Export for the first time: Where to start if your SME wants to sell outside the local market?
In this article, we give you an honest guide to the first steps to export for the first time, and explain how you can train yourself—free of charge—to do it with the highest guarantees of success.
You have a good product, satisfied customers in Spain, and a persistent feeling that there is demand abroad. But every time you consider exporting for the first time, the same question holds you back: where do I start?
If you recognise yourself in this situation, you are not alone. It is the starting point for most Catalan SMEs taking their first international steps, and it is also exactly the starting point of the Catalunya Exporta training sessions by ACCIÓ, designed and delivered by Barcelona Export in collaboration with Foment del Treball Nacional.
The most common mistake when exporting for the first time: jumping in without looking
Many SMEs that try to export for the first time make the same mistake: they start at the end. They receive an enquiry from a foreign client, or someone mentions an opportunity in a specific market, and they jump straight into negotiations without any prior preparation. The result is almost always the same: a failed deal, a poorly chosen distributor, or a market that wasn’t suitable for the product.
Successfully exporting for the first time is not a matter of luck, but of preparation. And that preparation begins long before contacting your first international client.
The 5 first steps to export for the first time
1. Assess your product’s export potential
The first step is not choosing a market: it is honestly assessing whether your product is ready to compete abroad. Does it comply with destination market regulations? Is the export price competitive once logistics costs and channel margins are included? Does it require adjustments in packaging, labelling or ingredients?
Many SMEs discover at this stage that adjustments are needed before going abroad. It is far better to identify this now than after signing a contract.
2. Choose the market based on criteria, not intuition
The ideal export market is not the one you’ve heard most about, nor the one someone recommended at a trade fair. It is the one that best combines three factors: real demand for your product, accessibility (logistics, regulation, entry barriers), and manageable competition.
Tools such as the ITC Market Access Map, ACCIÓ market reports, or foreign trade databases allow you to make this decision based on real data. In the training sessions of the Catalunya Exporta programme, we dedicate specific time to teaching how to use these tools in practice.
3. Understand the rules of the game: documentation, tariffs and regulation
Exporting for the first time means becoming familiar with a documentary framework that can seem overwhelming at the beginning: commercial invoice, packing list, certificate of origin, export customs declaration, Incoterms… The good news is that once you understand the logic of the system, it becomes manageable. The bad news is that a documentation error can cost you the deal or lead to customs penalties.
4. Decide how you will enter the market: the distribution channel
Will you sell directly to the end customer? Through a commercial agent? With an exclusive distributor? On a B2B marketplace? This decision—the distribution channel—is one of the most strategic in the export process and has a major impact on results.
Each option has advantages and drawbacks in terms of control, margin, speed of market entry and risk. The right choice depends on the product, the market and the company’s resources. There is no universal answer.
5. Set export pricing correctly
Export pricing is not your domestic selling price plus a percentage. It has its own logic, including production costs, international logistics costs (insurance, transport, customs), distributor or agent margins, local taxes in the destination market, and your desired market positioning.
Incorrect pricing is one of the most costly mistakes an SME can make when trying to export for the first time. In too many cases, it results in selling abroad with lower margins than in the domestic market, making the export activity unsustainable in the long term.
Catalunya Exporta training sessions: free training to export for the first time
All these topics—and many more—are exactly what is covered in the training sessions of the Catalunya Exporta programme designed and delivered by Barcelona Export in collaboration with Foment del Treball Nacional.
These sessions are designed to share basic but solid knowledge on the most relevant export topics and provide companies entering internationalisation with practical tools to export successfully. Key features:
- 100% virtual format: attend from anywhere without travelling
- Maximum duration of 60 minutes: focused, practical content
- Fortnightly schedule: one session every 15 days over the next 3 years
- Varied and progressive topics: each session covers a key export aspect
- Completely free for SMEs participating in the Catalunya Exporta programme
The session calendar covers a wide range of topics: from the first steps to export for the first time to negotiating with international distributors, export financing, product adaptation, international payment methods, and customs management. A complete training journey delivered in short fortnightly modules, fully compatible with any company’s daily operations.
The personalised diagnosis: your free roadmap
Beyond the group sessions, the programme includes a free personalised export diagnosis for each participating company. The result is a concrete roadmap: to export for the first time, it is essential to know which markets to explore, which entry channel is most appropriate, what product adaptations are needed, and what steps to take over the next 90 days.
It is not a generic report: it is a tailor-made analysis of your company, product and resources, prepared by the team at Barcelona Export.
The first step is the most important
Exporting for the first time may seem complex, but with proper preparation and the right support it is entirely achievable for an SME with a competitive product and a willingness to learn. The Catalunya Exporta training sessions are precisely that structured first step many companies need to move from intention to action.
Check the session calendar and register directly on the Foment del Treball website:
👉 View sessions and join the Catalunya Exporta programme
Do you want the personalised diagnosis or have questions about whether your company is ready to export? Contact Barcelona Export and we will reply within 48 hours.