entry.
Assessing readiness is the step when a company identifies whether it has internal resources to go global.
Preparing International Business Plan (Export Business Plan) in 2 phases:
- Analytical phase;
- Planning phase. See also International Business Plan Structure.
Implementation of the Plan that is entering foreign markets.

There are several key factors that enable a local company to become a global one gradually. Those factors must be considered before attempting any further steps towards global expansion:

Motivation and Commitment
Whatever the purpose of going global is, the motivation must be strong enough through the time. You and all employees have to stick to this road.
Competitive Advantage
Your product or service must deliver unique value compared not only to local but also global competitors.
Customers Base
Your product or service must have a potentially extensive customer base around the world, in terms of volume and money, depending on its nature.
Production Capacity and Adaptability
You must be capable to meet a growing demand from abroad. You also must be able to adapt your product to technical requirements of countries of destination.
Cultural Awareness and Sensitivity
You must identify the impact of a local culture to your product or service and be able to translate it to your benefit by adapting your product or service to local cultural requirements.

One might argue that awareness of risks, costs, barriers and rewards is also necessary. True, however, there is no point of that awareness if there is no competitive product or motivation. When you take your first steps on the road of international business, make sure that those 5 factors are strongly represented.