Characteristics of Successful Exporters

International trade can be a valuable opportunity for companies to grow strategically and harness many benefits in the process. Good businesses that are successful in trade become better businesses as they increase their revenues, improve efficiencies of scale, diversify their markets, expand their connections, and become more innovative, more resilient, and have improved profitability.

Successful exporters generally exhibit the following business characteristics:

• They are established domestically and have figured out the key elements of their business operations and management.
• They are managing their finances well and are profitable.
• They have adequate access to capital and other necessary resources to build their capacity.
• They have a competitive advantage over their competitors such as in having a better product or service, better business model, better product-market fit, etc.
• Their employees are highly engaged and productive.
• They pay higher wages than their non-exporting competitors.
• They have, and protect, intellectual property such as trademarks or patents.

They also generally exhibit certain management characteristics:

• Leadership has a strategic growth mindset and approaches trade strategically.
• Team members have a willingness to learn, especially about other cultures, other markets, and doing business in other countries.
• They are committed to being successful in trade and are willing to invest resources into developing relationships and a presence in other markets.
• They are patient, perseverant, and resilient because becoming successful in trade can take several years or more to actualize.

The benefits of acquiring customers in foreign markets do not appear instantly. Most businesses that sell internationally start out slowly in order to better understand what is involved, what risks to mitigate, and how to best pursue opportunities. It can take time to grow capacity, realize efficiencies of scale and see significant improvement in profitability. There are stages of growth in trade ranging from selling to a few customers in limited markets all the way through being a truly global company.  For companies that have the right characteristics, including committed management, international trade can elevate a good business into a stronger, more innovative, more resilient, more impactful company.

To learn more about Characteristics of Successful Exporters watch our recorded webinar. If you are an exporter or are interested in international trade, then check out our resources and reach out to our Export Promotion Team for export assistance or our Global Resources Team for broader questions.

Laurie Pieper, Ph.D., CGBP

Assistant Director, Global Resources

International Division, Kansas Department of Commerce