Lack of contacts no barrier to export
One of a number of surveys published to coincide with UKTI’s recent Export Week events across the UK highlighted that one of the main perceived barriers to small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) starting up exports is lack of contacts in foreign markets. But do SMEs really need to worry about this and by doing so, could they be missing out on a massive opportunity to see their business flourish?
A recent poll carried out by YouGov together with professional services consultancy, KPMG revealed that 45% of SMEs have no current plans to export. Their reasoning behind this reluctance to branch out into overseas markets seems based on a number of factors, including lack of understanding of international markets and their associated legal regimes, but one factor which figured for at least 10% of companies was lack of strong enough contacts in overseas markets.
Of course, such caution is understandable – yes, there are many SME export success stories, but it’s easy to see how SME owners who have spent time and resources building up business contacts in domestic markets could balk at the prospect of having to spend even more time and money establishing similar contacts overseas, even without taking possible language and cultural hurdles into account.
But could they in fact be missing a trick and counting themselves out of lucrative export markets for all the wrong reasons?
This is exactly where companies like Kazopp come in. By using an agent to facilitate entry into a foreign market, SME owners can be linked up to opportunities and overseas clients without the need to spend their all too valuable time and resources on researching the market, establishing contacts and building relationships. Linking up with a company which has already established those business contacts and possibly even already identified a demand for your goods or services has the added advantage that advice will also be on hand as to practical, legal and tax issues in country.
Don’t write off your export potential too soon!
So don’t let lack of contacts and knowledge/understanding of a market stand in the way of growing your business overseas – get in touch if you’d like to find out more about current opportunities in Kazakhstan – construction and manufacturing opportunities available now!