Business development
We help your product find its buyers in Europe and the US.
We work alongside you in Europe and the United States: the market plan, the distributors and chains worth meeting and, in Europe, customs clearance, VAT, stock and fulfillment from Portugal.
- Market development. We study your markets in Europe and the United States, the ones you serve and the ones worth opening, and shape the plan with you.
- Distribution partners. We find and screen distributors and chains on both sides of the Atlantic, introduce you, and keep the outreach moving until you take the meetings.
- Behind every order. In Europe, we take care of customs clearance, VAT, stock and fulfillment from Portugal, inside the EU customs union, as orders follow.
Every finding is sourced.
The practice
The four stages of the work
Each stage feeds the next. Research shapes the strategy, the strategy chooses the accounts, and what buyers say can revise both.
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Research
Market and competitor research, including how comparable brands entered or grew in the category and why some attempts failed.
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Strategy
Where to go first, where not to go, and in what order, with the positioning, pricing logic and channel route for each market.
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Buyers
How each chain, distributor, importer and partner that matters buys the category, and who owns it.
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Follow-through
Buyers reconsider a category at set review points, so outreach is timed to each buyer's calendar and followed up as each review comes round.
Starting points
Entering a new market, or growing in one already served?
The method is the same for both. The starting brief differs, and the work begins from where the brand stands today.
Deciding where to begin? Read one European market first, or all at once.
- Entry into a new market
- The work begins with what the market requires before a first conversation: import and product rules, who holds the shelf and how its buyers decide.
- Expansion in a market already served
- The position the brand holds today: who carries it, at what price, and which channels sell it without being managed.
- Further territories or channels
- The agreements already in place, for a distributor or brand adding territory or a second channel beside the first.
Working together
Research and follow-through, or the research on its own
Both paths begin with the same research and strategy. They differ in whether the market is managed after delivery.
- Research and follow-through
- We research, plan and then work the market with you.
- The research on its own
- The research and strategy, delivered and closed. Which path fits is settled on the first call.
Terms are set out in a proposal after the first call.
Markets
The markets we work in today
The practice runs today in Europe and the United States, with further markets taken on as the work extends there.
Spain is one example: how Spanish retail and distribution buy.
- Europe
- Each agreed market researched and managed on its own terms, with customs clearance, VAT, stock and delivery handled from Portugal inside the EU customs union. Business development in Europe
- The United States
- Retailers, private-label ranges, brokers and national distributors, with review timing established account by account and supply planned with you. Business development in the United States
- Further markets
- The same research, strategy and management, taken on case by case where the product and the market justify it.
Fit
Where the work fits, and where it does not
The work needs a product with repeat demand, a buyer who can be identified and a way to supply that buyer.
Where one of these is missing, we say so on the first call.
The work fits when
- The product needs a market worked continuously, not a single introduction.
- The product sells through chains, distributors, importers or trade partners, with orders that repeat.
- You can share product lines, trade pricing and buyer-facing material in English.
- Supply can be planned from the start, including stock in Europe where the market needs it.
The work does not fit when
- The product sells once per project, with no repeat order behind it.
- The sale rests on clinical authority, which belongs with your own specialists.
- What is wanted is a contact list to use alone, or paid advertising.
In Europe
What happens to the goods once a buyer commits?
In Europe, the commercial work and the goods sit with the same team. EFC handles customs and VAT through fiscal representation, holds the stock and delivers. Where the import setup needs it, EFC provides the importer of record through its operation in Portugal, not for medical devices.
A buyer's questions on lead time, the importer and returns are then answered inside the same relationship. The goods side can start with the commercial work or be added later.
Stock is held in Portugal, inside the EU customs union, released for free circulation or held under bond as the line requires.
Questions
Questions brands and companies ask
What is business development at EFC?
It is our work with brands and companies entering new markets or growing in existing ones. It covers market and competitor research, go-to-market strategy, introductions to the buyers who own the category and follow-through.
What is the difference between market entry and market expansion?
Entry starts from the conditions a new market sets before any buyer is approached: import rules, competitors and channel structure. Expansion starts from the position a brand already holds: who carries it, at what price and through which channels.
Which markets does EFC cover?
Europe and the United States today, with further markets taken on case by case. In Europe, the work connects to customs clearance, VAT, stock and delivery from Portugal.
Who are the buyers, and how are they reached?
For each chain and distributor, EFC works out how the category is bought and who owns it, then introduces the brand to that buyer. The brand negotiates and signs.
Does EFC buy the goods or act as a distributor?
No. We do not buy, own or resell the goods, which is what separates this from a distributor relationship. In Europe, the brand imports under its own EU VAT and EORI numbers, or EFC’s operation provides the importer of record where needed (not for medical devices). The brand keeps title throughout.
Does this replace our own sales team?
No. Your team joins the conversations the work opens and takes every commercial decision: you set the prices, negotiate and sign with each buyer. We carry the research, the preparation and the outreach.
Business development at EFC
Describe the product and the markets in view. The reply sets out where the work would start, and whether it fits.
Talk to the team