Currying Favor
This story appears in the March 2007 issue of Entrepreneur. Subscribe »
A growing number of U.S. entrepreneurs are reversing the outsourcing trend and exporting their own products to India. With the world's fourth-largest economy in terms of purchasing power and a huge export market ($7.96 billion in 2005, according to the U.S. Commercial Service), India is ripe with opportunity for the right products. Here's what's hot and how to use online resources to expand your reach into India.
What's hot? According to the Department of Commerce and the U.S. Commercial Service, the top five products and services in India are: education services; computers and peripherals; telecom equipment; pollution control equipment; and electric power generation, transmission and distribution equipment.
Begin your India research by taking these steps.
- Visit BuyUSA.gov and select "India" from the pull-down menu under "Find Export Information by Country." Here you'll find a wealth of information on the Indian market and how to do business there.
- Work with the U.S. Commercial Service, an export promotion agency that helps U.S. firms export to India.
Laurel Delaney runs GlobeTrade.com and LaurelDelaney.com, Chicago-based firms that specialize in international entrepreneurship.
