We understand that hardly anyone springs out of bed in the morning with trade credit insurance at the forefront of their thoughts; it’s an under-marketed industry and, unless you’re in it, you may not even know that it exists. Even among business owners, there seems to be a lack of awareness surrounding the benefits and necessities provided by trade credit cover.
This is worrying because, at the end of the day, SMEs are the heartbeat of the South African economy. And protecting the cashflow of those businesses is integral to keeping that heartbeat steady.
So, last month1 we began tackling the task of explaining trade credit insurance, offering tips and expanding on the understanding of its value to your business in the modern market.
We continue this month, with a focus on the importance of services like Credit Guarantee’s International Trade Credit Insurance2 in a global marketplace that sees more and more business being done across borders.
Protect Yourself When You Trade Globally
Global trade has been a net benefit for the world, but for all of its good, it presents the individual business with a host of challenges – enough to potentially overwhelm one’s international commercial ambitions.
Doing business across borders potentially exposes your enterprise to circumstances you may not have not accounted for, and that could fatally interrupt your cash flow. But with the local economy taking strain, you can’t be too timid to tap the potential of international markets.
Here are four ways in which international trade credit insurance enables your business to grow beyond the confines of its national borders.
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Protection against non-payment
Just as with Domestic Trade Credit Insurance3, your business is covered against non-payments by foreign debtors. This assurance of a stable cash flow allows you to invest with more confidence, and make a stake for a greater claim of your target foreign market.
This can play an absolutely pivotal role in your business’ ability to get off the ground.
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Expert assessment of political risk
The average SME-owner doesn’t have the time to become intimately well-acquainted with the politics of the countries he or she does business in. But, as the past couple of years of global economic and political upheaval have taught us, we cannot always depend on the on the political or economic stability of foreign markets.
Credit Guarantee’s global partnerships give us access to insights that could inform whether or not a foreign market’s political and economic climate make it a good fit for your business’ ambitions.
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Understanding of foreign debtors
A global network of market intelligence and information-sourcing, like that maintained by Credit Guarantee, also allows large trade credit insurers to offer insights into foreign debtors. This means you can more fully understand the potential exposures to your business presented by a particular debtor.
Good business is built on information, and a good trade credit insurer will enable more informed business decision-making in foreign markets.
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Confidence to trade in foreign markets
Ultimately, what this all adds up to, is a greater degree of business confidence when navigating in international markets. The digital age has enabled global trade on a scale never seen before, and with the right trade credit insurer in your corner, you can confidently expand into markets that may otherwise have seemed impenetrable to you.
Contact Credit Guarantee today, and find out how we can help your business achieve its international objectives.
