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Business Development International


Business Development in China

Introduction

When a company decides to enter the Chinese market, the first task will be to make a comprehensive analysis of the company, its strengths and weaknesses, its structure in terms of value added activities and the areas where it feels that it has distinct competitive advantages.

Analysis

If a company is to be successful in China, it must earn its place in the market and it will only be able to do so if it can demonstrate at least one competitive advantage. It must therefore analyse the strengths which it has developed in the domestic and other overseas markets and formulate a plan to transfer these strengths into a China operation. If a company does not know why it is successful in other markets, it will not be able to penetrate the Chinese market.

A company must therefore examine the whole range of its activities to determine its strengths and weaknesses and to identify its core competencies. Several tools are available to a company, the best known of which are SWOT analysis and Value Chain Analysis. Whichever you choose, the analysis should look at all company activities to enable it to develop a sound strategy for entering the Chinese market.

As the company analyses its activities it should look at the following:-

  • Evaluation of products and their suitability for the Chinese market
  • Evaluation of the Chinese market and current competition
  • Evaluation of production and technological capabilities
  • Identification of critical issues

Potential Obstacles

The company must identify and evaluate the principal obstacles to entering the Chinese market. Areas which will need consideration include:

  • Legal aspects
  • Technical standards and regulatory issues
  • Export controls
  • Protection of intellectual property rights
  • Product modifications
  • Production capacity and equipment restraints
  • Financial resources required

Market Entry Plan

The next step is to develop a detailed plan for entering the market. The market entry plan should include such items as:-

  • The company’s objectives for the Chinese market including target market share, sales targets for the first few years, profit objectives, targeted break-even period and other quantitative and qualitative objectives
  • Background material relating to economic trends, politics, cultural issues, and other China related matters that may affect the country's performance
  • The opportunities and challenges that you will face in China
  • A strategy for entering the market, whether through an agent or distributor, licensing, joint venture, wholly owned company or some other method
  • Development of a market entry strategy and business plan for the first three to five years in China
  • Formulate action plans to implement this strategy
  • Project financial statements for the companies China operations

The Importance of Partners

The key determinant of success in China lies in the selection of business partners at all levels. A company needs to identify and select the best sales representatives, distributors, licensees, dealers, franchisees, joint venture partners or other types of strategic partner.

To facilitate and formalise this process the company must develop a "China Prospectus" describing the company, its products and services to potential partners and outlining the benefits of a co-operation. It is important to prepare first class material, in Chinese, if you wish to attract the best partners.

The selection of partners should be made using checklists and other methodologies to ensure that you have a rational and consistent basis for evaluating prospective partners. These methodologies have been captured in the decision support systems that have been developed as part of Business Development International’s "Best Practices" approach.

Even when you have chosen your partner with great care, it would not be wise to rely completely on them to do an effective job of introducing your product on to the Chinese market. You will need to work very closely with the partner to plan and implement the market entry.

Product Launch

You will need to plan every detail of your product launch in the Chinese market including:-

  • Preparation and translation of product literature, videos and manuals
  • Sales training
  • Service training
  • Advertising and promotion
  • Product modification
  • Packaging and labelling
  • Inventory planning
  • Logistics
  • Public relations and publicity
  • Government relations

The key to a successful market entry strategy is to approach the task in a logical manner. The imperative for action sometimes leads companies to neglect the basic preparation before they start to enter into business relationships. Its culture, its history and the presence of government in many aspects of business make China a complex place to do business and there are many pitfalls awaiting the unwary company. Business Development International’s "Best Practices" approach provides a rational basis for the formulation of a market entry strategy that will lead to success.

Market Entry Workshop

To assist clients to explore the issues involved in entering the Chinese market either as an exporter, as a partner in a joint venture or by establishing a wholly foreign owned enterprise, Business Development International organises a workshop to bring together the various interested parties within a company to take the first step in formulating a market entry strategy. The workshop is tailored to meet individual company needs and includes such topics as:

  • Economic and cultural background to doing business in China
  • Evaluation of the company’s present situation
  • SWOT and/or Value Chain Analysis
  • Identification of issues that will require solution
  • Formulation of provisional objectives
  • Aspects of negotiation with the Chinese
  • Overview of the forms of market entry and the formal approval process
  • Partner identification and selection
  • Marketing research requirements
  • Sales and distribution in China
  • Projected costs
  • Action team
  • Action plan

For further information please contact Business Development International