3M remains a major exporter with over $2 billion in exports. The company often uses its exports to establish an initial presence in a foreign market, dr only building foreign production facilities once sales 3 volume rises to a level that justifies local production. The export strategy is built around simple principles. T One is known as "FIDO, which stands for First In (to a t new market) Defeats others. The essence of FIDO is to t gain an advantage over other exporters by getting into a l market first and learning about that country and how to sell there before others do. A second principle is "make a little sell a little," which is the idea of entering on a small scale with a very modest investment and pushing one basic product, such as reflective sheeting for traffic signs in Russia or scouring pads in Hungary. Once 3M believes it has learned enough about the market to reduce the risk of failure to reasonable levels, it adds additional products A third principle at 3M is to hire local employees to sell the firm's products. The company normally sets up a