First steps in exporting for a very small business: method and pitfalls

A first order from abroad rarely comes at a convenient time. The customer asks for a "delivered" price, a number you do not have, an invoice without VAT, and your bank asks how you will be paid. This five-step method helps a French very small business (TPE, très petite entreprise) make its first export sale without turning good commercial news into a VAT reassessment or an unpaid invoice.

Quick answer. A very small business takes its first export steps in five moves: pick a test market, calculate a full export price, set a simple Incoterms 2020 rule (FCA or DAP), secure VAT and customs (customer VAT number checked on VIES in the EU, EORI and proof of exit outside the EU), then require a deposit or guarantee.

A very small business starts exporting in a controlled way by treating its first foreign sale as a project in its own right, with an identified country, customer and budget. The most common mistake is to accept the order and then discover the constraints one by one: transport, formalities, VAT, payment terms.

In French tax terms, an export (exportation) is the supply of goods shipped outside the European Union; an intra-Community supply (livraison intracommunautaire) is the sale of goods shipped to another Member State to a VAT-registered customer. The two regimes do not require the same evidence, and this is the first distinction to make before replying to the customer.

Here is the method the firm recommends for a first transaction:

1. Choose a single test market, close in culture or regulation.
2. Build an export price from your cost price, not from your French price list.
3. Choose the Incoterm that matches what you can actually manage.
4. Determine the VAT treatment and customs formalities before invoicing.
5. Secure payment, then use the public support available for the next steps.

A test market is a single country chosen to validate the offer, the price and the logistics on a small scale before investing elsewhere. For a very small business, an EU country greatly simplifies the first transaction: no export declaration, no customs duties, and VAT governed by harmonised rules.

The criteria that really matter are concrete: a customer already identified (often inbound, through your website or a trade show), a working language you master, compatible product standards and bearable transport costs. A non-EU country can be an excellent market, but it adds customs, sometimes local standards, and currency risk if you invoice in a foreign currency.

Our view. For a first sale, we advise favouring the customer who approaches you rather than the country that market studies point to. A real order tests the whole chain (quote, logistics, invoice, collection); a market study alone tests none of it.

An export price is built from the cost price of the product or service, plus the international costs you bear under the chosen Incoterm. Taking the French price list and converting it into a foreign currency is the most frequent cause of negative margins on first orders.

The items to include depend on the transaction: reinforced packaging, main carriage, cargo insurance, freight forwarder fees, import duties and taxes if you sell "delivered duty paid", bank charges on international payments, agent commission, product adaptation (labelling, instructions, certification). Add a currency safety margin if you invoice in a currency other than the euro.

For a service, the reasoning is the same: travel, extra coordination time and longer payment terms must be costed. A financial forecast and business plan that isolates the export activity lets you check that the first order finances its own cash needs.

For a first sale of goods, the most suitable Incoterm is often FCA or DAP: FCA if the customer arranges transport, DAP if you handle it up to the customer's door without dealing with import clearance. Incoterms 2020 are the 11 rules published by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) that allocate transport costs, risks and formalities between seller and buyer.

The ICC itself states that under EXW the buyer must handle export clearance, which can cause complications, and it encourages parties to consider FCA for international sales. For a very small business the issue is also fiscal: without control over transport, you may be unable to prove that the goods left, and therefore unable to justify the VAT exemption.

All 11 rules are covered in our guide to Incoterms for international contracts; here we keep only the four that matter when starting out.

The underestimated risk. DDP looks commercially comfortable for the customer, but it means you pay VAT and import duties in the destination country. Depending on the country, this may require a local tax registration or a representative: check this before signing, never after.

No, in most cases a sale abroad is invoiced without French VAT, but only if the conditions for exemption or reverse charge are met and documented. The rule depends on three questions: goods or services, business or consumer customer, EU or non-EU country.

For intra-Community supplies, the official tax doctrine (BOFiP) states that the seller must check that the VAT number provided by the buyer exists and is valid, and that the supply is subject to VAT if that number is missing or invalid on the date of the transaction. Since the so-called "quick fixes" measures transposed by the 2020 Finance Act, filing the summary statement is also one of the conditions for the exemption. The check is free on VIES, as explained in our article on how to verify an EU VAT number.

For exports outside the EU, French customs point out that the exemption requires proof that the goods actually left EU territory. Mandatory invoice wording and building the evidence file are covered in our article on invoice wording and proof of delivery or export.

For services, the DES must in principle be filed no later than the tenth working day of the month following the month in which VAT became chargeable in the other Member State. Consultants and knowledge-based service providers will find the special cases in our article on VAT and invoicing for a consultant working outside France.

Yes, an EORI number is required as soon as you carry out a customs formality, which in practice means any export of goods outside the European Union. The EORI number (Economic Operator Registration and Identification) is the European identifier of operators with customs; in France it is obtained free of charge on douane.gouv.fr through the SOPRANO service, and French customs warn against websites that charge for it.

A freight forwarder (transitaire or commissionnaire de transport) is the professional who organises international carriage and often lodges the customs declaration on your behalf as a customs representative. For a very small business, delegating customs clearance is almost always safer than doing it yourself for the first transactions. Always ask the forwarder to send you the proof of exit, because you, as the seller, will need it in an audit.

Sales to another Member State do not require an export declaration, but they trigger the VAT summary statement and, above certain thresholds, the EMEBI statistical survey, presented in our article on intra-EU trade declarations (EMEBI, DEB, DES). How to obtain the number and its format are explained in our EORI number guide, and the reverse flow (purchases from outside the EU) in our article on non-EU imports, customs and VAT.

In practice. Before the first shipment outside the EU, ask your forwarder for three things in writing: the customs code they use for your product, the total cost of their service, and the document they will give you as proof of exit. File that document with the invoice: it is the piece the tax authorities will ask for.

Payment from a foreign customer is secured by choosing an instrument proportionate to the amount and to the level of trust: deposit with the order, payment before shipment, documentary credit or credit insurance. Recovering an unpaid invoice in another country costs more and takes longer than in France, which is why payment should be locked in before delivery.

A documentary credit (crédit documentaire) is a bank's payment undertaking governed by the ICC Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits (UCP 600, known in French as RUU 600), in force since 1 July 2007. It offers strong protection, but the slightest discrepancy between the documents presented and the terms of the credit can block payment: have your bank review the wording of the credit before accepting it.

For short-term cover, export credit insurance is sold by private credit insurers; the French State, through Bpifrance, reinsures them under the Cap Francexport scheme, and Bpifrance Assurance Export mainly steps in on longer or more complex contracts.

Team France Export is the public one-stop shop for export support: it brings together Business France, the chambers of commerce and industry (CCI), Bpifrance and the regions, with advisers in the French regions and abroad. It is the first contact for country information, introductions or a shared stand at a trade show.

On the financing side, Bpifrance's export prospecting insurance (assurance prospection) advances 50% or 65% of an approved prospecting budget, with a minimum repayment of 30%, but it requires at least one published 12-month balance sheet. How it works and how it is accounted for are detailed in our article on Bpifrance export prospecting insurance. For a founder who does not yet have a first balance sheet, the France Active guarantee on the founder's loan can help finance the initial cash requirement.

Points to watch. Two timetables deserve attention. First, B2B sales to customers established outside France fall within the e-reporting scope of the French e-invoicing reform: very small businesses and SMEs are subject to it from 1 September 2027. Second, customs duties in the destination country can change quickly: check them for every new quote, not once and for all.

• Customer identified: company name, address, EU VAT number checked on VIES and screenshot kept.
• Export price calculated with transport, insurance, forwarder fees, bank charges and currency.
• Incoterms 2020 rule written on the quote, contract and invoice, with the precise place.
• VAT treatment determined and the matching invoice wording planned.
• EORI number obtained if the goods leave the European Union.
• Freight forwarder chosen and proof of exit or transport requested in writing.
• Payment terms set: deposit, documentary credit or credit insurance.
• Related return scheduled: VAT summary statement, DES or export declaration.

• A first foreign sale should be prepared as a project: one country, one customer, one budget.
• FCA and DAP are the easiest Incoterms to handle when starting out; EXW and DDP expose you to evidence or local-tax risks.
• The VAT exemption is never automatic: valid VAT number and summary statement within the EU, proof of exit outside the EU.
• The EORI number is free on douane.gouv.fr and the freight forwarder must give you the proof of exit.
• A deposit remains the simplest protection; documentary credit and credit insurance take over for larger amounts.