Q&A David Barrow Founder, Barrow International

Answer - Research, research and research before you enter a new territory. Ensure that your product has some significant features and benefits over anything else on the market. It also needs the right pricing structure to allow for distributor and dealer or shop margins.

You believe in your product, but to be successful the right local people need to see it and share that same enthusiasm or provide feedback against which you can improve. To do that, you need to know who to introduce your product to. It doesn’t matter how good you think you are within your company – if you haven’t got the right contacts in the countries you want to export to, you are going to struggle and take the wrong turns. 

It is important to get some relevant experience on board, by recruiting someone with the right background or engaging with a marine export specialist. Alternately you’ll need to research thoroughly by making a lot of overseas visits to boat shows and other activities of that kind. 

Answer - Choosing the right partners is vital. It can take a long time to unwind the damage that is done if you sign up with the wrong distributor for your product. Going for a weaker distributor might be worse than waiting a year for a stronger match to the products you are selling.

Try to get recommendations or have someone on your team who knows the right distributors and representatives in the country you are targeting. Ask questions – is the distributor well respected in the marketplace? Does it pay bills on time? Is it well connected with retailers and manages and markets product ranges well at exhibitions and within other forms of exposure? If you want to get your products into local boat manufacturers, does the distributor have a good relationship with their buyers?

You may have a product that is quite mass market and more suited to the larger distributors who specialise in shifting volume. If your product is more technical and niche, then you may be searching for a more specialised company with a smaller portfolio of products that can devote more time to your line.

Answer - If you’re based anywhere in Europe, including the UK, then ensure you are taking advantage of Europe first.

Brexit has complicated things for UK businesses in Europe, but no more than the procedures you’ll need to consider anyway for exporting anywhere in the world. There are obvious close-by large markets like France with a significant amount of boatbuilding and yachting activity – but I also encourage companies to look at Scandinavia and the Netherlands, where fluent English is commonplace.

Given the size of the leisure marine market in the US and the fact it is an English language territory, it’s tempting for companies to set their sights on America early on. However, this market can be hard to crack; buyers there like sourcing from their own nation and they want to know there is local support. So culturally it might be more challenging than you expect. The extent and cost of product liability claims are also a risk, so you must look at insurance arrangements.

Answer - The Middle East is growing up and Australia and New Zealand both have reasonably substantial markets. Although I have warned against starting in the US, undoubtedly you should consider it if you have the right product and once you are settled in your export activity. The market potential is very large if you are selling the right things.

One way of gaining assistance in America is to use an independent manufacturer’s representative – they have a lot of knowledge across the different regional markets of the US and carry a lot of influence with buyers and distributors. You can learn more about this avenue from the National Marine Representatives Association (nmraonline.org) I work closely with the association’s Executive Director, David Pilvelait of Home Port Global.

I cannot emphasise enough though that you should ensure to make the most of European markets. They are the physically closest ones to your business too. 

Answer - I recently took on a business selling a chandlery retail item that offered a distinguishable improvement on other products in its field. The owner had some success with internet sales and wanted to look at international distribution. I did the research and all eight companies we approached took his product which is now with a premier distributor in Germany and being widely sold in Northern and Southern Europe. He is now needing to substantially increase production. That was very quick – we just happened to hit the right nerve but that doesn’t happen all the time.

I’ve got other products where we’ve worked hard for five years to get into the right places before achieving the aim which in that case was adoption by a major boat builder. In that case we eventually solved it by teaming up with an existing supplier – our product was then accepted as part of a packaged solution.

Answer - Commit. If you are going to export you need to be prepared to devote considerable time, effort, and investment before ultimately gaining the benefit – to win a much larger market for your products than the UK alone can provide. 

Don’t be afraid to seek expertise outside of your business – an experienced shoulder to lean on can make a big difference.

ICOMIA Distributors
Guide and Database

You can learn more from David Barrow by downloading the ICOMIA Distributors Guide and Database as a benefit of British Marine membership – see bmmag.co.uk/distribguide

The updated ICOMIA Distributors’ Guide draws on David’s knowledge of the requirements and considerations needed to make the right decisions when selecting a distributor for your company and how to set up vibrant distribution networks for a wide range of products. The accompanying ICOMIA Distributors’ Database has been completely renewed ensuring each company listed has the most up-to-date contact information.