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It should be said, however, if you are not yet selling regionally and nationally, then you should first aim at expanding your market share within the local market. Once you have saturated the national market, only then should you look beyond the borders of South Africa.

It Increases sales

Exporting is one way of increasing your sales potential; it expands the “pie” that you earn money from, otherwise you are stuck trying to make money only out of the local market. In the case of South Africa, our market is relatively small in comparison to the markets of North America, Europe and Asia. While the local market may represent enough sales potential for smaller firms, for medium and larger companies the local market is just too small and the only way to expand sales is to export.

It increases profits

Clearly, you are not likely to enter the export market in order to make a loss. Companies generally strive to make profits and the bigger the profits the better. In many instances, exports can contribute to increased profits because the average orders from international customers are often larger than they are from domestic buyers, as importers generally order by the container instead of by the pallet (thereby affecting both total sales and total profits). Some products, especially those that are unique or very innovative in nature may also command greater profit margins abroad than in the local market. Having said that though, it is also not uncommon but highly likely that you may receive smaller profit margins from your export sales compared to the local market. The reason for this is the highly competitive nature of global markets that forces exporters to lower prices, squeeze profits and reduce costs. You may also find that in some markets you generate higher profit margins, while in other markets your profit margins are considerably lower.

Reduces risk and balances growth

It is risky being bound to the domestic market alone. Export sales to a variety of diverse foreign markets can help reduce the risk that the company may be exposed to because of fluctuations in local (and foreign) business cycles. At any one time, the UK, Australia and Germany will be enjoying different growth rates. By selling in all of these countries, the risk of low growth in one or more of these countries will be offset by increased growth in the others, thus resulting in a balanced portfolio of growth overall. In addition, with the challenging labour conditions that many firms in South Africa face today, exports may help to create and/or maintain jobs thus reducing the risk of a labour dispute that could otherwise cripple the company.

There are a lot of benefits to exporting, we will continue exploring them in the next article.