Here’s a checklist of inspiration for aspiring exporters. Our collection of 50 favourite export case studies shows that there is no magic ingredient to making it to the world stage, but it certainly helps to get the basics right.
Stephane Thomas on The Fire Company
Exporting since: 2005
Key markets: Europe, US.
As co-founder of The Fire Company, Stephane Thomas, says, an Australian company selling fireplaces to Europe—albeit the ethanol-fuelled and flueless variety—is like selling ice to Eskimos. Demand is so great for the product that some overseas distributors are airfreighting container loads of stock into their territories because they can’t wait for sea freight timelines. These days exports account for about 85 percent of overall business, and with the global focus on using green, renewable energy sources, this Aussie exporter looks set to only get hotter.
Ninety-eight percent of the manufacturing takes place in Australia, and all marketing collateral is handled here and made available to distributors over the internet, which means distributors only need to concentrate on selling the products and servicing clients.
