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.
Toby Sovran on Pup-Pee Solutions
Exporting since: 2007
Key markets: US, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Canada.
Pup-Pee Solutions’ first export sale came just six months after the company launched, with overseas orders for its Pet Loo—a toilet solution for pets—thanks to mass exposure on its website through AOL coverage, and through the business’ launch on the ABC’s New Inventors program.
With some major deals in the works, co-founder Toby Sovran says the company’s exports could go from 20 percent to 99 percent overnight and attributes the fast success to the “application and creation of a product of need”. Finding the right overseas partners to represent the brand correctly is critical to the Pup-Pee business model, with Sovran admitting to turning down regions of export because the representative wasn’t the right fit. “Vision, patience, diligence, and correct execution will take the company and product(s) further. A rushed job could undo everything.”
