Bermuda businesses finding it tough to grow locally in the economic downturn, may want to look overseas, where there could be a huge untapped market for their products and services.This from Linda Horton, managing director of Horton’s Original Bermuda Black Rum Cakes, and other small business owners who have found success selling overseas in markets such as the US and UK.Ms Horton spoke on Wednesday night at the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation’s Annual Business Networking Matters Event, which was this year themed: “Think Big: Growing Locally and Globally Now!” She was joined by other global entrepreneurs including Stafford Flooring owner Randy Stafford and the Bermuda Perfumery’s Isabelle Ramsay-Brackstone.Mr Stafford has successfully expanded his wood floor business in the Caribbean while Ms Ramsay-Brackstone is enjoying international acclaim and US media exposure, with the hand tied ribbon on every Lili Bermuda bottle of perfume now sought-after in markets worldwide. The perfume is also sold online at www.bermuda-perfumery.com.Likewise with the rise of the internet, Ms Horton told The Royal Gazette yesterday that overseas demand for her product has jumped since 2002 and she now sells “thousands” of her rum cakes abroad through a US distributor and via her website www.hortons.bm.M2 Distribution handles everything from taking the orders to processing them and arranging shipping.“I simply receive a copy of the orders on my computer screen,” Ms Horton said yesterday. She has also subcontracted to a bakery abroad to make her cakes, but she stressed, they are made to her exact specifications and using her exact ingredients.“We started online sales in 2002,” she said. “Initially they were slow but the increase has been incredibly fascinating.”She said one reason for overseas sales increasing was placing the company’s web address on all cake boxes, so people can reorder when they run out or want to buy a cake as a gift.“We get a lot of reorders,” Ms Horton said. “And right now we are selling a lot of cakes overseas for the Christmas period, as companies or people are purchasing them for gifts for their clients or friends. We are putting together orders for the UK and US.”Her products include the popular Mini Original Black Rum Cakes in packs of 12 for $102 and the Large Original Black Rum Cake for $27.95.Mr Horton urged other small businesses to also look abroad.“Bermuda is a huge untapped resource and something we take for granted,” she said, adding the Bermuda name and brand has “not begun to become fully exploited”.“People really get excited about the idea of Bermuda,” she said. “At trade shows people flock around you ... because of the pleasant associations people have with Bermuda.”Ms Horton began her research and development on black rum cakes in 1983 and by 1985 was ready to market her first product, which was The Original Horton’s Bermuda Black Rum Cake. There were no gourmet food products of Bermuda at that time, so Mrs Horton carved out her own niche.Horton’s Black Rum Cakes are the first Bermuda-branded gourmet food for export and the first rum cake company ever established.Through exposure to the international market Horton’s Black Rum Cakes were exhibited at the gourmet food industry’s largest show, the International Fancy Food Show in New York, and came away with the ‘Award of Excellence’.Horton’s can now be found at Macys and places like the upscale Dean and Deluca markets on the East Coast, Byerley’s in the mid-west and Bon Marche on the West Coast. Horton’s has also been featured on The Food Network.Ms Ramsay-Brackstone said about 25 percent of the Bermuda Perfumery’s sales were done via its website, www.lilibermuda.com.“Indeed, we pride ourselves in being the largest e-tailer in Bermuda,” Ms Ramsay-Brackstone said. “This time of the year is extremely busy for us. Our online business has been growing organically very well over the last few years since the rebranding of our line Lili Bermuda in 2006.“We are very active overseas on perfume blogs, and mingling among the best perfume houses in the world. We also ensure that each and every customer that visits us has a great experience, and will want to get more of our products in the future. I guess we take the approach of doing a great job ‘one client at the time’.”In opening the event Wednesday night, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Patrice Minors said Ms Horton and the other panellists “were are at the top of their respective industries”.“I am of the belief that if we are to see a turnaround in our economic health then it will take some passionate individuals to come up with some innovative and creative ideas for businesses,” Ms Minors said. “Simply put the economic future is dependent upon your future contributions. So be bold and fearless in your vision of becoming an entrepreneur.”