International business opportunities

Business Opportunities

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...free, and can help a business to derive some specific information about potential demand for their products or services in specific markets.

British companies can easily take advantage of the business opportunities database on the website of UK Trade and Investment, the government body that helps businesses to trade internationally. The business opportunities database is free to use, and enables a business to register details of their products and services. This is viewed directly by buyers around the world who are actively seeking new suppliers, as well as by commercial staff in British Embassies and Consulates worldwide, who are seeking to assist local companies by finding them new suppliers.

The UK Trade and Investment database is a global and cross-sectoral facility, that acts as a catch-all for all sectors of industry. To get more benefit, aspirant exporters should seek out similar facilities that are more relevant to their products, sector, or to the markets they are most interested in serving. Appropriate trade bodies can offer similar facilities that, as they are specific to a particular sector, are often more likely to get noticed by potential buyers.

Many businesses offer commercial facilities that are effectively ‘matchmaking’ facilities for buyers and sellers, the most well-known of which is probably e-Bay. There are many others that are more focused on business to business products and services, and may have a particular slant on particular regions or sectors.

Using these facilities is easy to do and is certainly valuable as a first step, but frequently proves to be of limited value because it is a passive means of finding opportunities, that is to say it is a way of making it easier for potential customers to find you.

For most businesses, finding or generating business opportunities internationally is a demanding and potentially expensive exercise, involving... continued on page five >

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