You've not addressed a number of items.lore wrote:Hi all,
i am discussing a retail partnership with a Japanese company who wants to go international for é first time & it will be in Singapore but they only want to try out a year.
I will be their sole agent or so called in charge of Singapore market here. Therefore I had completed the business planning & costing for just a year but i just want to know what other things to look into this.
Hope someone can advice. Thanks alot in advance.
Sorry that I may have not stated é issue properly cos it's still under discussions. So the role & how the business goes have not yet fix which means i still have the time to plan. But...due to bad economy & especially retails in JP is even worse therefore they dun intend to invest now. Bingo (u'r right)!! It's most likely work between 2 seperate companies.Strong Eagle wrote:You've not addressed a number of items.lore wrote:Hi all,
i am discussing a retail partnership with a Japanese company who wants to go international for é first time & it will be in Singapore but they only want to try out a year.
I will be their sole agent or so called in charge of Singapore market here. Therefore I had completed the business planning & costing for just a year but i just want to know what other things to look into this.
Hope someone can advice. Thanks alot in advance.
What do you mean by 'retail partnership'? This has no meaning in the legal sense.
If you are going to be a sole agent for them, then you are a manufacturers representative. As such, they have no presence, you have the company, and you work on a commission or salary in exchange for peddling their product. This is an arm's length transaction between two separate companies.
If on the other hand they want to create their own legal entity here, then they are a foreign company creating a wholly owned private limited and/or partnership. In this case you would need to define your role in the Singapore company: MD, GM, whatever. If you have a company here, you could contract services to them but they would still need at least one local director.
OK, lore... if it is two separate companies, then here are some things to think about.lore wrote:If it's working between 2 seperate companies, wat are the things i need to look into in order to have more benifits or advantages cos they only want to try out in Singapore market before they really invest after a year.
Hope you can give me ur brilliant ideas/plans.
Really thanks alot!!!
Thank you KSL & SE for both of your kind & wise advice.Will seriously look into all the points you guys had given.ksl wrote:personally you need to protect yourself, the word retail partnership, is like SE says.
Basically the Japanese wish to penetrate the Singapore market, with their own brand name bags. If this is their approach to you, then you have some negotiating to do, otherwise you will probably end up cutting your own throat.
If you have approached the handbag company, with the idea of setting up in Singapore, you still need to be very shrewd on the negotiating table, for your own good.
I would suggest a joint venture, whereby you take on the role of sole agent distributor in your own Company which it will be anyway if you are setting the business up, but the Japanese company contributes, to your marketing and promotion costs, which is the only way forward to get any exposure.
To agree to setting up a business in Singapore, for a foreign brand, even sole agent, is not a good idea at all, because they can drop you, when your contract runs out after a year and replace you, which means you have basically been a stepping stone into the market at your expense and there is nothing you can do about it.
So i would advise all or nothing. A joint venture is a good starting point if they have approached you. If it's your own idea then you can request the joint venture which is a working relationship to brand their products in Singapore. Although sincerely you need to do much more research in the market place, to see if it is feasible to throw any hard earned savings into the venture.
If they will not go into a joint venture, why not consider branding your own bags, this way they have no influence over your brand.
There are many ways of starting a business, which need to be looked at, learning to walk before running is always, best because you do not lose so much hard earned cash.
I don't mind giving you some free advice if you are needing it, and i can probably supply point you in the right direction for a contract template, which will probably need minor adjustments, to be their agent. But it will cover your needs.
A 1 year period is okay, but you need to ensure they do not set up in Singapore, without you after the 1st year, or at least you secure all commissions on their handbags sold in this Country for a minimum period of 5 years.
Then if you are dumped, you will be rewarded for the 12 months effort you have put in and may recover any losses, which are highly likely in a 1years period.
The minimum period for any business start up, needs to be at least 3 years, simply because you will have great difficulty on breaking even in 1 year.
I would need to look at your figures, before concluding, but take my advice, to brand a handbag in Singapore in one year isn't really feasible, only to have it taken away from you.
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