Import Export Business Components and Segments

The Indian export business has been growing steadily for the past several decades. Indian exporters have succeeded in taking the export business to an international level.

Factors Contributing To the Growth of Export Sector

Several factors have contributed to the growth of export business in India. The growth of Small and Medium enterprises is one of the most important factors that have led to an increase in the export of the country. Most of the Indian exporters include the SME sectors which have grown tremendously during the past several years.

Some of the most important and profitable sectors in the export business include textiles, chemicals, telecommunication hardware, food grains, iron and steel, consumer durables and electronics. India is second largest exporter in the world next to China.

Another important factor that has led to the acceleration of exports is the online business to business web portals. The use of business directory by the Small and Medium enterprises has led to a global exposure of products and services.

Today Indian exporters can easily find markets for their products through online portals. The small enterprises found it difficult to reach the target audience but with the use of the b2b directories, these industries are able to showcase different products and services in the global markets, make better and faster transactions and have an in depth knowledge about market situations.

Indian exporters have a healthy competition with neighbouring countries which has further led to the growth of export sector in the country. The government has created new opportunities by introducing several policies to augment the export sector. By the year 1990, government introduced liberal policies to boost the export business in India. The introduction of various trade policies have led to a substantial flow of foreign currency.

Some of the Important Export Products

The Indian exporters maintain cordial trade relations with neighbouring countries. Majority of the commodities produced in the country are exported to foreign countries. Some of the most important and notable commodities include:

  • Iron and steel: India is the leading exporter of iron and steel to different countries all over the world.
  • Leather products: leather products like shoes, bags and belts are exported to different countries on large basis. It is one of the most profitable sectors of the Indian economy.
  • Textiles: another sector that contributes to the GDP of the country is the textile industry.
  • Chemicals and pharmaceuticals: India is the leading exporter of various chemicals and pharmaceuticals. The export of petroleum has also increased during the past several years.
  • Ready-made garments: Indian exporters are well known for their ready-made products in the international markets. Indian dresses and fabrics have immense appreciation all over the world.
  • Jewellery: Indian jewellery has craved a niche in the global markets with its unique blend of traditional and contemporary styles.
  • Dairy products: a leading exporter of milk products and eggs, the current census show a considerable increase in the export of dairy products.

The growth of SMEs and the use of business directory have led to a notable growth of the export sector of the country in many ways. Today the country is a leading exporter of many commodities in the international market.

The 4 Major Components of Business Growth & Profit-Building Success!

Your business can be broken down into 4 segments or component parts.

I call these as the 4 MAJOR COMPONENTS of a business.

Through extensive research and study of the most successful businesses worldwide, I have likewise determined that there are 4 common focal points found in a successful strategic plan for Business Growth and Profit-Building. These common focal points, or 4 MAJOR COMPONENTS, are interrelated and can be made to fit together like the pieces of a puzzle.

When you clearly identify them in your own business, and then strategically harness their power to function cohesively, the 4 MAJOR COMPONENTS can produce EXPONENTIAL business growth. And that kind of business growth leads to an increase in bottom-line profits!

So what are these 4 MAJOR COMPONENTS to a successful strategic plan for business growth and profit-building?

Let’ briefly explain what these 4 MAJOR COMPONENTS are, and what they have to do with developing a strategic plan to successfully grow your business and increase your profits.

The 4 MAJOR COMPONENTS

MAJOR COMPONENT 1 is your business’ VISION, GOALS, & MISSION.

When you consider your business’ VISION, GOALS, and MISSION, your chief aim is broken down into 2 parts. First, you must carefully analyze and clarify what direction your business is currently heading in right now. What is your VISION for your business? What are your personal goals and business objectives? And finally, what is your Mission for your business? Do you have these 3 clearly set out? You need to in order to start seeing real growth in your business.

Second, you must determine whether you need to change course to develop the business growth you want and the increase in profits you need. Having clarified your VISION, GOALS, and MISSION, you will then know in what direction you want to steer your business to generate the business growth and increased profits that you want.

As you work through and implement any business growth plans, keep referring back to MAJOR COMPONENT 1, your VISION, GOALS, & MISSION.

MAJOR COMPONENT 1 is the guiding direction for your business, just like a compass pointing to “True North”.

MAJOR COMPONENT 2 of the business growth and profit-building process is your Business Operating Systems, Management, & Training.

I liken MAJOR COMPONENT 2 to the engine that drives a car. When you consider MAJOR COMPONENT 2 in your own business growth plans, you accomplish 4 things:

1. You undertake a review of your business’ engine; that is, your staff and contractors. How can they play a positive role in growing your business and increasing your profits?

2. You consider your hiring practices. How they can impact your successful business growth at the front end…, when you hire others to join you.

3. You evaluate and design your management and training processes to support the business growth that you are striving for. And,

4. Most importantly, you strategically develop the specific operating systems that your business must have in place to effectively and efficiently run your business; whether you, the business owner, are there on the job, or not.

Are you driving a sputtering jalopy or a precisely tuned race car? MAJOR COMPONENT 2 answers that question.

Once you’ve got MAJOR COMPONENT 2, your business systems, running smoothly, it’s time to start filling up the tank.

MAJOR COMPONENT 3 of your business growth plan is Strategic Marketing, Lead Generation, & Lead Conversion systems.

When you consider MAJOR COMPONENT 3 in your business growth plans, you must analyze your systems for servicing your current customers and clients, for identifying and obtaining more of your Ideal customers and clients, for marketing to your unique target market, and for converting more prospects to bring in more sales and increase your bottom-line profits.

Finally, a successful business growth and profit-building strategic plan must never leave out the all-important topic of MONEY.

MAJOR COMPONENT 4 of your business growth plan takes a hard look at Financial Position, Cash Flow, & Reporting.

In MAJOR COMPONENT 4, your primary focus is to review the systems that you have in place to know where you’re at financially, to handle your money, to control it, and to keep it coming in. What changes do you need to make in your financial operating systems to ramp up your business growth? Where is your money? How is it being spent? Do you have operating systems that you have designed and put in place to control expenses and costs? Is your money coming in consistently? What Cash Flow “production” strategies are unique to your business? Are there any other “production” strategies that you can implement immediately? Are there any other ways that your business can “manufacture” additional Cash Flow?

Well, there you have them.

Those are the 4 MAJOR COMPONENTS of a successful strategic plan to grow your business and increase your profits.

First comes knowledge. You have it.

Now, must come action!

So it’s time for you to take action.

ACTION STEPS:

Follow these 4 steps and get your business growth plans roaring like the powerful sound of a race car crossing the finish line in first place!

1. Write out on a sheet of paper each of the 4 MAJOR COMPONENTS of your business as outlined above.

2. Analyze each MAJOR COMPONENT in comparison to your present business operations.

3. List the focal points lacking in your business compared to each MAJOR COMPONENT.

4. Come up with just 1 action that you can take to improve in each of the 4 MAJOR COMPONENTS.

If you’ve completed the 4 action steps, then you’ve got some momentum going. Constantly focus on the 4 MAJOR COMPONENTS of your business. Keep working on improving in these 4 MAJOR COMPONENTS.

Because if you do, you’ll be developing a successful and proven plan not only to grow your business, but to increase your profits as well!

This article is an excerpt taken from the MasterMind Business Growth System, as written by noted Business Growth Expert and Attorney, Miguel Mendez, Jr., Esq.

Copyright 2008. Miguel Mendez, Jr. All rights reserved.

The Five Components of a Business Strategy

Can you define exactly what makes up a business strategy? Some people say no, but we think you can.

In fact, we believe a valid business strategy has five components:

  1. Your company’s current or desired core competencies
  2. A description of how you will differentiate vs. competitors
  3. The industry or industries in which you intend to compete
  4. The initiatives you plan to implement in the areas of marketing, operations, information technology, finance and organizational development
  5. A financial forecast that shows how your plans will meet stakeholder requirements over the next 3 to 5 years

Let’s look at each of these components.

The first component of a valid business strategy is a clear description of your company’s current or desired core competencies.

You may be thinking, “Great, but what’s a ‘core competency?'” While there are many definitions, here’s a good one from Wikipedia:

ACore competency is something that a firm can do well and that meets the following three conditions:

  • It provides consumer benefits
  • It is not easy for competitors to imitate
  • It can be leveraged widely to many products and markets.

A core competency can take various forms, including technical/subject matter know how, a reliable process, and/or close relationships with customers and suppliers. It may also include product development or culture, such as employee dedication.”

For example, we could say that Southwest Airlines is a reliable airline that offers low fares. But in order to provide those benefits, it has to have certain “core competencies,” important capabilities that enable it to have low fares and to be reliable. We believe that Southwest Airlines has four core competencies that it executes so well that it regularly beats all other US airlines in terms of profitability.

These core competencies are:

  • The lowest operating costs per plane
  • An economical point-to-point airport network
  • A fanatical culture focused on customer service and cost savings
  • An ability to keep planes in the air more of the time than its competitors.

Southwest airlines couldn’t offer the benefits of low prices and reliable service if it didn’t master these core competencies. What key benefits do you want to offer your customers? What core competencies do you need to master to provide them?

The second component of a valid business strategy is a description of how you differentiate vs. competitors.

In our experience, differentiation is about being the best at something. This should be encapsulated in your mission statement – what are your company’s aspirations and how are you going to beat the competition? We just talked about how Southwest Airlines differentiates — what are you going to offer customers that will make them choose your products or services so that you can grow your business?

It takes a lot of hard work to come up with a great answer to this question and even more work to make that differentiation real. It’s easy for us to say that Southwest is the best low-cost airline in the US, but it’s extraordinarily difficult for them to pull it off.

The third component of a valid business strategy is a description of the industry or industries in which you intend to compete.

You need to be able to define just what kind of company you are – are you a furniture manufacturer? A gift card retailer? A consulting firm, a bearings distributor, a toy importer, etc.? This step sounds easy but we find that companies are often so concerned about getting too narrow in their focus that they fail to become really clear about what they want to do. A company with a good business strategy will have thought through these issues and made the hard decisions necessary to clarify its identity. If it has, it can easily pass the litmus test of identifying the industry or industries in which it operates.

The fourth component of a business strategy is the set of initiatives you plan to implement in the areas of marketing, operations, information technology, finance and organizational development.

These are the plans that guide your company’s focus and resource allocation over the next several years. If your business strategy is specific enough to be relevant, you will have detailed plans in all of these areas.

The fifth component of a business strategy is a financial plan that forecasts the results you expect to get from your plans and illustrates how they will meet stakeholder requirements over the next 3 to 5 years.

Your strategic planning process cannot be separated from your annual budget process. In the vast majority of companies, if it’s not in the budget, it doesn’t exist. That’s why you have to have a very senior financial person on your strategic planning team, preferably the CFO. During the planning process, your team must compile a financial plan that estimates the results of implementing your strategy. This plan needs to earn the approval of your company’s management and board and should be reviewed on a regular basis to track results and make refinements.

So – those are the five components of a valid business strategy. Good luck planning your success. And succeeding because you plan.

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