Project Management: International market research

Open to Export

Free export advice from The Institute of Export and International Trade dedicated to helping small UK businesses get ready to export and expand internationally. The section on Selecting a market provides expert advice on country selection and preparing a strategy for launch into your new market. There is advice on what you need to research when selecting a market, how to choose which market to export to, which markets you should look at and how international markets differ.

i. Department for International Trade 

Exporting Country Guides. For businesses interested in selling overseas.

ii. British Chambers of Commerce (BCC)

BCC has a global business network of accredited chambers of commerce. For example, the UK-ASEAN Business Council  (UKABC) is the leading UK-based organisation promoting trade and investment between the UK and ASEAN’s dynamic markets. Created out of UK Trade & Investment’s 2011 Strategy ‘Britain Open for Business’, the UKABC is passionate about helping UK companies of all sizes export and invest in Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Cambodia, Burma, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and The Philippines.

iii. International Statistical Institute - Statistical Offices worldwide. Select a country from the drop-down menu.

iv. International organisations

• IMF World Economic Outlook database
• OECD iLibrary. Browse by country.
• World Bank country data
• UNCTAD Country profiles. Select the General profile and this should show you the profile for Afghanistan. Then select from the list.
• Global Edge (US Department of Education) Country comparator tool.

v. UK business press country profiles

• FT World reports. Look for or search for reports titled Investing in...
• Economist Intelligence Unit Country Briefings

i Local and overseas trade associations

The Trade Association Forum website http://www.taforum.org/ provides details of the UK’s trade associations. For example, the UK Fashion and Textile Association provided important advice to Hawick Knitwear, advising the company to focus on Japan rather than China as its main export market. As the Managing Director stated: “You're putting lots of money, time, resource, effort, reputation, talent, into an overseas push, and it is frightening”. You can see how this was applied in episode 2 of Digby Jones, The New Troubleshooter.

ii Trade Journals

Trade journals usually supply product and process information, technical articles, news and details of events and shows, advertisements and jobs. ProQuest One Business will search trade magazines for you. Use the advanced search to combine keywords. Specify where you want your keywords to occur: for example, you can search by location. Limit to full-text and restrict your search by publication date.

iii. Newspapers

Nexis UK contains a News Section which includes content from over 33,000 sources of the world’s leading newspapers and magazines. You need to select a region, enter additional search terms and restrict your search by date to avoid finding excessive results. 

iv Trade Shows

The Department for Business & Trade's Events page is updated regularly with both UK and overseas events as well as overseas missions. Information about forthcoming events will also be given in trade journals. Trade shows are likely to cost money to enter. As the Sales Manager at Hawick Knitwear confirmed: “Trade shows are a great gateway into the international market. It gets us in front of customers from all over the world”.