Choosing an export market The next step when you have decided to export your goods or services is to decide who to trade with. Rollo Hope, Head of Exports, Technology and Smart Cities at the Department for International Trade (DIT) says: “As a small business or start-up you need to choose the right market to export to and carry out the due diligence. For example, you might think exporting to China would be good for your business or product, but without fully understanding the culture, language or implications of its current trade relationship with the US, it might be an uphill struggle and a costly mistake. “Trading a little closer to home might be a better way to start exporting or to companies in countries with the same culture and language, for example Australia or the US. Also, you will need to ask yourself, does your business want to break into an overseas market already over-saturated with a particular product or sector? For example, if you try to export your software platform to Silicon Valley, it might prove difficult to stand out from the crowd unless it is radically different to other existing US products.” The below table shows the top three export regions by country from Sage’s We Power the Nation survey. The survey revealed that the US is the top region to export to for 10 out of the 12 countries surveyed. Western Europe ranked in the top three for seven countries, and China for six countries. Top three export regions by country # UK USA Canada Australia Ireland Germany #1 Western Canada/ USA (76%) China (45%) W. Europe E. Europe Europe (62%) Mexico (39%) (44%) (53%) #2 USA (54%) China (31%) China (33%) USA (42%) E. Europe USA/ (32%) W. Europe (51% tie) #3 Australia (47%) India/Australia/ W. Europe E. Europe USA (29%) C. Europe S. America (25%) (28%) (46%) (28% tie) # Spain France Brazil Malaysia S. Africa Switzerland #1 W. Europe W. Europe USA (59%) SE Asia (excl. Africa & W. Europe (48%) (48%) China & S. Middle East (41%) Korea) (44%) (55%) #2 USA (44%) USA (38%) S. America China (43%) USA (37%) USA (40% tie) (36%) #3 C. Europe E. Europe China (35%) Australia (33%) China (31%) C. Europe (37%) (29%) (38%) The small business guide to import and export 10