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8: Preparing your export plan > Preparing and presenting
your export plan |
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Preparing
and presenting your export plan
It is essential to formulate your exporting
strategy in a written document - the export plan
As with your export research report, you need
to formulate your export strategies in a clear way, accompanied
by a budget and time frame. This written document becomes
your export plan. Within the plan will be outlined your
export strategies. It is essential that you commit your
thoughts to paper. Trying to run an export business off
the top of your head, is sure to lead to failure. A written
plan:
- Is likely to bring clarity to your export actions, enabling
you to explain how you link your planned actions to market
and customer needs
- It brings a degree of formality and seriousness to your
export endeavours (if you aren't serious enough to prepare
a plan, you can't be serious about exporting!)
- Is more likely to be approved by management and encourage
them to commit the necessary resources (capacity, financing,
staff, etc.) to developing exports
- Can be used at banks and other institutions to obtain
finance
- Provides a common frame of reference for all involved
in the export activities of the firm (e.g. directors,
production managers, finance managers, human resources,
export staff, yourself, etc.)
- Serves as a benchmark for measuring success
- Is dynamic and can change to adapt to varying cicumstances
Preparing the export plan
The export plan, like the export reseach report,
needs to be prepared as a formal report. The proposed outline
of this report can be viewed here. The plan should be professional
laid out and several copies made for distribution to all
relevant parties (directors, managers of human resources,
finance, production, etc., as well as to export staff).
Support the content of the report with graphs, tables and
photographs to enhance reading.
Presenting the export plan
If you are the owner of your own business,
it is unlikely that you will need to present the report
for approval, but you may want to present the report to
obtain your staff's support and to give them some direction
as to where you hope to take your new export endeavours.
In a larger company where you are in charge of exports,
you may have to present the report to obtain management's
commitment and financial support. You may also need to present
the report to your bank in order to obtain additional financing
and so both the report and your presentation needs to be
of a high standard. Whatever your position, a formal, written
plan is key to the future success of your export endeavours.
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