The title of this piece refers to the catch-cry of the British Motor Industry some 65 years ago. Back at the end of WWII, the UK’s motor vehicle manufacturers put a serious effort into exporting their products, globally, especially to the Americas, Australasia and elsewhere in order to re-start the country’s economy, almost destroyed by the then-recent conflict.
I believe the Export or die philosophy is relevant today, especially for SME-level businesses in the USA, where the nation’s economy needs some serious action to get things going again and people back into jobs.
At the start of this decade, during the economic downturn that occurred after the dot-com boom went bust, I wrote an article in a small, Northwestern US business newspaper about how much of the world wanted to ‘buy American’, and the difficulties they faced trying to do so. This desire for US goods is still there today; why?
- ‘Made in USA’ still offers a perceived guarantee of perceived consistent quality and reliability in many global markets;
- Because of the huge domestic market and the ability to make things in large volumes, US-manufactured goods are often surprisingly competitive, internationally. This is especially true for niche manufacturers. In fact, these companies might find that they’ve got global markets they didn’t even know about just waiting to buy their goods and services!
- As a global trend-setter, products and services from the USA often have an in-built prestige about them. Many consumers in other lands love to be seen with the latest and greatest – best of all, it doesn’t have to be made in Asia. Many American-made goods from smaller-sized enterprises could and should be perceived as being just as desirable as the latest offerings from the multinationals;
- Add to that, the Internet offers global access to American goods and services like never before.
So if that’s the case, then why aren’t more SME-level American companies getting into international markets? My observations are that:
- American SMEs have little understanding of the global marketplace, the downside of its having such a large local economy;
- A lack of belief that a small business can compete, internationally. I can’t recall how many times American businesspeople are shocked when I tell them about how New Zealand, a nation of SMEs, competes globally without subsidies. In fact, my adopted homeland’s plastics moulding industry is competitive, internationally; it’s therefore safe to say that its US-based counterpart would be equally so;
- American SMEs seem to have a fear of the unknown when it comes to exports;
- While the US Department of Commerce and other agencies have sone pretty good export programmes, I believe that SME-level exporting is still very much a low-profile activity for these organizations;
- The American banking system is archaic by world standards when it comes to handling international transactions. I remember the Letter of Credit for an export order for a Middle East client having to go through THREE different US banks for the transaction to be completed, as only one of these institutions was set-up for international business! Compare that with my ability at the time to go to the local branch of any of the banks I dealt with in NZ to do a foreign exchange transaction…
Many business media commentators in the USA have said that it’s the SMEs that will create the jobs that will help pull the country out of the nation’s worst recession in living memory. However to grow businesses, they’ll need customers, and those may not be found within the local economy. This is why I suggest that Federal, State and Local Governments should begin promoting export development far more proactively than it has done in the past, especially in the fast-growing economies of Latin America and Asia.
It’s all there for the taking, there are export development programmes, all kinds of advice and assistance available for exporters, and an infrastructure of US Embassies and Consulates in place around the world ready to help – all it needs is American small business owners to believe it’s possible for them to succeed in a global economy.
