IWD 2021: Exporting to the US – 5 minutes with Zoe Taylor

We asked Zoe Taylor, Chief Executive Officer of Sparkol about her experience in exporting and what tips she can offer to businesses looking to follow in its footsteps. 

Zoe was awarded an MBE for her services to export in the 2021 Queen’s New Years Honours and also became a Department for International Trade Export Champion in March 2020. Export Champions are successful exporters who volunteer their time to encourage and inspire other businesses to grow through international trade and provide peer-to-peer support.

Hello Zoe. Can you tell us a little about your company?

We make easy to use, affordable video software and offer professional animation workshops. We all know that a story is one of the best ways to convey a message and has been used for millions of years to do so. We provide a perfect medium between stories and metaphors that captures the audiences’ interest throughout. Our videos could be used for an important business message or an internal communication, or for sparking interest and imagination in students when used by teachers. 

We sell the software to over 180 countries and employ just over 35 people, with two being based in the US.

I love the fact that if offers a level playing field. With the pandemic, we have an amazing opportunity to create a persona and we can’t go out and meet people face to face so it’s all about the content we create digitally. With Sparkol, you can create a video that looks amazing, whether you’re a one-person company with a small budget or a multi-national organisation. 

Why did you target the US?

The US has been an enormous opportunity for us. In the early phases it was of course easy for us to target an English-speaking country, but the US are also huge leaders in video and have a strong desire to bring the complex to life through animation and visuality. They’ve really embraced it in education and business to ensure they properly convey their messages and use a lot more video than many other countries.

Did you encounter any barriers and how did you overcome these?

There are always barriers with any region you export to. Many of those are on the compliance side and understanding the cultural differences. As a UK company that is looking to expand into the US, there is an assumption that we understand the culture, but there are actually enormous differences. Those differences aren’t always easy to spot but DIT have been incredible in helping us navigate and properly understand the markets we’re working in. 

We initially went in on our own but at the point when we thought we were ready to open up a US entity and expand our operations out there, we worked with and were supported by DIT to ensure we had great connections and were talking to the right people, establishing in the right area and incorporating in the right state.  

How did DIT support you?

I’ve attended a couple of trade events with DIT’s support and a trade mission where we went to Boston and Chicago. They were incredibly valuable in helping us make connections and better understand the opportunities available. I also attended a social media week in New York - DIT had a stand which we shared with other UK companies. We presented our company and had the opportunity to build some invaluable connections. 

What does the future hold for Sparkol?

We are looking at increasing our foothold in the US and India and some of our developing regions. We really want to focus on the export opportunities we have ahead of us and how we adapt our product and localise it for certain markets such as Brazil and India so that it really appeals in each country. For example, we are going to ensure the images we use and the templates we offer are culturally appropriate for each region. 

Can you offer any tips to businesses looking to export their goods/services to the region?

My biggest piece of advice is that you don’t know what you don’t know, so you need to talk to people that are experts. DIT has an abundance of those people and most of the advice is free of charge. You can talk through and explain what you think you want to achieve and ask for introductions. I’m so grateful for the support we’ve received and the doors its opened for us.  

Get in touch

For further information on DIT’s export support and international trade opportunities, visit www.great.gov.uk/advice or email DITsw@mobile.trade.gov.uk.