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Exports are tonic for small firms, says survey
[ January 30, 2013 // Chris ]Smaller firms involved in international markets are twice as likely to be successful as those that only operate domestically, says a new report by IHS and DHL Express report: Internationalisation – a driver for business performance (www.dp-dhl.com/content/dam/presse/pdf/2013/sme-competitiveness-study.pdf) The macro-economic analysis and survey of 410 directors in developed and developing countries found that 26% of the companies that were trading internationally significantly outperformed their market, in contrast to only 13% of those with operations only in their home country.
The research also revealed the increasing pace of globalization and a sharper international focus among smaller businesses. A majority of the high-performing firms also said that they planned to increase their percentage of exports over the next three years, despite the uncertain economic environment.
But the report also found that inadequate business infrastructure is constraining competitiveness by reducing business efficiency, and that SMEs are having to work harder to this. The smaller firms biggest concerns are a lack of available information on foreign markets, high customs duties and the difficulty of establishing contacts with foreign partners and an overseas customer base.
Developed world smaller and medium sized companies are lagging behind emerging market ones in terms of the internationalization of their businesses.