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Finding new business by going global

American small and medium size businesses can no longer afford to restrict themselves only to the US markets, said Neil Hartigan, the chairman of the World Trade Center in Chicago at a speech. He was trying to gather support for a strategical liaison between the World Trade Center Chicago and the local chambers of commerce. In order to boost small businesses in the Midwest, Neil Hartigan wants to link the trade centre with local businesses interested in joining the international market by providing them with valuable resources, tutorials and assistance by staff.

He stressed that it is vital for businesses to find new markets at a time where only 5 % of the global market is stationed in America. To find foreign buyers can make all the difference between suffering from slowdowns in US demands or riding through them on a wave of exports.
Especially small and medium sized companies have a lot of potential yet to be realized in this respect, and the most to gain by doing so. An expanded international customer base can act as a buffer when demand is low in the local market, and vice versa.

But in order to achieve these extra sales, a real commitment is need from the side of the small company to make it happen. The trade centre can help in finding foreign buyers, and guide through all the relevant rules and regulations, but at the end it comes down to the willingness of the company to make an extra effort, to learn, and to take on the hassles of import and export. The rewards are worth it, agrees Pat Fitzgerald, president of a business manufacturing replacement tubes for CT scanners. As a small business mainly working for Phillips, the firm has managed to find an additional market abroad which adds a whopping 40% of revenues to the company.