How To Export To Zimbabwe | Maximising AfCFTA Potentials | Part-53

The 15Ps of Export Readiness Assessment Criteria: The Products

Today, I will be explaining the second P in the 15Ps of export readiness evaluation criteria and the company's characteristics which I will be focusing on this edition is the product.

The product is the item of export and this can be intangible services or tangible goods, however my focus here will be tangible goods. A product that is deemed to be export ready is the one that has met the quality specifications expected of the buyers and consumers in in the export markets. It is important to note that the quality specifications here is has to do with the constitutes of the goods and this varies from one market to the order. A product is ready for the export market of it meets the quality specifications expected in the target market. 

Another important characteristics of the product in export readiness is the labelling requirements. This has to do with the information provided on the packaging materials of the item of export. It helps the consumers to know exactly what they are buying and the implications. Each market defines how products should be labelled and this is particularly very important for edible items like foods and drinks. A product that does not meet the labelling requirements of the export market is not ready for internationalisation.

A product that will be deemed ready for the export market needs to also have a unique selling point (in terms of cost or the value it delivers) which makes it stand out from the competition in the export market. In addition to this, the product should also have a level of sophistication (or at least a secret formula) in the production process in order to have a sustainable competitive advantage over competition. If this is not the case, such a product can be easily copied by competitors in the export market and this will negatively impact on the market share. 

Finally, packaging materials is a very important factor in determining the readiness of a product for the export market. The packaging materials should a very attractive design to get the attention of the target consumers. It should also be strong enough to endure the stress of logistics involve in moving to goods by air, road, rail or sea from the country of production to the destination in the export market. 

So before your organisation commences the journey to going global, ask this question: How will you describe the level of readiness of the products for the international market?

See you in the next episode 

#quality #packaging #like #markets #packaging 

How To Export To Zambia | Maximising AfCFTA Potentials | Part-52

How To Export To Uganda | Maximising AfCFTA Potentials | Part-51

The 15Ps of Export Readiness Assessment Criteria: The Promoters

 

I will be starting the discourse on the 15Ps of export readiness evaluation criteria by focusing on the company's characteristics which include the promoter, product, pricing, predisposition and purpose as shown in the attached picture.

Today, I will be focusing on the promoters. These are the business owners who make decision on the vision of the company, set the goals be achieved, determine the strategies to be deployed by the company. The commitment of the promoter is therefore extremely critical the readiness of a business to go global.

There are sales managers who have targets to grow sales volumes and therefore want to expand their markets abroad but are unable to achieve much despite all their efforts because the business owners are not yet committed to doing business abroad.

For a business to be able to sell in international market in a successful and sustainable manner, such a business must have leadership that understands the export business process and stakeholders, interested in the export market and therefore ready to commit both human and financial resources to make it work.

Since doing abroad is capital intensive, the promoter must therefore have a budget for the development of the export markets and also commit funds to make the necessary adjustments in the product to suit the needs of the export markets.

One of the reason why many export business fail is because the owners are very satisfied with where they are and therefore do not see the need to go abroad since they are doing very well in the local market. However, this is a very wrong mindsets because export should be a strategy to generate foreign exchange, extend product life cycle, achieve economy of scale and survive recession in the local market.

So before your organization commences the journey to going global, ask this question: How will you describe the level of the commitment of the management to selling in the international market?

See you in the next episode

#exporters #business #businessowners

How To Export To Tunisia | Maximising AfCFTA Potentials | Part-50

The 15Ps of Export Readiness Assessment Criteria

Many businesses around the world (both MSMEs and Corporate) that intend to go global or internationalise (sell their products are services abroad) have had to deal with a lot of challenges that have either stopped from starting exportation or unable to continue after a few shipments. Having observed this for over a decade as a consultant in the sector, I took it upon myself to find the focal point of this problem and the solutions to this challenge through a PhD research at LIGS University in the United States.

I glad to announce that I have found the focal point of this problem and this is the lack of Export Readiness. In order to successfully and sustainably export your products or services abroad, you MUST be export ready. In order to solve this problem (I tested the hypothesis on factors that position a business for internationalisation) and through this, I have been able to developed the most comprehensive export readiness factors/criteria in this field. This contains 15Ps of export criteria and this have been subdivided into four categories.

Through this research work, I have also developed an export readiness assessment model which any business from around the world can use to assess its level of export readiness (a web app is currently being developed for this). Upon completion of the export readiness assessment form, a report will be generated that shows the scores in each of the areas of readiness, the areas of improvement, the final score and the implication of the scores on the levels export readiness.

The attached picture shows the various areas of export readiness that are neeeded for a successful and sustainable and each of them will be explained in the coming days

#exportreadiness #trade #export #globalbusiness #internationalisation