DHL Express chats international e-commerce with Simply Business, Alibaba UK and The Wholesale Forums.

Itching to start selling your products or services abroad, but no idea where to start? Think your business should start importing, but don’t know where to go for information, guidance or sourcing a supplier? Don’t worry, help is at hand.

Last month we hung out on Google+ with Simply Business, Alibaba UK and The Wholesale Forums to chat about the opportunities overseas.

The hour’s session was packed full of useful advice and information around the following topics:

Trend watching – just how important are local or seasonal trends and what are the best ways of tracking them?

Local markets – how do you learn about your target market? Is a man on the ground the best option or are there other, cheaper alternatives?

Legals – what licenses are you going to need?  Who should you talk to about getting your products into shops?  Are there any taxes you need to know about?

Marketing – how do you get your product into the hands of buyers, and navigate a foreign market?

Troubleshooting – is something goes wrong, what’s your plan of action? And what are the pitfalls to watch out for?

Watch the Hangout again here and let us know what you think!