Growth Strategy

New Market Entry

Determining optimal market entry points can be a daunting task and the cost of miscalculation can be large.

Entering a new market – geography, customer segment, channel – is an exciting step in your growth journey. Accessing new markets can accelerate growth and create new opportunities for your organization and people. High-quality data and structured analysis are close kins to all successful market entries.

Successful market entry strategies share two common elements: detailed understanding of the target market dynamics and clarity on which capabilities enable a unique “play” in the target market. Both elements necessitate an objective view of the dimensions that characterize the market – customer selection criteria, competitor positions, regulatory requirements – to ensure an optimally timed entry strategy.

No two market entries are identical, and yet, there are elements of every successful market entry that are somewhat formulaic. A sharper understanding of variables at play – optimal timing, fragmented competition, complementary assets – can considerably tighten the distribution of predictable outcomes. And yet, most executives tend to overweight the dimensions of their case that favor entry and downplay the risk factors. That’s where Pointe can help.

How Pointe Can Help

With years of experience and a data driven approach, we can offer the external, objective perspective that can fine-tune your go-to-market strategy.

Key elements of our approach include

Assessment of the target market, including estimates for the size and growth

Determining customer segments, purchasing criteria, and buying processes

Evaluation of competitive landscape and key competitors’ capabilities

Analysis of key regulatory factors and quantification of associated risks

Identification of market gaps that align with our core capabilities

Development of business case for entry with key assumptions around penetration rates and anticipated economic returns

Case Studies

Case Study #1

Analyzing Distribution Networks

Pointe supported a medical equipment manufacturer evaluate its China market entry decision by analyzing distribution networks, customer preferences, and market pricing levels. Our research found that pricing levels were insufficient to match our client’s economic profile, product mix exceeded local customer preferences, and planned partner networks were inadequate. Our client abandoned plans to enter the region and avoided a subsequent downturn in the regional market.

Case Study #2

Avoiding Subsequent Downturn

Our global equipment manufacturing client had entered in an agreement to enter a new overseas market through a JV distribution partnership. The goal was to assess existing distribution networks, customer preferences, and market pricing levels to deliver confidence in the strategy. Pointe’s detailed findings confirmed that our client would be unable to capture expected margins due to lower than anticipated price levels in the region, a product quality exceeding local customer preferences, and that its planned partner’s distribution network was not adequate for success. Our client abandoned plans to enter the region and avoided a subsequent downturn in the regional market.