Book Review: Exporters! The Wit and Wisdom of Small Businesspeople Who Sell Globally

Out of the millions of U.S. businesses, only about 300,000 individual companies made an international sale in 2012. Although the U.S. is the world’s number one exporter, there is potential to grow exports by small and medium sized businesses. In its book Exporters!, the U.S. Commercial Service interviews 28 of its current clients that are small businesses, which export their goods or services. Each company covered in the book is unique and has a different story of how they first began exporting. One common theme was the benefits and resources provided by the U.S. government.

Seven themes and lessons that emerge from these stories include: exporting as a key to growth; exporting generates better companies, products, and services; exporting companies are good at business fundamentals; the market potential outside of the U.S.; the advantages of manufacturing in the U.S.; the success of foreign born entrepreneurs; and a willingness to engage in U.S. government export assistance programs. There are many different teachings from the set of stories, but these 7 themes are prevalent throughout the book.

If you are a business that is considering exporting or expanding exports, I highly recommend Exporters!.  The book assists companies in understanding and developing a strategy to take their business to the global market. The book does a great job covering a variety of different companies that offer a unique set of products and services. From reading this book, a company can generate an understanding of the great resources there are in order to begin exporting. Some of the government export assistance programs offered include the U.S. Commercial Service, Export-Import Bank, and the Department of Commerce.

As the world continues to globalize and international trade continues to grow, exporting will continue to be a way for small and mid-size companies to differentiate themselves. Exporters! offers a range of stories that can be used in order to create an exporting strategy.