Abstract
M.Ing.
This research provides an assessment of export potential for a small South African
Enterprise. An investigation will be conducted on export as a viable option for
improving the small South African manufacturing enterprise's future outlook.
Through the years following Apartheid, the manufacturing sector has diminished
from once a protected self sufficient industry to an industry open to foreign
competition due to the effects of globalization. The advent of reduced skilled
workforce as a result of "brain drain" and lack of investment in education has also
not helped any local enterprise in achieving growth easily, therefore the need to
look at other growth mechanisms including export.
Included is a brief overview of the export process procedure; the current and future
social economic position of the country, and how the South African government's
current policies aim to improve the local Small Medium Enterprises (SME)
competitiveness. The export marketing plan, plus the necessary tools and plans for a business to
initialize its first steps into export is also investigated and in the last chapters, a
case study using a local business will be conducted using and adapting the export
function for its own benefit.