Tip 12: Broaden your horizons

Go west..Go east..Go anywhere! With sterling at historical lows, the opportunity to take your goods and services to new markets can be very tempting, and for some businesses this could be the best chance to grow their business in 2010.

Of course there are risks in looking for and doing business overseas. Getting paid is an obvious one, as is funding any investment or working capital requirements. Understanding the best route to market, and product pricing will need time and effort.  Language and cultural difficulties will have to be overcome. New rules and regulations will need to be dealt with. Decisions will require to be made regarding the use of an agent, or distributor or setting up a branch or a company. Advice will be needed on tax issues such as duty, VAT and transfer pricing. It can all sound quite scary.

However the good news is that there is a lot of help around, and expertise that can be tapped into. UK Trade and Investment have a number of programmes designed to help businesses tackle their market of choice, some of which are heavily subsidised. Chambers of Commerce run a number of events for companies looking to export, as well as providing documentation processing services. Banks, of course, can advise on payment and finance options.  

Doing business internationally is risky, but done properly can be very rewarding and a great opportunity to develop new markets in these difficult times. The way to achieve good results is to minimise the risks while maximising the help that is available.

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