Export Market Entry Training Program, 2000

Chalk Talk For New Exporters

If your business has a product or service ready for export, but doesn't have trade experience, the Market Entry Program for New Exporters can help by teaching how to enter the global marketplace, including Mexico, Canada, the Caribbean Basin, and the European Union.

This free course starts in December at the Small Business Administration New Jersey District Office, Two Gateway Center, in Newark. The first of seven sessions begins Wednesday, December 6, at 10 a.m., and the 14-week program concludes on Wednesday, March 7. While the classes are free, there is a $50 registration fee to cover weekly refreshments and operating costs. To qualify, you must have an operating business, an exportable product or service, and be able to attend all seven classes. Class size is limited to 15. To apply, call Dina Vulpis, U.S. Department of Commerce at 973-645-4682, or E-mail: dina.vulpis@mail.doc.gov.

"Students can expect lots of good discussions with teachers, each other, and with industry experts from both the United States and foreign countries," says instructor Roger S. Cohen, a consultant for the New Jersey Small Business Development Centers (NJSBDC). "Last year we brought in a consultant from the Mexican Trade Commission. This year we're hoping to bring in a representative from the Dominican Republic."

Cohen will teach marketing, sales, and distribution. He will cover the "how to" of creating a personal business plan. Participating companies will learn how to identify geographical markets, customize products for targeted consumers, and work the local distribution channels.

Cohen's expertise comes not only from his bachelor's degree in planning and policy from Cornell University, Class of 1980, but also from career accomplishments. Between 1984 and 1987, he managed a complex financial and technological project that had been dormant for years. The results? Self-adhesive postage stamps. Cohen smiles whenever he enters a post office and thinks about the "millions of tongues that are now being spared the aftertaste of glue."

He has worked at the Japanese trading house Nichimen; has represented the Japanese Ministry of Finance to the U.S. Department of Treasury; managed factory construction for Coke, Pepsi, and 7-Up in Canada, and handled a mergers and acquisitions program for the Japanese manufacturer Komori in the United States. Currently he is president of Cohen International based in Upper Nyack, New York and Old Tappan, NJ, acts as a consultant for the Technology Help Desk (800-432-1832), and is the lead international trade consultant for NJ SBDC.

Referring to NJ SBDC's Ten Keys to Export Success, Cohen shares some advice:

Don't assume anything. Particularly, do not assume that a product or market technique that has succeeded in one country will automatically succeed in other regions. What works in Japan could fall flat in Saudi Arabia. You might have to modify products to meet regulations, cultural preferences, and local safety and security codes.

Translate everything. When printing information about your product, speak in locally understood languages. Although a distributor's top managers may speak English, you can't assume that all service and sales personnel will.

Foster autonomy. Recognize that overseas distributors need to act more independently than their United States counterparts because of communications and transportation issues.

Share the goodies. Finally, the overseas marketing should be treated equally with efforts within the United States. Don't forget to include your trade market in advertising campaigns, special discounts, sales incentives, warranty offers, and so on.

The Market Entry Program covers these topics in detail, says Cohen, "and students can get individual counseling from industry representatives, free of charge. After last year's course, students often told me, `This is the first time I contacted a government body and spoke to a person who gave me one-on-one help'."

When asked if students are given take-home projects, Cohen responded in a few words, "No. Our students have a business to run. That's their project."

Other course topics include finance and banking; legal aspects of international trade; pricing; transportation and shipping; and trade missions. Taking part in a trade mission in another country is optional, and there is a fee. Last year, Governor Christine Todd Whitman accompanied the mission visiting Japan, Korea, and Taiwan.

In addition to the classroom program, there are several online options:

NJSBDC at www.njsbdc.com tells how to get free counseling from the NJ SBDC. The first session could take place in person, or it could be conducted via E-mail. At this site you can also link to a schedule of affordable business and technology training, and you can request a market research report specific to your industry.

The NJ Small Business Development Center (www.njsbdc.com/international) provides a link to international trade where you can sign up for the export course on line, read the "Ten Keys to Export Success," learn about the top ten countries that trade with the U.S., and more.

Cohen has his own website, www.rogercohen.com. Here you can get information on doing business in Japan, NAFTA and Mexico, and government contracting, as well as services that Cohen offers.

About the Market Entry Program, Cohen notes that "there's no other place where someone can get this kind of in-depth information on exporting, and get it for free. Other states charge as much as $3,000 for a course like this. You can't get this kind of expertise on international trade from a community college. And you can't earn an MBA in seven sessions at no charge."

-- Lynn Robbins

Source: http://www.princetoninfo.com/200011/01122s01.html#Chalk Talk For New

Roger S. Cohen, an independent consultant in private practice, is the Lead International Trade Consultant for the New Jersey Small Business Development Centers (NJSBDC).

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