If the export business plan is planned comprehensively, the chance of being successful in the target market increases. Poor planning or lack of planning can lead to major failures and harm the exporter. Therefore, an important question should be how the export plan should be made for an exporter.

Companies that have just started exporting or that aim to enter a different foreign market for the first time can benefit from companies that provide export consultancy services before carrying out their export business plan.

The steps of the export business plan are as follows;

-Approval of Top Management Must Be Obtained

Before the research is done and the plan is written, the person or department responsible for the target market entry strategy should inform the senior management about this and get approval. By doing this, it can be understood whether the key people in the company are willing to meet the challenges and meet the financial requirements for export. All departments, including the head of the company, must know and adopt the firm's export plan.

-Market Research Should Be Done

The company that will conduct market research should follow the country's export potential and product information, marketing guides, political and socio-economic conditions of the countries. 

-Market Research Should Be Analyzed

Market research is the process of collecting information about the sales conditions, price range and potential customers of a product in the market. Features such as the design, size and color of the product should be determined by studying the target consumer in the selected region to determine consumer preferences. In addition, the expectations and purchasing behaviors of potential customers can be learned by sending product samples to sales channels in the relevant market.

-Export Flow Should Be Determined

For an exporter to be successful, it is very important to determine whether the product can compete in this market. Such data can be obtained from the Statistical Institute of the relevant country, the Undersecretariat of Foreign Trade.

-The Most Appropriate Export Price Should Be Determined

Determining the price of a product is the most important factor that will affect the financial projections within the export plan. Therefore, cost-increasing factors should be considered while exporting. These factors are sales commissions, fees paid for shipping companies, costs for necessary documents, financing costs, letters of credit, packaging, labeling, marking, transportation within the country, insurance and storage costs, translation costs of product documents, and loan terms. It should be ensured that each of these factors is clearly expressed in the financial projections and the price of the product should be determined accordingly.

-The capacity of the firm should be clearly revealed

Pricing is not the only factor that influences a buyer's decision to purchase a product or service. The company's management capability, production capacity, quality control system, technical cooperation with foreign companies, order fulfillment system, references of the company and credibility related to financial stability are also important factors that can affect the purchase decision of the buyer.

- Matters that will affect the buyer's decision should be addressed

It should be researched which issues the buyer attaches importance to in the purchasing process and methods and procedures should be developed accordingly. Thus, those who read the business plan come to the conclusion that the company knows the issues that are important to foreign buyers. The factors that affect the purchase are as follows, from the most important to the least important; Quality, deadline, price, warranty, commitment to compensate for complaints or damage, protection of patents and prevention of infringement, technical support, confidentiality, packaging, payment methods, mode of transportation and correct follow-up of customer demands.

-Marketing

Some of the methods such as doing research on the internet for marketing, participating in international fairs, promoting products and services on websites that are used effectively in a particular country, getting support from effective consultancy companies for international marketing should be investigated. Then, marketing activities should be started with methods suitable for the firm's budget, the structure of the product and the determined market.

-Checking a Buyer's Creditworthiness

Before the exporter enters into a business deal, the potential buyer must check the credibility of the distributor or external partner. The best sources for this are the foreign credit services in the relevant country and the Chambers of Commerce and Industry in the buyer's country.

-Selection of Distribution Type

Companies should choose one of the distribution methods suitable for them. This can be direct or indirect export by finding a sales agent or sales representative.

 EXPORTER'S ROADMAP

An exporter without a roadmap may encounter some unexpected problems in business life. These problems can cause additional business loss, loss of time and some cost issues. It is necessary to be sensitive about a subject such as export, which has many variables and risks. For this, exporters should plan what they will do step by step and draw up a road map.

First of all, the company that wants to start exporting should revise its official web page, product and promotional catalogues, brochures, corporate social media accounts for export in order to create a sense of trust and reputation. For this, if the company does not have a public relations and promotion department, it should apply to export consultancy companies that offer these services.

In the next step, the company that wants to export should optimize the work of its export department and, if necessary, encourage its employees to train in order to make up for their deficiencies. Considering that this is a long process, the company can benefit from the services of the external export department. Foreign trade consultancy institutions that provide external export department services will gain new customers to the company by carrying out transactions such as market research and potential market analyzes in a shorter period of time.

In the next step, in order to start export activities, a deep market analysis for the target product should be made. This analysis should be carried out by an experienced foreign trade expert or by the institution providing the relevant service. Thanks to market analysis, target markets are determined and detailed research on these markets are carried out. Thus, the current market value in the market, price policies for the target product, potential competitors, market density, supply-demand ratios and potential risks are determined.

After the potential market analysis is prepared and evaluated, the sectoral markets to be entered are determined. Additional information may be needed after this stage. For this, the trade attachés, foreign trade institutions and B2B trade platforms operating in the relevant region should be consulted.

If these preparations and preliminary studies for export are carried out meticulously, the probability of the company's failure in export will be reduced to a minimum.

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