Choosing Your First Export Market: Practical Framework for Small Businesses

ABOUT THE SESSION

Selecting Markets for Export provides entrepreneurs with a practical framework for identifying, screening, and prioritizing international markets before committing significant time or resources. Participants will learn to assess export readiness, evaluate market size and growth, understand market-access conditions, consider political and business risks, and identify reliable sources of export intelligence. The session also introduces a simple market-selection scorecard to support more informed, evidence-based export decisions. A 15-minute introductory framework, not a comprehensive export-market-analysis workshop.

ABOUT THE PRESENTER

Jose Balcaceres

Jose Balcaceres, MBA, CITP, is an international business and partnership development professional with more than 20 years of experience across 35 countries. His background spans international market development, cross-border partnerships, international development, market research, business planning, risk assessment, and stakeholder engagement with governments, academic institutions, private-sector organizations, and international financial institutions. Jose has held senior international roles at Ontario Tech University, the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, George Brown College, and NAIT. He holds an MBA, a Bachelor of Management, and a Civil Engineering Technology diploma, and is a Certified International Trade Professional (CITP). His work focuses on identifying international opportunities, assessing market viability, building sustainable partnerships, and translating market intelligence into practical international growth strategies.