New Canadian exporting report highlights strategies and lessons learned for opening new markets

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Nov. 22, 2016) -

An pdf document is available at the following address: http://bit.ly/2fkEIMB

CanadianManufacturing.com, a national media brand, is releasing its inaugural Export Insights report at the Ontario Export Awards in Toronto today.

Developed in partnership with sponsors SYSPRO Canada and Grant Thornton LLP, the report highlights data from a national survey of more than 500 Canadian industrial executives, conducted by Bramm Research; and a roundtable discussion among Canadian exporters.

The project benchmarks manufacturers' current exporting business, and illuminates their plans for growth in overseas markets.

"Throughout the report we outline more than the strategies of successful exporting firms," said Michael Ouellette, editor of CanadianManufacturing.com and moderator of the roundtable discussion.

"We identify some of the common risks a new exporter will face, regardless of where they plan to export; and some of the proven methods of mitigating those risks. Opening new markets is not easy. And it's certainly not cheap. But for Canadian companies, it is a vital source of new revenue-the national market simply is not large enough for most companies to focus solely on home turf."

Among the findings from the Export Insights report:

• Go-to-market approach: Direct sales is the top strategy used by Canadian exporters penetrating new markets, with 70 per cent of respondents going that route. Establishing a joint venture was second at 28 per cent.
• Growth on the horizon: 80 per cent of respondents are confident their exports will grow within the next 12 months.
  
• Value-added: 40 per cent are exporting highly engineered or custom-made products.
• New markets: 25 per cent of respondents are planning to enter a new market within the year; Western Europe is by far the top target market for these companies, at 40 per cent.
• Getting started: 48 per cent of respondents said they began exporting due to demand from an existing customer; 41 per cent started exporting to grow sales.
• Challenges: Currency fluctuation was cited as the top hurdle to exporting (33 per cent), followed by competition in export markets, foreign regulations and tariffs, lack of internal resources, among other challenges.

The full report may be viewed at www.canadianmanufacturing.com or via the link above.

About the report

Export Insights was produced by CanadianManufacturing.com and sponsored by SYSPRO Canada and Grant Thornton LLP. The survey was conducted by Bramm Research, a third-party research firm in Oakville, Ont.

@CMO_Frasers