Think Big, Sell Global: How Michigan’s Service-Based Businesses Can Build Cross-Border and Global Client Bases

Ask a Michigan small business owner whether they export, and many will say no without hesitation. To them, exporting means trucks crossing the Ambassador or Gordie Howe International bridges, customs forms, shipping containers, and supply chains, not a laptop, a consulting engagement, a training platform, or a virtual client meeting. But that narrow view is leaving money on the table. For Michigan’s service-based businesses, the next major growth market may not be across town; it may be across the border, across an ocean, or one video call away.

The numbers tell a compelling story. According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. exports of services totaled $1.15 trillion in 2024. The U.S. International Trade Commission confirms that the United States is the world’s leading exporter of commercial services, a position it has held for decades. And the World Trade Organization’s most recent data shows the U.S. commanding approximately 12.8% of global commercial services exports, more than any other nation. Service exports aren’t a niche of American trade – they are the backbone of it.

Yet when trade conversations turn to Michigan, the focus almost always lands on the same terrain: automotive parts crossing the bridges, manufactured goods bound for Toronto, and steel moving through the Port of Detroit. These exports matter enormously. But the fastest-growing slice of Michigan’s global opportunity belongs to an industry sector that rarely sees itself in the trade conversation at all: services.

Service exports don’t look like exports. They look like a Zoom call with a client in London; they look like a software invoice paid by a company in Germany; or they look like a management consultant flying to Dubai to lead a strategic planning session. There’s no product to inspect at the border, no weight to declare, and no shipping label to print. That invisibility has caused an entire category of Michigan entrepreneurs to opt out of the international trade opportunity – not because they lack the product, but because they don’t recognize what they already sell as an export.

A service export occurs when a U.S-based provider delivers a service to a client, organization, or individual in another country, regardless of how the service is delivered. It can happen digitally, in-person abroad, or right here in Michigan when an international client is the recipient. The categories are broader than most people realize.

Here are just a few of many service exports:

This is not a theoretical opportunity. According to the St. Louis Federal Reserve, business services, encompassing research and development, professional and management consulting, and other technical services, contributed $264 billion to U.S. service exports in 2024 alone. Financial services added $195 billion. The internet has transformed what’s possible: as the U.S. International Trade Commission notes, digital delivery has enabled small firms to compete in global consulting and professional services markets in ways that were structurally impossible a generation ago. The playing field is more level than ever, and Michigan firms are positioned to compete.

Every state in the union can participate in service exports, but Michigan starts with structural advantages that most states can only envy.

 For service providers, Michigan’s most immediate advantage is proximity to Canada. The state is located next to one of the world’s most accessible international markets, providing a natural first step for consultants, trainers, technology firms, health care  advisors, and other knowledge-based businesses looking to serve clients beyond the U.S. border. Canada is already Michigan’s largest trading partner, with a bilateral relationship approaching $80 billion. But for service businesses, the real value is not measured only in trucks, crossings, or freight volume – it’s measured in ease of access, shared business norms, compatible time zones, and the ability to build cross-border relationships without the cost or complexity of entering a distant market first.

For example, a Michigan-based management consultant can be in a Toronto boardroom by morning; a Grand Rapids technology firm can support a Waterloo tech client without ever leaving Eastern Standard Time; and an Ann Arbor health care education company can partner with an Ontario health system that already understands the U.S. regulatory context. Canada isn’t just Michigan’s closest neighbor – it’s Michigan’s best-connected first international market.

Add to this the state’s deep bench of knowledge-based industries: health care anchored by major systems in Detroit, Ann Arbor, and Grand Rapids; technology innovation centered in Ann Arbor; engineering and design expertise rooted in decades of automotive-adjacent development; and a growing professional services sector across the state. The raw material for service export success is already present. What has been missing, in many cases, is the recognition that this expertise has international buyers.

For Michigan service businesses that have never worked with an international client, Canada is the logical first market, and not just for geographic reasons. The USMCA trade agreement (formerly NAFTA), which governs commerce among the United States, Canada, and Mexico, includes specific provisions for cross-border trade in services. While recent trade tensions and tariff disputes have complicated the goods-trade relationship, services trade has followed a different trajectory. Many professional services categories cross the border with minimal regulatory friction, making Canada an accessible entry point.

The practical pathway for a service exporter in Michigan usually starts with conducting market research. This involves identifying the Canadian sectors that have a demand for your type of service. It’s also important to understand the regulatory differences among provinces, as the rules in Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia can vary significantly. It is also essential to establish contractual frameworks that protect both parties. As one U.S. service exporter advised at a national small business gathering: secure the agreement before starting the engagement and understand the payment risks involved. EXIM Bank’s invoice insurance can protect foreign invoices up to 95% for eligible U.S. service providers.

Beyond Canada, Michigan service businesses have reach. Australia and the United Kingdom both operate in English, share compatible business cultures, and represent premium markets for professional and management consulting services. Western European markets, the Netherlands and Germany, have active demand for U.S. technology and health care consulting. The Gulf Cooperation Council countries have invested heavily in capacity building, training, and institutional development consulting. And Southeast Asia’s expanding economies have created sustained demand for educational and professional development services that U.S. firms are well-positioned to provide.

The transformation that service-based businesses need isn’t operational; it’s conceptual. Exporting services does not require a warehouse, a freight broker, or a product development team. It requires the recognition that expertise is a tradeable commodity, and that expertise does not require proximity to be valuable.

Consider what this means for the range of small businesses across Michigan. The management consultant in Lansing who has helped dozens of Michigan manufacturers scale has buyers in Ontario. The Grand Rapids training firm that develops workforce curricula could have international organizations paying premium rates for curriculum built on U.S. methodologies. The Detroit technology firm maintaining SaaS platforms for regional clients can license those platforms globally. The Ann Arbor health care consultancy, which advises on value-based care transitions, has expertise that is in high demand among health systems in Canada, the Caribbean, and Central Europe.

The digital infrastructure is already in place. Video conferencing platforms, secure file-sharing tools, international payment systems, and cloud-based project management have made the practical mechanics of delivering services internationally as simple as delivering them to a client across the state. What distinguishes Michigan service businesses that succeed in winning global contracts from those that do not is rarely their capabilities; it is simply the choice to take action.

For SBAM members ready to explore service exports, the pathway forward is more accessible than it might appear. Audit your service portfolio for international relevance. Ask honestly: “Which of your services solve problems that organizations in other countries face?” Then:

Start with Canada, then expand your horizon – Australia, the UK, the UAE, and Singapore are among the markets with the highest receptivity to U.S. professional services.

Michigan is not starting from zero in the global services economy. It is starting from a position of genuine structural advantage: a world-class knowledge base, an $80-billion bilateral relationship with the world’s most trade-connected neighbor, a robust state export infrastructure, and a professional services sector that has been quietly building global-caliber expertise for decades.

What the data makes clear, and what too few Michigan service businesses have internalized, is that the United States is the world’s most powerful service-exporting nation, and every Michigan firm that delivers professional expertise is a potential node in that network. The question is not whether international buyers want what Michigan’s service businesses sell. They do. The question is whether Michigan’s service businesses will recognize the opportunity and reach across the border – and beyond – to claim it.

The bridges are already built. They run in both directions.

Sources: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA); U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC), Recent Trends in U.S. Services Trade: 2025 Annual Report; World Trade Organization (WTO); EXIM Bank

By Tonya McNeal-Weary, Founder & Managing Director of IBS Global Consulting, Inc.; originally published in SBAM’s September/October 2026 issue of FOCUS magazine.

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