Traditionally, there are six stages a business goes through when deciding to enter the global market. The rationale behind going into another nation is given elsewhere. The first stage is being a domestic producer and marketer only. You are making enough product to sell to various U.S. markets.
Many companies find the steps needed to expand production intimidating, and choose to stay domestic.
Sometimes, however, there are unsold products at the end of an inventory cycle. At that point, you might look at some foreign market as a way to get rid of it. This falls in the category of unsolicited orders, which is Stage 2. Inventory can be sold to an exporting company. If you find that Stage 2 worked, you might also come to believe there are foreign markets that might buy your product.