Representation is an activity where we see that we can add considerable value.

For many companies who look to enter Brazil, the first step is to find someone to represent them in the country. Then the second step, when the representative has built up the distribution, is to enter through establishing a subsidiary.

However, to find a good representative is not easy. Our experience is that many companies are dissatisfied with their representatives for several reasons:

  • The representative is not making any effort to actively sell the product, but sees it instead as a convenient complement to his current range of products.
  • The representative does not have the necessary network or expertise in the area of the product, and is therefore a sub-optimal choise.
  • The representative uses his position to leverage his own operations, for example to develop a competing product.
  • The representative ends up in legal problems. The most common reason is tax evasion, which is frequent in Brazil. Many companies, for example, claim that it is impossible to do business in Brazil if you pay all taxes in full, and Brazil indeed has a culture of tax evasion. We strongly disagree with this. It is in most cases possible to import into and do business in Brazil legally and profitably, and those cases when it is not, should be avoided. If a representative ends up with legal problems, it might not directly affect the producer of the product, but it might affect the brand.

We have seen too many examples of companies loosing out from their choise of representative.

We can help you in several different ways

  • We can help in the process to identify the right representative of your product.
  • We can develop your representative and work as “your man in Brazil”.
  • We can also, in many cases, offer to act as representative ourselves.