Going Global.

• Author: BECK, BILL
• Position: Export marketing

Expert advice on International trade in uncertain times

The world of exporting has always been scary for many businesses. After September 11, it may seem even more so. How can a company launch or expand a global-business strategy when the world now appears to be such a dangerous place?

The answer, say export proponents, is that Indiana companies cannot afford to ignore the potential benefits of selling overseas, even in times like these. "My own thought is, from an exporting standpoint, we would have to push ahead, not pull back," says Greg Cutchin, managing director at Purdue University's Center for International Business Education and Research, part of the Krannert Graduate School of Management in West Lafayette. "We've got to keep going."

That's not to say that international business planning should ignore the terrorist attacks on the United States. "We already knew that the world economy was going to slow down, but now most people believe U.S. growth will be even weaker than we thought, and that will have an effect on other countries whose economies are buoyed by selling to the United States," predicts Larry Davidson, founder and former director of the Global Business Information Network at Indiana University and a professor of business economics and public policy at IU's Kelley School of Business in Bloomington. "This isn't the kind of economy where you would normally be gung-ho to sell abroad."

On the other hand, one of the arguments in favor of exporting is that, somewhere in the world, there's always an economy that's growing. Selling in that place can help to lessen the pain caused by economic troubles at home.

"There may be some countries whose economies are not as tied to the U.S. economy, where your goods may find favor," Davidson says. For example, "you previously may not have thought to sell in the Czech Republic and instead decided to sell in Singapore and Mexico. Given that U.S. weakness is going to have a large effect on Singapore and Mexico but maybe not so much in the Czech Republic, maybe now is the time to look at the Czech Republic. If you have some percentage of sales abroad, then you can buffer yourself from a downturn in the domestic economy."

Exporting also can help balance demographic shifts, he says. "The average age of the U.S. population is going up, while Mexico is just the opposite. So if I'm a diaper manufacturer, I might want to investigate the market in Mexico."

And, Davidson adds, market growth is frequently more substantial overseas than it is here. "In most industrial First World nations," he says, "the average growth of sales is 3 to 5...