This is part of a series of seven posts. The first can be found here.

---

#7. underfunding your efforts:

---

One of the most frequent questions that I get is how much is this going to cost. I usually replied by asking: how long is a piece of string? Without knowing the expectations of the client or selecting the best target market for their products, it’s an impossible question to answer.

The truth is that you don’t need to spend $10M to generate sales in the US, but you can’t expect to spend only $10K either. Unfortunately, there are no set formulas for marketing and sales budgets.

Your must tie your sales and marketing budgets to your revenue goals, and scale them down to what you can afford. As I mentioned in my last post, it will take you 12 to 18 months to reach those goals. And if you don’t plan so or underfund these efforts, you’ll likely fail.

So where do you start?

Many governments offer export assistance programs. Israel, for example, has one of the best: Israel Export Institute. It has to be — over 45% of Israel’s gross domestic product (GDP) is from exports. These programs offered trade missions to targeted countries, access to grants and matching funds, and sometimes have staffs who truly understand the industries that you’re within or smart enough to at least find out. And if you’re lucky, it’s all free.

Are these programs perfect? Not always, but they offer a starting point for you to make the connections, get the funding and expertise that you need — especially if you’re trying to enter big markets like the US.

So before you make your first trip abroad or spent loads of money, see what resources that they can offer to you.