Know-How Exchange : Strategy

please state the type of industry you are in.

Kids wear

Brands don't go big internationally over night.
Expansion is not the formula to make anything grow.
Starbucks was a big brand in the U.S. before they even thought of doing things overseas, NIKE was a market leader in the U.S. before going globally, and on and on.
Expansion of a small brand by distribution only is useless usually. Only if your distributors and you are willing to invest in heavy marketing, promotion, product placement etc. in foreign market, you have a chance.
Anywhere you will go, you will have established competition, with established brands and loyal customers.
My advice: become a big national brand wherever you are, than distributors will come to you.

It's not too difficult to find sales reps who already have access to the market you want (we do for some, not yours).

That would be the quickest way. www.replocate.com is a good place to start.

Michael

Why are you having trouble finding agents? I also own a manufacturer rep agency (in another field) and only one of my manufacturers spends a penny on advertising. None have any real branding. All marketing is done face to face by the reps. Yet we make a more than livable income.

Do you have the structure in place to support US sales? www.manaonline.org has a checklist of what needs to be in place to support a rep. I turn down lines if I dont feel the support is in place.

Reps are not afraid to pioneer a territory, but they do want to know it is saleable. Any successes in the areas you want to sell in are important. Its hard to pioneer a "me too" product in an already saturated market.

The best way to get a rep is word of mouth. Call up the type of store you want to be in-- and ask about their reps. That will give you one that at least one buyer feels comfortable with, has established contacts, and one that works.

Sell Well and Prosper tm

Some resources for you:
https://www.thread.co.nz/article/279
https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/special/2008/07/178_26116.html
https://www.buyusa.gov/downtownlosangeles/ (is there something like this in your country?)
https://www.fita.org/webindex/index.html

I suggest you also investigate the potential demand for your products overseas and how the target might be the same or different from your domestic audience. When approaching distributors or agents, you'll want to demonstrate a thorough understanding of consumers in their country, how your product is differentiated from the competition and the benefits sought by the target market. Consumers in other countries might have different needs and hold different values on specific attributes of your product line than those of your domestic customers - you can't necessarily assume that the nature of a market in another country will be the same as the market in which you already distribute.