High Growth Markets: Businesses wary of exploring overseas markets
TOO many businesses are impeded by concerns about the risks and costs of exploring overseas markets, according to the CBI.
The organisation’s recent report, The Only Way is Exports, found that six of the eight major challenges businesses perceive when entering overseas markets concerned local knowledge.
Debbie Mullen, co-head of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire for Barclays, said that this is where banks can help.
She said: “Banks, like Barclays, with an international footprint and local market knowledge can support businesses looking to take advantage of the export opportunity – by offering support with identifying country and political risks, as well as providing solutions for payment and currency exchange issues.”
Nick Marsden, international and corporate tax partner for Deloitte, said it is important to try and pinpoint which risks are specific to your business that cause an incremental impact.
He said: “Think: why is this business more risky than any other? That should impact how you run the business and transact within the country; how you hold investment; how you work with tax authorities or how you deal with customers.
“A local partner can help find a route to market and see through regulatory issues. A joint venture doesn’t have to be a formal legal structure – it could be a trade agreement with a local body, lots of businesses have distributors. Outsource on an independent basis and then look to invest on a longer term basis.”
