80% supported companies starting with export

AMSTERDAM - The Netherlands is well-known for its prominent position as exporting country and the export outlook is promising. The CBS (Dutch Central Bureau for the Statistics) announced earlier this month that export has grown with 7% compared with the same period in 2016. The producer’s trust is increasing in the total Eurozone and Dutch exporters were ‘less negative’ about export orders than former periods. In short, green light for companies to continue or start up export.

Starting with export is not that simple though. How do you get started and what market do you select? The Dutch government has an instrument to support export start-ups: the individual coaching of the SIB (Starters International Business) programm. In about 4 months companies are coached by export professionals to prepare their export plan in 3 stages: 1. What are you good at? 2. What are interesting markets? 3. What do you need to do to become successful? The results of this type of support are very promising. A recent study about the third quarter of 2017 shows that the average mark for this kind of governmental support is high: 7.5 (0-10 scale); 75% of the asked companies think they are better prepared for an international start, 60% of the companies are already busy taking next steps and 20% has planned to do so. Altogether very positive results.   

A food entrepreneur who has successfully passed this SIB-programm is Let de Jong, owner of Let’s Salsa. Let develops and produces fresh Mexican Californian hot sauces and salsa’s and designs her own packaging labels. In the Netherlands her products can be found in retail stores like Marqt, different restaurant chains and she’s been on television in popular cooking programs like ‘Koken met van Boven’ and ‘24Kitchen’. Let focuses on a specific target group that is a little harder to find in a new market. 

Together with TEN the export network she has passed through the SIB-programm. Let: ‘TEN has helped me a lot in a professional way. In five sessions we made an analysis of my own company, defined the export strategy, selected focus markets and wrote a practical export plan. TEN has her own step-by-step plan that you can simply fill in every time you have had a meeting. At the end, you have a complete document ready and you can get started immediately. Besides this TEN gave me practical advice about managing my business in general and also about export specific aspects’.

Are you curious to discover and explore your own international opportunities? TEN advises and supports food & beverage companies that are aiming to broaden their horizons. We co-ordinate food export activities, encourage business development projects, and create new international links. We also help improve the standard of existing export activities, and we operate as SIB advisor (Starters International Business, an initiative of the Dutch government) to SMEs. For more information www.theexportnetwork.nl or contact us for a first meeting: http://www.theexportnetwork.nl/contact/.