{"id":2836,"date":"2017-09-20T09:58:00","date_gmt":"2017-09-20T09:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/exporting-advice-a-complete-guide-for-small-businesses\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T10:46:32","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T10:46:32","slug":"everything-you-need-to-know-about-exporting-for-small-businesses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/everything-you-need-to-know-about-exporting-for-small-businesses\/","title":{"rendered":"Everything you need to know about exporting for small businesses"},"content":{"rendered":"<header class=\"entry-header has-dark-background-color entry-header--has-illustration entry-header--has-illustration--generic\">\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-header__row row align-center\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col col-lg-7 col-xlg-6 entry-header__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"component component-single-header\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-header__misc text--subtitle text--uppercase text--small\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/category\/growth-customers\/\" class=\"entry-header__link\">Growth &amp; Customers<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-title-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"entry-title\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\tEverything you need to know about exporting for small businesses\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"entry-header__description\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"single-post-details container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"col\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"posted-on \"><time class=\"entry-date published\" datetime=\"2017-09-20T09:58:00+01:00\">20 September, 2017<\/time><\/span><span class=\"reading-time\"> min read<\/span>\n\t\t<button\n\t\t\ttype=\"button\"\n\t\t\tclass=\"social-share-button button button--icon button--secondary js-social-share-button\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-title=\"Everything you need to know about exporting for small businesses\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-url=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/everything-you-need-to-know-about-exporting-for-small-businesses\/\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-text=\"Please read this interesting article\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__share-label\">Share<\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__copy-label\" hidden>Copy Link<\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__copy-tooltip\" aria-hidden=\"true\" hidden>Copied<\/span>\n\t\t<\/button>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/header>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-author has-dark-background-color alignfull\">\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"col\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"co-authors\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-author-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<a class=\"entry-author\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/author\/keirthomasbryant\/\">\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"40\" height=\"40\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/06\/keir-short-hair-350x350.jpg\" class=\"entry-author__image\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/06\/keir-short-hair-350x350.jpg 350w, https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/06\/keir-short-hair.jpg 760w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 40px) 100vw, 40px\" \/>\t\t\t\t<span class=\"entry-author__name\">Keir Thomas-Bryant<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Exporting can offer great benefits to small and medium sized businesses based in the UK. It&#8217;s a market worth \u00a3508 billion to the UK economy, with 10% of the UK&#8217;s small businesses already trading abroad.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Benefits include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A wider customer base, potentially leading to greater sales and profits<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>More efficient use of capacity, particularly in manufacturing businesses<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A showcase for new and innovative products and services that can boost your reputation<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Greater resilience and less risk from falling sales due to economic factors in individual countries or markets<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>We&#8217;ve compiled a list of useful resources and organisations that can help you on your export journey:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/organisations\/department-for-international-trade\" target=\"new\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Department for International Trade<\/a><br><br>A range of support for small businesses, a lot of which is free. From local trade experts, to market research and international networking opportunities.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/collections\/exporting-country-guides\" target=\"new\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Exporting country guides<\/a><br><br>Useful facts and figures to help you decide which country to export to.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.exportingisgreat.gov.uk\" target=\"new\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Live export opportunities<\/a><br><br>See what opportunities already exist for your business, trade or industry. Just enter the relevant information into the search box on the page.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCVD1ZQZujsE09G6e0QDxK5Q\" target=\"new\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Department for International Trade YouTube channel<\/a><br><br>A Government department that helps UK-based companies succeed in the global economy, and assists overseas companies to bring their high-quality investment to the UK.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gov.uk\/guidance\/overseas-market-introduction-service\" target=\"new\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Overseas Market Introduction Service (OMIS)<\/a><br><br>A service to help you access the right international contacts or partners, and find the best way to do business in your chosen market.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gov.uk\/guidance\/export-marketing-research-scheme\" target=\"new\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Export Marketing Research scheme (EMRS)<\/a><br><br>Free independent advice on how to carry out market research<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-information-on-export-licensing\">Information on export licensing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Certain goods need a license before they can be exported. This depends on the type of goods, where they are going to and what they&#8217;re going to be used for. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The following sites provide guidance on what goods are controlled and need a licence, how to apply and your responsibilities for complying with the terms of a licence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hmrc.gov.uk\" target=\"new\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">HM Revenue and Customs<\/a><br><br>Find guides on export licenses, taxes, rates of exchange etc<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gov.uk\/guidance\/beginners-guide-to-export-controls\" target=\"new\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">UK Government&#8217;s export control website<\/a><br><br>Find out if you need an export license, and if so, which type and how to apply for it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/organisations\/intellectual-property-office\" target=\"new\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Intellectual Property<\/a> How to protect your intellectual property when trading abroad<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.doingbusiness.org\/rankings\" target=\"new\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The World Bank guide to the easiest places to do business around the world<\/a><br><br>The World Bank ranks countries according to the ease of doing business every year. Rankings are based on scores on 10 topics ranging from getting credit to dealing with permits and paying taxes.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gov.uk\/foreign-travel-advice\" target=\"new\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">UK Foreign Office travel advice<\/a><br><br>Latest travel advice by country including safety and security, entry requirements, travel warnings and health.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.iti.org.uk\/\" target=\"new\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Institute of translation and interpreting<\/a> A professional association representing translators and interpreters in the United Kingdom.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"single-cta gated-content\">\n\t<div class=\"single-cta__positioner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__wrapper has-dark-background-color\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"single-cta__title h3\">A free guide to growing your customer base<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__description\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>A dependable customer base is the foundation for every successful business. Get our free guide for plenty of insights to help your businesses find new customers and improve relationships with your existing ones.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\t\thref=\"#gate-f4aee3f8-4a71-4c14-9703-3cd9f104f837\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"single-cta__button button button--primary\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t>Get your free guide<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"780\" height=\"500\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2017\/08\/growing-your-customer-baseCTA.jpg\" class=\"single-cta__image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2017\/08\/growing-your-customer-baseCTA.jpg 780w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 48em) 33vw, 100vw\" \/>\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Exporting can offer great benefits to small and medium sized businesses based in the UK. It&#8217;s a market worth \u00a3508 billion to the UK economy, with 10% of the UK&#8217;s small businesses already trading abroad. Benefits include: We&#8217;ve compiled a list of useful resources and organisations that can help you on your export journey: Information [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":280,"featured_media":2894,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sage_video":false,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,9],"tags":[20],"business_type":[4],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[73,74,75],"imagine_tag":[109],"coauthors":[369],"class_list":["post-2836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growth-customers","category-strategy-legal-operations","tag-international-trading","business_type-small-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-gb","author_name":"Keir Thomas-Bryant","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2017\/09\/GettyImages-169267075_super.jpg","imagine_tags":{"109":"Small business"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice UK","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2836","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/280"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2836"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2836\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/2894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2836"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=2836"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=2836"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=2836"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=2836"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=2836"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=2836"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=2836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}