It can feel impossible to know what country to start with and how to tackle exporting there.
Ideally, every company planning to export would have an experienced advisor in Ireland and expert help in their target market. And that is exactly what Enterprise Ireland’s new Get Exporting programme is set to deliver.
It has been designed to give Irish businesses an export development pathway. In other words, they get customised help to start selling overseas and build their international revenue.
If you participate, you get one-to-one support to walk you step-by-step through preparing for export, so you can achieve your first sales and build from there.
It’s a highly practical programme that ensures you emerge with a completed export plan that sets out the actions you need to take.
The programme gives you access to expert local help in key export markets
It includes all the help you could need to start selling overseas, including workshops, webinars, templates, tools and strategic advice from export advisers and market specialists.
Get Exporting is also agile and flexible in nature: you can join at whatever stage you are at in your export journey and seek the specific help you need.
Once you apply, Enterprise Ireland assesses your export readiness and the suitability of your product or service for export.
Crucially, the programme also gives you access to expert local help from Enterprise Ireland’s market advisors operating in key export markets.
They can help you research a market, refine your plan, road test your assumptions, generate leads or understand potential local pitfalls.
?In the Get Exporting pilot programme earlier this year, participating firms also found they gained huge value from peer-to-peer learning.
The programme is mostly online, but it also includes in-person sessions where those taking part can learn from each other as well as from programme facilitators.
While the programme helps you pin down your value proposition for export, it also helps build the confidence and expertise you need to thrive in international markets. That could include pitching skills, sales skills, negotiation skills and so on.
You can take part in the programme if you have a manufacturing or services business with the ambition and potential for export sales. (It doesn’t currently extend to food and drink firms.)
Even if you’ve started to export, you’re still eligible if your annual export sales don’t exceed €10,000 in any overseas market, including Northern Ireland.
While Get Exporting is a joint initiative of Enterprise Ireland, the Local Enterprise Office network, InterTradeIreland and Údarás na Gaeltachta, your business doesn’t need to be affiliated to any of these organisations in order to apply.
The programme is a key pillar in achieving Enterprise Ireland’s goal of enabling 2,000 first-time exporters by 2030.
To register your interest in joining the Get Exporting programme in early 2026, email today getexporting@enterprise-ireland.com or visit Enterprise-Ireland.com/getexporting.
?Linda Earlie and Manus Rooney are both senior executives in new exporters at Enterprise Ireland
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