JOC Staff | Feb 04, 2013 11:45AM EST
International trade and cooperation has become a key driver of small business success, according to a macro-economic study by IHS and DHL Express.
The report showed that small and medium-sized enterprises engaged in international markets are twice as likely to be successful as those that only operate domestically.
Of the SMEs surveyed, 26 percent of the companies that were trading internationally significantly outperformed their market, in contrast with 13 percent of those with operations only in their home country. Access to new markets, knowledge and technology and diversification of products and services were cited as the benefits of this international approach.
The report surveyed 410 directors from SMEs in G7 (France, U.S., U.K., Germany, Canada, Italy, Japan) and BRICM (Brazil, Russia, India, China, Mexico) economies.