“You can’t be what you can’t see.” It’s a neat phrase that highlights how other people often define what we think is possible. Not only does it rhyme and probably reflect your intuition, there is evidence that it’s true.

And what’s true for individuals is also true for businesses.

This week we released a report with Enterprise Nation on Access to Markets. One of the key facts underpinning the report is that businesses that report goods exports or imports are around 21% and 20% more productive respectively than businesses that don’t trade. Why? Well, for a number of reasons. But as the author Eamonn Ives writes in an article on his report:

“A leading theory is that firms which export are generally more ‘receptive’ to innovations – both in the extent to which they can innovate, and because there are more pressures on them to innovate, in order to stay competitive against global competition. Some have argued that the act of exporting also allows firms to learn from each other in how to boost productivity.”

In other words, businesses – i.e. their founders and employees – need to see it to be it. This was certainly something echoed by the entrepreneurs we brought together at the report’s roundtable launch in Parliament (just down the hallway from where ‘f-business Boris’ was being grilled). They talked about how they learned from their international competitors and responded to the increased competition.

So, how do we get more SME exporters?

First, the report argues that the government should be unstinting in its promotion of free trade around the world. Free trade might be a lite passé these days, but we shouldn’t forget the lessons of our forebears like Adam Smith who demolished the mercantilist worldview in the Wealth of Nations, and Richard Cobden, who tirelessly campaigned for free trade for the good of the poorest and to broker peace between nations.

The second recommendation may seem trite, but it doesn’t make it any less necessary. We must improve the information available to SMEs that are ready to export. At present, so much about exporting is confusing. It’s maddening to hear about the bureaucracy, complexities and contradictory advice stymying wannabee exporters.

There is also clearly a role for the private sector here, which is why it is heartening that to coincide with the launch of the report Enterprise Nation announced its Go Global scheme. With support from Santander, Deloitte and An Post Commerce, this aims to offer targeted guidance to 100,000 SMEs.

Over the years I’ve heard some good things about UK Export Finance (UKEF), so I’m sure it’s deserving of the title of ‘Best Export Credit Agency of the Year by Trade Finance Global in 2021’. But I’ve also heard from entrepreneurs that think there’s room for improvement. Indeed, by its own admission, awareness of UKEF among even its ‘target audience’ of SMEs stood at just 31% in 2020. And more broadly, only around one in 10 SMEs have even heard of it and understand what it does.

The report has further recommendations, but I’ll leave you with a fresh statistic that shows how big a deal this is: “if UK exports had rebounded as strongly as Germany’s following the pandemic, it would be exporting $111bn more than is currently the case.”

This is the first time we’ve looked at policies around exporting – it won’t be the last.

Change the UK (and the World)
As trailed last week, we’re looking for a new researcher to join us. As the job description states: “We are a small team that punches well above its weight in the think tank scene. Through their written output, events work, and other networking, the successful candidate will have opportunities to quickly rise up, establish a public profile and engage directly with the UK’s leading entrepreneurs and policymakers.”

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Inclusive Ventures Lab
Our friends at the Morgan Stanley Inclusive Ventures Lab are accepting applications for their 2023 cohort. The in-house startup accelerator, formerly known as the Multicultural Innovation Lab, promotes financial inclusion and provides access to capital and connections for early-stage technology and technology-enabled companies led by underrepresented founders.