Marketing - Distribution
Overview on Exporting

Overview on Exporting

Initially, employ the services of an exclusive distributor for each country you plan to sell your product in. Sell your product to these distributors as cheaply as you can so that they can price it competitively and still make a good profit.

You will want your distributor to market your product as well. For some products, this will be as simple as having the distributor include your product in its catalog and present it at trade shows. For other products, it may involve the development of large advertising and promotional campaigns.

You will want a distributor who will clear your product through customs and stock it. And you will also want that distributor to buy product from you in bulk, on a nonreturnable basis, and resell it to their customers, thus assuming all of the credit risk.

Of course, you will need to carefully check out the credit references of any potential distributor.

Finding a distributor
The best way to find a distributor is to get a recommendation from another firm in your industry that is already successfully using that distributor. If you can't get this sort of information, or if no one else in your industry exports, you can seek foreign distributors at trade shows, through trade publications, and through international industry directories. In any event, be sure to get good references on both credit and sales before you ink a deal.