We were delighted to catch up with the team at GaraDry, an innovative product design company, which won a prestigious King’s Award for Enterprise earlier this year.

GaraDry designs, manufactures, and sells the world’s largest range of threshold seals for residential garage doors and commercial doors.

We caught up with founder Ashley Smith who was happy to share some of his key experiences in cracking open the giant American marketplace…

“We launched our USA subsidiary in the USA in 2017 (GaraDry LLC), to handle strong interest from Americans in our products and we also launched a fulfilment centre in Tennessee to ship transatlantic orders quickly.

“People shouldn’t be frightened of exporting to the USA. My view, as an online retailer is that it should be as easy to sell your goods in Baltimore as it is in Blackpool if you have the right infrastructure, processes and people on your team.

“The impact of fluctuating exchange rates can make a huge difference to the viability of your export model. As well as margins being heavily dependent on these fluctuations, you’ve also got inflation to contend with on both sides of the pond.

“Shipping costs have stabilised recently but there was a time last year when the cost of a container to the States tripled in the space of just a few short months. The volume of containers to the USA reduced, putting up prices for everyone. You need to be very prepared for these kinds of issues which are largely out of your control.

“Overall, business is very good for us in the USA, The American public has taken to our products very well and we have a brilliant relationship with our customers in the USA.

“We see the USA as a key market for our range of products and we are constantly evolving our sales and marketing processes to generate more sales right across the USA.

“We’re really pleased we’ve got Alexander Knight & Co as our accountants and having the right professional advisers on board makes a huge difference to our success.”

Murray Patt, founder of Alexander Knight & Co, added:

“There is huge demand for the GaraDry range of garage seals in the USA and we are delighted to be their accountants and support them in their growth journey in the USA.

“As part of our membership of MGI, the global accounting network, we have first class contacts across the USA and can make introductions to the right people who can assist on the ground if you want to export to the States.”