SMEs, Internationalization and Export

To talk about internationalization and exports, it is necessary to start with some very interesting data provided by ISTAT and relating to 2019:

to date 3.2% of Italian companies export (therefore 97% of Italian companies only sell on the national territory), for a total of about 210,000 units;

of these 210,000 companies, more than 80% sell a few hundred thousand euros of Made in Italy products.

Italy remains among the top 10 countries in the world for export volumes, but in reality all these extraordinary results are attributable to a few companies.

Italy is a country that exports, but few do it continuously, most of them only do spot sales

Export is certainly a great opportunity for Italian SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises), but it is necessary to be ready and prepared, because one of the mistakes that is frequently committed is to replicate what is done in Italy, without involving the whole company, but only the sales and marketing department (when it exists in the SME).

Selling abroad is certainly more complex for various reasons, the first concerns foreign languages, English is an international language, but in some countries it is necessary to approach the market with local native speakers.

It is necessary to organize specific marketing for each country to which one exports, customs and traditions are always different, maybe you can start with English, but often you need to communicate in the customer’s mother tongue.

All communication such as content, websites, emails or catalogs must be adapted to the language, habits and customs of the destination country, and this obviously also applies to legal regulations.

It is also necessary to pay attention to the naming of the product and of the company which translated into the local language can conflict with the social and cultural aspect of the target country.

These are very fundamental aspects that must be addressed in the same way as the competition analysis.

Is your company ready to export? Contact us to evaluate your export orientation!