Here at Communique, we love working with start-ups and small businesses. We are familiar with the creative and collaborative mindsets of both work environments, which make phenomenal settings for innovation and professional development. However, it can be daunting for both start-ups and small businesses to expand, especially into foreign markets—even if there is an ideal market abroad. Being a small business ourselves, we understand the need to constantly search for ways to improve and streamline our business and costs. This includes a careful approach to expansion, something of which any small business should be mindful.
This past summer, I was lucky to have the opportunity to intern with the U.S. State Department at the U.S. Embassy, Port Louis, Mauritius. Along with meeting some of the impressive, inspiring, and hardworking staff of the U.S. State Department, I was also able to gain some insight into the various resources the U.S. government provides for businesses.
During my time with the State Department, I was pleased to learn how many government programs exist to help American small businesses in particular. Although a potentially intimidating task for any business, the U.S. government offers a collection of services to assist small businesses in expanding into foreign markets.
- SBA.gov.The U.S. Small Business Administration has a wide selection of guides on starting and managing a business, a variety of loans and grants, information on government contracting, and counseling and training resources. See one extremely helpful guide: Financing Your Small Business Exports, Foreign Investments, or Projects.
- Export-Import Bank of the United States. “Ex-Im” is the official export credit agency of the United States. They provide loan programs to facilitate export opportunities for both large and small businesses. Ex-Im Bank’s services include working capital guarantees, export credit insurance, and loan guarantees. Roughly 85% of their transactions are associated with U.S. small businesses.
- OPIC.OPIC is the federal government’s development finance institution. OPIC provides financial products (loans and guarantees), political risk insurance, and support for investment funds to help American businesses expand into emerging markets. OPIC’s overarching goal is to mobilize private capital to solve critical development challenges, advancing U.S. foreign policy, and generating revenue, jobs, and growth both domestically and abroad.
- Office of Investment Affairs. This office’s primary goal is to advance international investment interests of the United States domestically and abroad. Online, the OIA offers information on trade agreements and treaties. Additionally, OIA generates “Investment Climate Statements,” a guide of other nations’ economies that utilizes layman’s terms to describe different areas of foreign economies essential to investment.
If you’re considering expanding your small business into a foreign market, make sure to look at the resources the U.S. Government can offer you. After all, you’re already paying for them.
For more from CPR on small businesses, check out:
- Building (and Maintaining) a Sense of Passion in Small Business Settings, 7/5/2012
- Four Ways Instagram Can Lead a Small Business to Success, 6/15/2012
- Our Favorite Business Blogs, 6/30/2010
Are you considering expanding your small business into a foreign market? What resources have you found helpful?