Planning

Broadly speaking, there are three routes to investing internationally: set up a wholly owned subsidiary, invest in an existing business or set up a company in partnership with an existing business.

A trade mission is simply an activity in which a business from one country goes to seek out potential trade or investment partners in another country.

Getting paid is often the hardest part of your international trade transaction. Even if you are used to taking payment up-front in your domestic market, you will find that much harder in an overseas market.

You will quickly discover that there is no shortage of information on international trade and investment.

Many firms, especially those that focus on design and problem-solving, sub-contract the manufacture, and maybe other functions as well, to specialist contract manufacturers.

When you make a capital investment, whether in equipment for your existing business or by investing in another business, you do so because you expect to generate income in the future. If this were not the case, you would not make the investment.

It is often helpful to split up funds within a business to show sources and applications. Sources show from where the money has come; applications show to where the money has gone.

As with many other aspects of business, the key to success in international trade and investment is careful preparation and planning.

International trade is the exchange of goods or services for money between countries; foreign direct investment is investment by a business in another country for the purpose of trade, which could be domestic or international. However, there are many ways in which you can ‘internationalise’ your business.

This note is intended primarily for businesses that are seeking external finance. A business plan for use internally will tend to be more of a checklist of actions but a plan for a funder needs to explain the business in enough detail to reassure them that they will eventually get back their investment and make a return. A business plan can be prepared for the whole organisation or for a division or even just for a single service.