The aim of this thesis is to build a new model for searching potential foreign markets, which is applied to the identification of potential markets for a recently established furniture startup company. Furthermore, foreign market entry modes and marketing activities for small firms are being discussed with the intent of guiding the company in its initial internationalization processes.
This thesis functions as a guiding tool for small firms that are considering internationalization. The information brought up in this thesis fits especially well with international new ventures, and other small firms that are facing challenges due to their limited resources, as the theme throughout this work is how to internationalize when resources are scarce.
In the study, a mixed-methods approach is used to both analyze existing models for market search, and to search for freely available data that is needed to conduct a search for potential markets. No monetary resources can be used in the implementation of the new model, which is a constrain that to my knowledge, does not exist in any current market selection models.
The research indicates that relatively accurate results of potential markets can be gained without using any monetary resources in the collection of the needed data.
However, the market search that was conducted in this study, strongly suggests that using some resources to obtain specific data about different market sectors improvesthe overall accuracy of the results.