For an SME, offering its products or services outside the country of origin may seem like a difficult achievement to achieve. However, nothing is impossible. The key lies in Finding the ideal allies in the process. Andrés Rave, Director of Business Solutions for South American Insurance Company SURA, He says there is a way to make it a concrete possibility. To do so, says the specialist, “it is necessary to prepare, to draw on the experience of others, to surround oneself with the right human talent and to be competitive.”

It is said that the networks of networking They all enhance it. Contacts are the greatest asset when setting up a business. Something similar happens when exporting, because Finding the ideal partner for this process can be a real turning point. 

Companies that help companies, the push to export

Aerodoc is a Miami-based company with operations in over 160 countries around the world. “We provide the Importer and Exporter of Record solution, allowing the import of technology hardware and other assets where our clients do not have a legal entity,” says the company. institutional website of the company, which collaborates with any SME or large company in the expansion of its operations, providing its services “Door to Door” with the provision of import licenses, in English DDP with IOR.

“The interesting thing about this service is that it allows any company in the world to sell to its customers without the need to have a physical presence, and Aerodoc is responsible for delivering this equipment in more than 160 countries,” explains Dan Zonnenschein, COO of the company.

For Zonnenschein, this is “an excellent alternative to expand sales without having to increase fixed costs – or develop new businesses – in the first stage, without having to open an entity. Later, depending on the volume and dynamics of the business, the company will be able to set up its own operations.” 

DHL Express, a company belonging to the Deutsche Post DHL Group, has international logistics transport solutions to help small and medium-sized businesses ensure high levels of service and reliability, and, at the same time, Gain full visibility and traceability of all your product movements, from end to end.

“To further boost exports from SMEs and startups, facilitating international trade, DHL Express recently launched the DHL Bootcamp Challenge. This is a challenge aimed at all those companies and entrepreneurs who seek to generate a positive impact on the world with their businesses and who are looking to expand outside the country," says Leando Florio, Commercial Director of DHL Express. The winner of this edition will receive a prize of 10 thousand dollars in international e-commerce shipping.

An SME that manages to internationalize can support its activity in different markets. In this way, it manages to strengthen its usual target, but also to broaden its horizons, which ends up being a great support in moments of local economic uncertainty.

Private and public initiatives

Exporta Simple is a Simplified Export Regime created with the aim of facilitating export operations for small producers, for commercial purposes, through Simple Export Logistics Operators (OLES). This initiative was launched in 2017 and allows for the generation of shipments of goods produced in Argentina with a value not exceeding 15 thousand dollars per operation and an annual limit of 600 thousand dollars.

Since its launch, more than 21 thousand sales have been made for a total of 61 million dollars and have reached more than 100 destinations. Among the favorites are the United States, Mexico and Chile. At the end of 2021 presented changes:

• Simplification in the preparation of foreign sales invoices.
• The portal issues a Simplified Export Document (DES) that replaces the proforma invoice.
• A search engine was incorporated
• You can track the status of refunds and see available export quotas in real time.

La Mexican legislation managed to develop Free trade agreements, which facilitates the exchange of products between nations. It is important legally constitute the company before the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit, as well as other responsible institutions, that is, under the country's tax and commercial laws. In MexicoAny legal entity or individual that carries out a business activity can become an exporter, regardless of its size (micro, small, medium or large).

What really matters is the level of competitiveness of the same. Although it is only required to be registered and active in the Federal Registry of Taxpayers, there is a small group of products that require registration in the Sectoral Exporters Registry: alcoholic beverages, beer, alcohol and manufactured tobacco, among others. These details can be found on the SAT Customs portal.

Uruguay Uruguay has a project similar to Argentina called “Exporta Uruguay”, an export promotion mechanism designed primarily for micro and small businesses. To this end, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Directorate of Handicrafts, Small and Medium Enterprises, the National Customs Directorate and the Uruguayan Post Office have simplified the export process, allowing them to carry out customs clearance for their goods. There is no limit on exports per day, as long as each export does not exceed USD 7,000.

To export from Dominican RepublicMardom is one of the main companies that facilitate this process with more than 50 years of experience, with operations in all the ports and main airports of the country and 7 offices. Colombia, TMX is one of the leading companies in the market, with more than eight years of experience, knowledge, planning and control in processes related to foreign trade.

Outstanding cases in the world

United States have the Export assistance centres (USEAC), which helps navigate the export process and is staffed by professionals from public and private organizations with experience in export assistance for small and medium-sized businesses. They also have a state trade expansion program (STEP) which provides financial grants to state and territory governments to help small businesses export their products.

China, Germany and the United States lead the ranking of exporting countries in the world 

In the case of China, whose share of exports in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is around 31%, is currently the country that exports the most to the whole world, and stands out for its electrical machinery, textiles and toys.

In the search for the ideal ally to take an SME to the next level, SURA Companies provides all the necessary information through guides and videos with useful content that guides small and medium-sized business owners to make the best decision when landing abroad. This is an offer developed especially for SMEs that has a physical and virtual space, where entrepreneurs can learn about the changes that are taking place in the environment.

“The goal is to show that you don’t need to be a large company to be a multinational,” explains Rave, adding: “At SURA we constantly study the markets where we operate. We have regional observatories throughout Latin America, where we analyze economic, sectoral, social and consumer trends, and we put this market intelligence in the hands of all the entrepreneurs who participate in the program.”