Research Your Export Markets

3. Fine-tuning the List

3.1 Find out if there are political, cultural or religious reasons why your product or service would not do well in a particular country.

• Ask the country's embassy in the UK for advice. For contact details, visit www.fco.gov.uk.
• UK Trade & Investment and the British Chambers of Commerce also give useful information.
• You could also look at the International Trade Portal section on the Institute of Export's website.

3.2 Look at the overall economic climate of possible countries.

3.3 Research what duties might be levied.

• To find out what import duties will be paid visit http://mkaccdb.eu.int. The database is free to use and you can search by a product's HS number - the classifying code used by most countries for Customs documents - or by product description.

3.4 Other factors such as climate and distance should also be considered.

• If you have to visit the country frequently or at short notice, it may be important that it is within easy travelling distance.

3.5 You may want to look at the cost of transporting goods or delivering your service.

• Remember there may be additional costs, such as cargo insurance, which will vary depending on where the goods are going.

3.6 Decide whether a language barrier would cause problems.

• Make efforts and respect cultures, but not speaking the language is not necessarily an insurmountable obstacle. A good local agent may be the answer.