A large number of small businesses have learned that global business and trade are becoming easier and more affordable than ever before, but there’s still an alarming majority that haven’t even begun to make a global strategy part of their program.

An even more surprising number of businesses express doubt that they will be engaging a global market in the next few years. Businesses who responded to industry surveys have also demonstrated a general loss of profits, due to inconclusive searches for customers in their part of the world. The bottom line: With so many opportunities to extend their reach beyond saturated local markets, the reasons for not going global are becoming harder to accept every year.

Research from small business e-commerce companies have revealed that owners and managers of small, medium, and start-up companies are missing a vital opportunity. The worst news is that it’s in a perceived effort to reduce operating costs, and perhaps even drive revenue which they hope will safeguard them against unpredictable financial instances in their region of the world.

To make the situation even more ironic, many managers and owners of small businesses truly believe that they lack the expertise or basic ability to engage in global business.

The worst part is that millions of dollars are wasted by doing quarterly reviews and analysis of supplier relationships, especially when the local supplier is not giving them the best advantage possible to maximize profits.

Although over 60% of businesses inaccurately believe these reviews will help them to remain competitive in their home markets, a large number of the ones surveyed were also guilty of doing little else, in the hope that customers and suppliers would eventually find them. Meanwhile, this inactivity period nearly guarantees that missed opportunities will be the only outcome.

Recent redundancies mean that small businesses face more time pressures than ever before, and without a dedicated supply chain to keep things on an even keel, owners and managers can find themselves spinning their wheels.

International business is no longer just for the big corporations, and with all of the available new technology and access to recently opened emerging markets, there is no reason for small businesses to continue allowing themselves to feel forced or pressured to remain in a position of hoping for the best, when there is always something better to be found after searching global databases.

It’s also a well-known reward for small companies who have taken a serious approach to doing international business, that the right relationship with a great supplier in another country could be the one thing that launches them into another level, as they grow their customer base from local and domestic, to worldwide.

Keeping an eye open for the best in global trade platforms will be the key to turning stagnant local markets into lucrative and dynamic global customer bases for years to come. Experts have postulated that in the next decade there may be a change in the global market that also makes the ones who begin establishing relationships with world suppliers now will be the ones who are generating higher revenue in the years that follow.