No. We work with you if, when, and how you decide. You can stop whenever you want. And if in our initial discussions we don’t think we can deliver more value than you pay for, we'll tell you.

Yes, there are risks in international business, but they can be managed. The top three are: not selling enough, not getting paid, and staying in compliance. There are ways of reducing or completely avoiding all of them, and we place a high priority on doing just that. Small mistakes are normal and acceptable, catastrophic ones are not.

Although all business has risks, there are some additional ones to consider. Like finding information, market and cultural differences, supply chain, IP protection, and others. However, our experience helps identify and mitigate all of them, and keep them to a minimum. In fact, exporters actually experience less risk than non-exporters, and on average are more profitable and grow more than twice as fast.

In that case, and you can see a profitable future staying where you are … don’t. We don’t drag companies into foreign markets kicking and screaming, it doesn’t go well! The problem comes when foreign competitors come knocking on your customers’ doors, especially when they’re all you have.

Yes. Our sister company Can-Mex Trade specializes in sourcing from Mexico. Can-Mex has successfully identified suppliers in Mexico who have replaced more distant suppliers and solved problems of time, cost, reliability, language, time zones, travel distances, trade barriers, and even geopolitics.

We call this the Friendly Uncle model. Yes, we are happy to supervise your team, provide some insights and ideas, and help them to succeed cost-effectively with only occasional involvement. We work with you in whatever way works best and is most profitable for you.

Usually. Not interested in war zones or extreme risk areas that do exist out there, unfortunately. However, it’s the bad news that we see on the news – people living and working happily and uneventfully is not newsworthy! Preparation and common sense is the key to travelling safely and productively in most countries. I have been to Mexico on business around 100 times over the past 25 years, and never once had an issue, despite what we hear on the news.

There are a bunch of reasons. First, exporters grow on average more than twice as fast as non-exporters. Counterintuitively, they also experience less risk, because they diversify their markets and learn from new scenarios they encounter along the way. They become just plain tougher, fiercer players by competing against foreign competitors - which makes them stronger in their existing markets too.

It depends how you define it. If you don’t like travelling – which is an important part if it – probably not. However, if you don’t mind travelling, you will build new relationships and friends around the world, learn tons, come back with interesting stories – and most importantly, your business will probably grow faster and become more profitable than it would have otherwise. Another win-win situation!

There are plenty of them, so here are three. Don’t treat the international part of your business as a sideline, to maybe pick off some bonus sales … do be committed, with some grit and determination to succeed even when setbacks occur (they will). Don’t look down on other countries or cultures because you perceive them to be inferior to yours … do be respectful, because everyone, no matter where they’re from or what they have, has pride in where they’re from. Even better, learn to say “I really like your country” or “You have a very professional team” in their language – it demonstrates your respect and they will love you for it! Finally, don’t expect instant results. Some people exhibit at one trade show, don’t get an immediate sale, and quit. Set your objectives, prepare, take action, check to see if that action is moving you toward your objectives, and then take more action. If something goes sideways, get back up, learn from it, and go back to full throttle. If you just want effortless success and easy money, don’t go international … but DO let me know how you did it so I can too!