Sharon Doherty is the president of a small company in Ohio called Vellus Products Inc. http://www.vellus.com/ that creates a line of pet grooming products from shampoos, detanglers to brushing sprays.
She realized that her products have worldwide appeal, and found a tremendous market outside of the United States. It all started in 1993 when a Taiwanese buyer sampled her products in decided to sell them in Taiwan. Since then, she has researched potential market outside of the US, enlisting the help of the U.S. Export Assistance Center.
In the January issue of the magazine World Trade , Doherty shares the lessons she learned on how to succeed in exporting:
- Know whom you are dealing with – developing business relationships is critical to exporting. She even gives advice to her foreign distributors, as this helps build long-term relationships.
- Do a background check on potential partners – you can be duped out there, and to avoid that you need to research and get as much information about your potential partner. The wrong choice can cost you time and money.
- Learn the culture. It is important to learn the cultures of different countries, particularly how they do business and how they look at your type of products.
- Enjoy the ride. Have fun through it all.
