Export consultant and temporary export manager. These are the two areas of expertise I offer to small businesses when I contact them. When I started doing this in 2010, I did not have many competitors. I got my first job by advertising a bit with AdWords and anyone who typed temporary export manager on Google found me right away. Today it’s not like that anymore. Offers for a skill set or expertise like mine have increased – a lot. I discovered this, too, when, on the occasion of the grants made available by the Ministry of Economic Development last year, I was awarded just one job compared to 3 two years ago. And the same thing happened to many of my colleagues. Today many freelancers, like myself, offer their services to the market, but more and more companies do as well.

But competition is good, because it forces us to reflect and refine our skills. And that’s how I refined my proposal:

• The majority of the 50 or more companies with whom I have collaborated over these past years are small or micro-businesses. It is in this area that I have specialized.

• The method I developed is the right mix between market analysis/developing a strategy and a more operational approach; small-micro enterprises cannot use too many resources during the pre-sale phase (and sometimes even having them, they do not always understand this need).

• Finally, I distinguish myself from most of my colleagues by always being present in the company, I do not work remotely (from home or office); I really believe in this aspect of my job: it is necessary to “breathe” the air within the company so as to be able to make the right proposals and not risk offering unrealistic projects.

And that’s how the idea of ​​a book was born. A book in which I can illustrate how I work and give some practical advice on how a small business should deal with the theme of exports. The book is ready, a publisher has been chosen and it will be released in September 2018. “Exporting in 7 Steps” is the title. The editorial article published on April the 30^th in the Scenari Nord Est insert of the Sole 24 Ore presents it.

Many of the contents covered in the book, come from my Blog.