Finding Opportunities

With 95% of the world’s consumers living outside the United States, businesses can no longer afford to think in purely domestic terms.

The globalization of commerce is a reality that creates both challenges and opportunities. It is important to ask yourself, what are the international trade opportunities for your company’s products or services? These resources can help you begin to identify those opportunities and formulate a strategy for export success.

The Basics

• Learn about export basics and find trade leads in your industry.
• The International Trade Administration provides recent trade news and helpful updates.
• The Department of Economic Development operates Missouri’s International Trade & Investment office.

Finding Your Target Markets

• Identify your target markets by conducting market research.
• Find information about government regulations and enforcement in 178 countries through the World Bank.
• Basic economic and demographic information about all countries is available from sources such as the CIA World Factbook, BBC News and the Library of Congress.

Searching For Trade Leads

• Search a worldwide business-to-business database for potential trade partners.
• Whether you are buying or selling internationally, two popular business-to-business databases, Alibaba and World Trade Market, can help you find potential suppliers or customers.