For firms that are committed to exporting, the Institute of Export provides a two-year diploma course that covers many of the practical issues.But although worries over red tape and taxes are a common reason that firms decide not to export, internal cultural issues often prove as great a barrier.Companies that want to break into export markets also need to think about how exporting will affect their own business Not all companies are ready to be exporters, Hirst says. "Our foreign counterparts think much more internationally," he says. "We try to overcome the fear of going across a piece of water. British companies can be quite parochial."The best way to achieve this is to spend time researching the target country, learning about local markets and building up local business partnerships. According to smaller businesses that have made the move to sell overseas, there is no substitute for spending time in the country.Although it is possible to set up a research trip on your own, UK companies can join trade missions organised through Trade Partners UK and chambers of commerce.

The missions are organised with the help of the commercial attach?in British embassies overseas, and there is even some funding to help smaller firms take part.For Jaffer Manek, trade trips have been invaluable in building overseas markets for his two businesses: Affilica, an international network for management consultancy and accountancy firms, and In Practice Software, which develops accountancy computer applications.Manek recently returned from a trip to South Africa with Croydon Chamber of Commerce. He found significant interest in both the business network and his software. He received a travel grant of £200 from Trade Partners UK, but estimates that the trip cost him £1,500 for 13 days."The Croydon team really helped us do our homework, and they put together a whole series of events with publicity, working with the High Commissioner and the commercial attach?Manek plans to return to South Africa in the new year to follow up leads. He considers this an essential part of an export drive: a previous trip to Mauritius was not as successful, he believes, because he left it too long before going back."The key thing is to visit a country every six months, and to make at least three visits," he says.

"Marketing costs are the heaviest, and building alliances with people to distribute your products."Business Link: 0845 600 9006Institute of Export: .uk. Theannouncement on 26 November that the Co-op was switching its entire range of own-brand chocolate bars to ethically produced cocoa was a great fillip for the fair trade movement. The announcement on 26 November that the Co-op was switching its entire range of own-brand chocolate bars to ethically produced cocoa was a great fillip for the fair trade movement. The deal between the retailer and the Ghanaian cocoa co-operative Kuapa Kokoo and its London-based marketing arm, Day Chocolate Company, could lead to a doubling of UK sales of fair trade chocolate, from £3m to £6m. But, important as the move is in an industry that is plagued by allegations of child slavery and other instances of exploitation, it is only a small step towards improving trade between industrialised countries, such as Britain, and less developed nations in Africa, Asia and elsewhere.As Safia Minney, founder of the fair trade mail order business People Tree, points out: "Fair trade foods are big in the UK. But there's not much in non-food."On one hand, this represents a clear business opportunity for the clothes, jewellery and other items marketed by Minney and her colleagues. But on the other, it indicates an image problem for ethically produced goods. Traditionally, she acknowledges, buyers of such products have adopted a "hair shirt" approach, buying items because they thought they should rather than because they found them attractive.

While there will always be individuals prepared to take that view, it limits the market.Hence Minney's emphasis on competing with the big brands on design. And, while People Tree is a long way from being a household name, it has enjoyed some success since being launched in Japan seven years ago. The catalogue has 20,000 customers there and sales to about 500 shops, ranging from small New Age concerns to smart department stores have helped boost turnover to about £4m."Japan is very design-led. People are not interested unless a product is decently designed and of a certain quality," she explains, adding that Japan's consumers will only be concerned about how something is produced if it looks right first.Having to meet these exacting criteria has, though, given the company an advantage as it attempts to expand into other countries. With products already tried out on what is arguably the most fashion-conscious market in the world, they can be confident of satisfying customers elsewhere.The early signs in the UK are encouraging. Sales after two years of little more than word-of-mouth promotion have reached about £250,000 and Minney is looking for a retail unit as well as constantly pursuing opportunities to push the business further into the mainstream.But getting the product on to the market is only part of the job. Their clothes, accessories and gifts are produced in many different parts of the world, including Nepal, southern India, Africa and Peru, and Minney and her team are constantly visiting the factories to discuss production techniques and quality standards and, above all, to ensure that the people doing the work are being treated properly.People Tree tends to pay producers about 30 per cent above the market price in acknowledgement of the "real production" involved in making the goods it sells.