As Boris Johnson starts a campaign to encourage British businesses to take their first steps in trading overseas and National Export Weeks hits the UK, independent research from business services and software provider Sage UKIhas discovered that exporting still isn't high on the small and medium sized enterprise (SME) agenda. 

Small business confidence is at an all-time surge after five years of treading water and there is a keen focus on succeeding on the home front with 38% of decision makers saying there are no barriers to setting up a business in this country. 

But of the 500 businesses surveyed, just 6% said trading overseas was a big goal for their business in 2014, due to concerns over tightened regulation and red tape-potentially missing out on opportunities for growth as companies which export could see a 34% increase in productivity within their first year of exporting (UKTI). 

This comes as Sage launches a new online proposition, Sage One Accounts Extra, to better support small businesses in making their first steps in trading overseas, so that exporting can be as simple and straightforward as trading on home turf. 

Following high profile UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) missions to China and India this year, the appetite for trading overseas amongst UK SMEs is growing. Whilst only 6% cite overseas trading as a big goal next year, one in five (17%) of SMEs are now considering exporting at some point in the future. But they risk missing out on opportunities to grow in the next twelve months. Furthermore, 64% of UK firms do not currently trade broad and of those that don't, 75% still have no plans to in the future-suggesting that not enough is being done to communicate the opportunities and benefits in exporting. 

A further 5% said that they would like to but just wouldn't know where to start. 

"Small businesses need help exporting to get that foothold in overseas markets," says Simon Hodgkins, Head of Sage One UK and Ireland. "Our research shows that there is very little understanding of how to go about making the first step in international trading-small businesses need to have the right support and guidance as navigating the different regulations and approaches to business can be daunting."

The benefits of trading overseas for SMEs are becoming apparent-statistics from UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) show that companies which export see a 34% increase in productivity within their first year of exporting, and are 11% more likely to survive.

Sage One Accounts Extra is the latest addition to Sage's online family of accounting and payroll software, -which in addition to offering 24/7 free support, also supports companies looking to expand overseas with foreign currency capabilities, and is delivered on a highly scalable and secure global platform built for greater accessibility and collaboration. 

"One of the reasons we created Sage One Accounts Extra was specifically to support small businesses when making those first steps to trade outside the UK" said Hodgkins. 

Lorna Syson, founder of Lorna Syson interiors & bespoke design: "The interior design sector is very international, with brands both large and small using the internet and trade shows to work internationally. I was getting requests via my web shop to sell items abroad and so I knew I'd eventually need to find stockists in other countries. I managed it by getting the right business support from Sage that meant that I didn't have to worry about different country's trading currency or legislation. 

"I also received support from the BEDG, who work with UKTI, and support British SME's in Design to show their work abroad. Both of these made the decision to trade overseas a lot easier as much of the hard work and daunting things were done for me. I now have my work stocked in 7 different countries."

The main barriers to start or increase trading abroad according to UK decision makers were understanding international trading regulations (15%), access to the right guidance and support (12%), and access to finance (10%)-in addition to simply not knowing where to start (10%). 

For a quarter (23%) of decision makers who have existing export contracts, they suggest currency complexities; overseas government interference, red tape logistics and language barriers mean there are few opportunities for expansion.

Key new functions for Sage One Accounts Extra include; enhanced forecasting tools, automated bank reconciliation, multi-currency and sophisticated cash flow management, additional functionality of invoicing, payments integration and importantly, support on all UK & Ireland VAT schemes. All with Sage's unmatched business support 24/7.