U.S. Small Business Administration

Once you have all the facts and figures before you, it's time to tie all the details you have considered into one neat package: an export strategy plan. Just as the development of a business plan is critical to the success of your business domestically, so is an export plan important to your efforts overseas.

An export plan provides a detailed blueprint of your market and product, your goals and objectives and your strategy for achieving them.  It should include specific short-, medium- and long-range objectives; timeframes for implementation; and mileposts for measuring success.

The basic elements of your plan do not have to be elaborate or detailed.  However, your plan should outline:

• The country or countries in which you plan to do business;
• Your strategy for reaching these markets;
• Specific operational steps and scheduled implementation;
• A budget based on the amount of money you will commit to your overseas operation.

Your export plan should closely resemble that of your business plan. It should include an executive summary, an export policy commitment statement, background analysis, market and product selection, marketing objectives and strategy, budget, controls and procedures, personnel and organization, and methods of evaluation.

Your export plan should be a management tool, with the objectives in the plan used to measure results and success. Once you become experienced and gain new information, you can modify the plan and make it more specific.

* Excerpted or reprinted with permission from Small Business Success, Volume 1, produced by Pacific Bell Directory in partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration.