Small is still beautiful.... when it comes to exporting, that is.

That's the word from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), whose survey of the Australian exporter community shows that around 90 per cent of Australian exporters are either small or medium sized enterprises (SMEs).

This confirms previous research by the Bureau which showed SMEs to be the ‘engine room' of the Australian exporter community in terms of growth potential.

In fact, according to new research by Austrade and Sensis, Australian SMEs are now becoming a regular part of the exporter community.

Around 10 per cent of SMEs export and this has remained pretty stable over the past couple of years.

The bottom line is that you will find Australian export potential in the grass roots of Australian business in the suburbs and in regional Australia as well as amongst the blue-chip corporates at the top end of town.

So who are our small players? Where do they live, what do they do and where do they sell to?

First, let's look at location, location, location.

In terms of the states and territories, Australia is being led by Victoria on 15 per cent, followed by the NT and ACT on 14 per cent, followed by South Australia on 10 per cent and 9 per cent for New South Wales.

Despite the enormous mining export revenue coming the resource rich states of Queensland and WA, only 8 per cent of SMEs export there, with 5 per cent of SMEs exporting in Tasmania.

Second, what about industry?

Wholesale trade leads the way with 32 per cent of all its SMEs involved in exporting.

This is not surprising as wholesale trade typically has many exporters and importers involved in the distribution game.

Wholesale trade was followed by manufacturing on 28 per cent, business services on 13 per cent, health and community services on 7 per cent and Finance and insurance on 6 per cent.

Less prominent was retail trade, hospitality and building and construction.

So where do the small exporters go?

Not surprisingly, proximity, language, and business culture are important factors.

Our nearest neighbour, New Zealand, is a destination for 34 per cent of all SMEs who export, followed by the USA on 29 per cent and the UK on 26 per cent.

Next come the ASEAN states on 20 per cent and China on 13 per cent and Hong Kong on 11 per cent. South Africa, the major gateway for Australian SMEs to Africa, is on 10 per cent whilst Japan is 9 per cent.

Then the ASEAN markets of Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore make up the top 10 in their own right.

After our near neighbour New Zealand, and the traditional English speaking markets of the UK and USA, the rise of ASEAN has been noticeable along with the rapid ascent of China.

SME exporters who have been involved in ASEAN markets have been assisted recently by even better market access provided by the ASEAN Australian New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (AANZFTA) and have benefited now from sticking to those markets through thick and through thin - that is, through an Asian Financial Crisis (AFC) and a Global Financial Crisis (GFC).

China's rise - the proportion of Beijing-bound SME exports has doubled in the past two years - is also noticeable indicating that you don't have to be a big fish like Rio Tinto, Woodside or BHP Billiton to succeed in the Chinese market.

Broadly speaking, what do our SME exporters look like?

For the most part, they are likely to be more medium than small, more metropolitan than regional and more likely to be run by a male born overseas.

And whilst the blokes still outnumber the women, there are a growing number of female-run businesses in outer-metropolitan areas which suggest more of a ‘Kath and Kim' effect if anything.

This is consistent with a previous Australian Industry Group (AIG)/Commonwealth Bank study, which showed export intensity (export revenue as a share of total revenue), to be strong in outer metropolitan areas and in the regions.

In terms of age-profiles, given that it takes a while to get established, SME exporters are also more likely to be ‘baby-boomers' than generation Xers or gen Ys, and most have 15 to 20 plus years experience in the export game.

Do they make a buck?

Previous research shows that exporting, on average, helps the bottom line.

The survey results show that SME exporters, on average, are more likely to have an aggressive expansion strategy than other SMEs.

They are also more confident than non-exporters and are more bullish on profits, wages and employment.

However, there is still much more to do to get more SMEs in the export game.

Despite the rewards on offer, there is still a low ‘intention to export' in Australia amongst SMEs.

What are the major barriers?

It is not a matter of labour costs but labour shortages.

A major reason cited by small business for not entering export markets is the lack of skilled staff with overseas sales experience.

They are willing to pay good wages, but are keen to have well trained and/or experienced export managers.

This suggests that training programmes - like the new exporter development scheme are on the money in terms of small business needs.

So expect more action to come on the SME front.

This is good news as more SME export action means not only more growth and more profits for the businesses concerned but also more jobs for Australian workers at higher rates of pay.

The ‘small is beautiful' phenomenon also forges stronger links with other nations right across the Australian community.