Provides an empirical assessment of non‐exporters′ perceptions onthe factors that hinder the initiation of export activities. Theresearch investigation, which was conducted among a representativerandom sample of 112 Cypriot manufacturing concerns, revealed that theincreasing competitive pressures in the world market constituted themost severe impediment to the export initiation process. A number oforganizational determinants exhibited a discriminating effect on certainexport barriers. Specifically, there was a tendency by firms with noprior export experience, of small size and with relatively few years inbusiness, to overstress some of the export barriers addressed. However,the type of goods manufactured did not exhibit any differentiatingimpact. An attempted classification of the export barriers according tointernal/external and domestic/foreign typologies revealed nosignificant differences in the inhibiting impact of the resultinggroups.