Basics of exporting

You'll need to understand the culture of your target markets to establish a successful relationship with your potential customers.

Being able to speak the language of your potential customers can help to establish mutual confidence. If you don't speak the local language, you could consider investing in foreign language training for your staff. Alternatively you could employ a translator or interpreter.

It can also help to have your promotional material translated. However, it's a good idea to avoid colloquialisms and metaphors in promotional material - they could be embarrassing in the local language.

Find out more about the Invest NI in-market support programme.

Researching overseas markets

You should conduct research into your target market to establish local considerations. These may include product or packaging modifications to enable your product to conform to local cultural demands. Or it could be that local sales and marketing channels for your particular product are different from those in the UK - mail order in one country, shops in the other, for example.

Read more about researching and entering overseas markets. 

You can also find out about the Invest NI export support available.