How to Prepare Your Product for Export

When you make the decision to start exporting the products of your small business you need to consider various different aspects, such as marketing, financing, and logistics. You also need to consider the product itself. In preparing your product for export you need to be aware of the unique characteristics of your target market. These characteristics determine how you need to adapt the product itself, and the presentation of the product, to make it as useful and attractive as possible to your customers abroad. Some modifications may be superficial and others may be more substantial.

You may need to make certain changes in the way the product is packaged, to make it more acceptable and appealing to your customers abroad. There may be certain labels that are required in order to import your products into another country. Depending on the type of product you are exporting, you may need certain inspections or certifications. And depending on how your customers abroad will use your product it may be necessary to make some modifications to the product itself.

Design, Engineering, and Technical Specifications

If your product uses electricity, you need to be aware that many other countries have different electrical standards than those in the United States. A product that works with 110-volt current in homes in the U.S. could be seriously damaged or impaired with the 220 volts common in Europe and many other parts of the world.

If your product has interchangeable parts, needs to be worked on with tools, or is to be integrated with other pieces of equipment, you need to consider that the metric system is widely used outside the U.S. The product may need to be redesigned or re-engineered to accommodate metric dimensions.

Instruction and maintenance manuals should give dimensions in millimeters, centimeters, or meters; weights in grams or kilos; and temperatures in degrees Celsius. You can find information on foreign standards and conversion tables in the National Institute of Standards and Technology website at www.nist.gov.