SMEs with exporting ambitions have until December 18 to enter Open to Export’s competition to submit their online Export Action Plan – and secure £3k to put their plan into action.

As a founding partner of Open to Export – which helps UK businesses prepare to sell overseas by giving them free access to online information, support and advice – the IOE has played an instrumental role in supporting Open to Export’s new digital Export Action Plan.

The free of charge and interactive step-by-step plan is the latest addition to Open to Export’s online offering. Steering SMEs in the right direction, it takes visitors through five key action points before producing a report they can take to trade advisors.

The digital competition, the first of quarterly competitions to help SMEs broaden their international trade horizons, will be sponsored by the International Festival for Business 2016 – a global marketplace bringing together thousands of companies worldwide for three weeks of events, networking and deal-making.

A panel of experts will shortlist and judge the Export Action Plans based on their potential and feasibility, awarding a cash sum of £3k together with additional support from UKTI and other partners to help the winning businesses implement their plans.

Additional support includes:

• Two free places on an Institute of Export public training course
• Free entry to the International Festival of Business in 2016
• Exporting support from UKTI.
• Each of the 10 shortlisted companies will also win a year’s free small business membership with the Institute of Export, and a year’s free membership with the Great British Store

IOE director general, Lesley Batchelor OBE, said: “With a growing number of SMEs identifying the opportunities that trading globally presents – but daunted by taking what they see as a big step – we encourage them to enter this fantastic competition.

“The Export Action Plan is a great starting point – enabling would be exporters to focus their goals digitally and talk with confidence to the trade advisors and banks who can help the venture to succeed. It is an integral element of Open to Export’s commitment to deliver a versatile tool to help small businesses plan and understand how best to prepare themselves to go international. We are delighted to have played an instrumental role in its inception and hope that SMEs with exporting ambitions take advantage of this excellent resource.”

As the competition is free to enter, SMEs have nothing to lose – and everything to gain.

For additional information contact admin@opentoexport.com and check out Open to Export’s recent webinar on how to best use the tool.

Visit the IOE website for more information about our training, qualifications and business membership, or contact us if you have any questions.