Growing internationally: How to choose a market that fits your business

Key points

• Look at your existing customers and online data to spot early signs of overseas demand.

• Check your internal capacity before entering a foreign market.

• Research how customers in your target market buy and compare products.

• Use simple scoring to compare shortlisted markets, so you can choose confidently.

• Start with one pilot market and learn from the experience before expanding further.

Choosing where to expand is one of the most important decisions in international trade. There are many overseas markets you could enter, but not all of them will be right for your business.

Some markets will have strong demand for what you offer. Others may look promising at first but present costs, rules or competition that make growth difficult.

In this blog for #InternationalTradeWeek, we explain how to start identifying trading opportunities in a practical way. The aim is to help you narrow your focus and understand which international trade markets are worth exploring.

You don't need to analyse every country. You only need to find one market that gives your business a realistic chance to succeed.

We'll look at how to review the customers you already have, how to gather useful information about a foreign market and how to compare your options so you can make a clear decision.

Step 1: Map your international trade market potential

A useful way to begin is to look at where interest already exists. This helps you avoid choosing a market at random.

You're looking for signs that people outside the UK already notice, talk about or search for what you offer. So, start with what you know:

• Existing customers and enquiries: Look at your order history, email enquiries and social messages from the past year. Even a few international requests can point to a market worth exploring. Make a note of the countries mentioned.

• Website and platform analytics: If you use Google Analytics, check where visitors are coming from. Go to Audience, then Location. Look for countries that appear regularly. If you sell on marketplaces (Etsy, Amazon, eBay), look at buyer locations and shipping destinations.

• CRM or sales records: If you track leads or prospects in a CRM, filter by country. This helps you see whether any overseas market appears more than once.

• Economic indicators: Once you have a few possible countries, look at basic figures such as market size, spending power and growth in your product category.

You can find this information in government trade summaries, industry reports or economic country snapshots. Don't try and analyse everything – just check that the market isn't shrinking or closed to new entrants.

Quick demand signals: Checklist

Tick off what you can confirm today:

• We've had enquiries from outside the UK.

• Website visitors from certain countries appear regularly.

• We've shipped overseas before (even if it was only once!).

• There's a known customer base for our type of product in the market we're considering.

• Economic or industry reports show stable or growing demand.

The aim is to form a shortlist of two to five possible overseas markets. You aren't choosing yet. You're only identifying where interest might already exist.

Step 2: Explore your resources and options

Once you have a shortlist of overseas markets with potential, pause and look at what your business can support.

Expanding into an international trade market brings extra work, so it's useful to understand your capacity early on.

You don't need a large team to trade overseas, but you do need clarity on a few practical areas:

• Production or supply capacity: Consider how your product is currently made or sourced. If demand increased, could you produce more without affecting quality or delivery times? If you rely on suppliers, check how flexible they are with volume changes.

• Shipping and fulfilment: Think about how you'd physically get your product into an overseas market. Some products ship easily. Others may need special packaging or handling.

  If you're new to exporting, look at countries where customs processes are straightforward and shipping costs are manageable.

• Your internal skills: It can help if you or someone in your business has knowledge of the market you're exploring. This might include speaking the local language, understanding the culture or having industry contacts.

  If not, consider who could help. Trade associations, business support hubs and export advisers can offer guidance.

• Budget and time: Entering a foreign market doesn't always cost big money upfront, but it does ask for consistency.

  Think about how much time you can set aside for researching, testing and following up with potential customers or partners.

Ask yourself:

• Can we handle a small increase in demand without stress or disruption?

• Do we have a reliable way to ship orders overseas?

• Is there someone who can lead this work and keep momentum?

• Do we have access to advice if we run into unfamiliar rules or paperwork?

You're not deciding whether you can take on the world. You're simply checking that you can support a focused test in one overseas market.

Step 3: Research the overseas market

Now you have a shortlist and understand your own capacity, start learning about the markets you're considering.

You don't need to become an expert. You're simply gathering enough information to see whether the market is open, active and suitable for what you offer.

Begin with four practical questions:

1. Who are the customers in this market?

Look at the people or businesses most likely to buy your product. Search for how they talk about similar products and what they value.

Customer reviews, industry forums, social media comments and marketplace listings can give you useful clues. You're looking for patterns, not perfection.

2. How big is the demand?

Check whether there are traders already selling your type of product or service in that country. Search for sector summaries or simple country snapshots from trade organisations.

If your type of product is growing or stable, that's a good sign. If demand is shrinking, it may be harder to gain traction.

3. Who else is already selling there?

Look at businesses offering something similar. Study how they present themselves, how they price and how they describe benefits.

This helps you understand how crowded the market is and whether you'd need to adjust your offer.

4. How do customers typically buy?

In some countries, most buying happens online. In others, customers prefer local shops, distributors or wholesalers. Understanding the main buying channels helps you plan how to show up in the right places.

How to do market research without overcomplicating it

These simple methods work well:

• Search your product category on major marketplaces in the target country.

• Read customer reviews to see what people like or dislike.

• Follow local social media accounts in your sector.

• Use Google Trends to compare interest levels between countries.

• Look at government export market profiles and business guides.

• Ask contacts in your network if they know anyone working in that market.

A few evenings of steady research can tell you a lot.

You're not aiming for a finished strategy. You're looking to see whether customers in this overseas market seem reachable and whether your product would make sense there without major changes.

Step 4: Evaluate and prioritise your target markets

Once you have a few overseas markets that look promising, compare them side by side. The aim is to see which one gives you the best balance of demand, practicality and affordability.

A simple way to do this is to score each market on a few areas that matter to your business. You can do this on paper, in a notes app or in a spreadsheet. Keep it quick and straightforward.

For each potential market, give a score between 1 and 5 for the following:

• Customer demand: Do people in this market actively look for products or services like yours?

• Ease of access: How simple would it be to sell and deliver to this country? Consider shipping, customs processes and local regulations.

• Competition: Is the market already crowded, or is there space for a new entrant?

• Fit with your product or service: Would your current offer work without major changes?

• Your internal capacity: Do you have the time, knowledge and support to make this market work?

When you step back and look at these scores, one or two markets usually stand out. These are often the best starting points because they require less guesswork and fewer major changes.

Aim to choose one pilot market to begin with. If you feel confident and you have the resources, you might choose two, but no more.

Working in too many overseas markets at once can stretch your business before you understand what works.

The goal here is steady progress. A clear test in one foreign market will give you knowledge you can reuse when you expand further later on.

Key takeaways and next steps

Identifying the right overseas market takes time, but it becomes much easier when you break it into manageable steps.

Start with the information you already have, learn more about the markets that show signs of interest, then choose one market to test before you expand further.

Here is a simple next-step checklist you can follow:

• Look at your existing data to see where interest is already coming from.

• Confirm that you have enough capacity to handle overseas demand.

• Learn the basics of how customers in your chosen market buy and compare products.

• Check the level of competition and how your offer might stand out.

• Score your shortlisted markets to see which one gives you the best starting point.

• Choose one market to test and set a clear period for review.

A pilot approach works well. It gives you space to learn, adjust your offer and understand the realities of selling in a new place. You don't need to have everything figured out in the beginning. Simply learn steadily and record what works.

As you gain experience, you can decide whether to grow your presence in that market or explore the next one. Each step builds your confidence and your knowledge of international trade markets.

People also read

• Four things to do when looking to expand your business overseas

• Selling overseas: Why having an online presence is crucial

• How to find overseas buyers and sell to them

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