I am in Latvia this week and in Russia next week training entrepreneurs and small business support experts. People often ask me: how do I get this work? So let me tell you my story. I first worked in Russia in 2001. I met Peter the head of a project in Nizhny Novgorod in 2000 at a small business development conference in Turin, Italy. He was looking for a small business expert to evaluate a project he was working on in Russia. He asked me if I would be interested in working on the project, I said yes and that’s how the relationship started. He then moved to a new project in Kaliningrad and asked me again to work with him in 2009. So it takes a little bit of luck, saying yes even when you’re not sure you can do it and maintaining relationships. The project I am working on in Latvia is through a contact I met in Belgium at another conference a few years ago. So how can you grow your business internationally and export your products and services:
- Identify the ideal countries for your product or services
- Start off by doing online research
- Use this tool to check if you’re ready to export http://www.exportdiagnostic.ca/
- Use this site to find free export help http://www.tradecommissioner.gc.ca
- Forum for International Trade Training http://www.fitt.ca/home.htm
- Attend trade missions
- Go to international tradeshows www.tsnn.com
- Network with other exporters http://www.tisanet.ca/
- Develop relationships with local and international chambers of commerce
- Never give up
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