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3.1 Ways to enter a market

There are several doors into a market, from sending a parcel through Exporta Fácil to opening a subsidiary. More investment gives more control and more risk; choosing well depends on your product, your resources and your goal.

Module 3: International marketing · Reviewed on 20/10/2026 · Español

Goal: Compare the ways of entering a market by investment, control and risk, and choose the most suitable one for a company with little capital.

Entering a market means deciding how you will sell there. Shipping a box with your product is not the same as opening an office or partnering with a local company. Each entry mode changes how much you invest, how much control you have over price and brand, and how much risk you take on.

In indirect exporting you sell to a company in your own country, for example a trading company, and it takes the product abroad. It is the simplest, but you do not know the end customer and you hardly control the price. In direct exporting you sell yourself to the buyer abroad: an importer, a distributor, a retailer or the consumer. You gain margin and information, and you also take charge of quoting, coordinating transport and collecting payment.

Within direct exporting there is a very accessible door for SMEs: Exporta Fácil. It is a procedure to send goods through Serpost, the State postal operator, up to US$ 7,500 per shipment and without a customs broker. It works for samples, small sales and market tests. It does not accept perishable products, and restricted products still need the permit of their sector. For larger volumes you will use regular exporting, which is covered in depth in the Exports course.

You can also sell online, in your own store or in a marketplace: a platform that brings together many sellers and buyers. Another option is to rely on someone at the destination. The agent looks for customers for you in exchange for a commission and does not buy your product. The distributor buys from you and resells on its own account. Their contracts are covered in topic 4-3.

Higher up the scale are the modes with a commitment abroad. With a license you authorize another company to use your brand or technology in exchange for royalties (payments for that right). A franchise is a license with a complete business model and is common in restaurants and services. In a joint venture you share capital, risk and decisions with a local partner. Direct investment is opening your own branch or subsidiary, or buying a company that already operates.

There is no single right mode for everyone. Many companies move forward in stages: they start with little risk, learn from the market and move up a level when sales justify it. To choose, look at five factors: your resources, the type of product, the distance and rules of the market, the control you need and your volume goal. If you know little about the market, a light mode that is easy to reverse is best.

Key ideas

Each entry mode is a trade-off: more investment and commitment give more control over price, brand and information, but also more risk.
Indirect exporting: you sell to a company in your country that exports. Direct exporting: you sell yourself to the buyer abroad.
Exporta Fácil lets you ship through Serpost up to US$ 7,500 per shipment, without a customs broker, and it is not suitable for perishable cargo.
The agent looks for customers on commission and does not buy your product. The distributor buys and resells on its own account.
License, franchise, joint venture and direct investment require partners, contracts and capital abroad.
Start with a light, reversible mode, and move up a level when the market responds.

Entry mode	Who sells at destination	Investment and risk	Control	When it works
Indirect exporting	A trading company from your country	Very low	Very low	First experience or little management capacity
Direct: Exporta Fácil or marketplace	You, to the buyer or consumer	Low	High on price; low on distribution	Samples, niches and market tests
Agent or distributor	A local partner	Medium	Medium, depending on the contract	Sustained sales without opening an office
License or franchise	Another company with your brand or model	Medium	Medium, set by contract	Strong brand or an easy-to-replicate business
Joint venture	A company with a local partner	High	Shared	Difficult market or one that requires a local partner
Own subsidiary	You, with a company at destination	Very high	Total	Key market with sales already proven

Worked example

Textiles Misti S.A.C. chooses how to enter Spain

Starting point. Textiles Misti, a fictional company from Arequipa, makes alpaca scarves with a cost of US$ 18.00 per unit (raw material, labor and packaging). It can produce 2,000 units a year and has little export experience. It wants to test Spain without putting its savings at risk.
Option A: direct sale in a marketplace, with shipments through Exporta Fácil. Consumer price: US$ 65.00. Platform fee (15%): US$ 9.75. Shipping paid by the company: US$ 14.00. Margin per unit: 65.00 − 9.75 − 14.00 − 18.00 = US$ 23.25. With 300 units a year: US$ 6,975. Initial investment in photos, product pages and samples: US$ 1,500. First-year result: US$ 5,475.
Option B: distributor in Spain. It sells to the distributor at US$ 32.00 per unit, with the goods cleared for export in Lima and international transport paid by the distributor. Margin: 32.00 − 18.00 = US$ 14.00. With 2,000 units (an assumed volume, which depends on finding the distributor): US$ 28,000. Costs for fairs, samples and travel: US$ 4,000. First-year result: US$ 24,000.
Option C: own subsidiary in Spain. Start-up costs (incorporation, premises, one employee and website): US$ 45,000. Contribution per unit: 65.00 − 18.00 (cost) − 8.00 (freight in lots) − 12.00 (marketing and local management) = US$ 27.00. With 1,500 units: US$ 40,500. First-year result: 40,500 − 45,000 = a loss of US$ 4,500.
Compare the money the company must put up front, counting inventory at cost. A: 300 × 18.00 + 1,500 = US$ 6,900. B: 2,000 × 18.00 + 4,000 = US$ 40,000. C: 1,500 × 18.00 + 45,000 = US$ 72,000.
Decide. Textiles Misti has little capital and little experience, so it rules out C. It starts with A for six months to validate price, design and demand with real consumers. In parallel it looks for distributors (B) and uses the sales data as an argument in the negotiation.

Result: The best option is not the one with the highest profit on paper, but the one the company can finance and reverse. With US$ 6,900 at stake, A allows learning; B gives more volume once there are results; C only makes sense with proven sales.

Real cases

Exporta Fácil, the entry door for micro and small businesses

29/04/2026

At the “Exporter's Wednesday” seminars held in Lima on 29/04/2026, Serpost presented Exporta Fácil as a logistics solution for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. The procedure allows exporting up to US$ 7,500 per Exporta Fácil Declaration, requires an RUC and Clave SOL, and does not need a customs broker. The maximum weight is 30 kg and lead times run from 10 to 30 days to more than 190 countries. It matters because it lowers the entry barrier for testing a market.

Use Exporta Fácil to validate product and price with small shipments before committing to an importer or distributor.

Source: PROMPERÚ, repositorio – Presentación de SERPOST «Exporta Fácil como solución logística para la internacionalización de las MYPE»

SUNAT explains the Exporta Fácil limits to exporters

2024

In its presentation “Exporta Fácil 2024”, from its series of talks for the public, SUNAT summarizes the procedure: FOB value of up to US$ 7,500 and 30 kg per package in each shipment, with no limit on the number of shipments. The cap applies to each shipment, not to a month or a year. It matters because an SME can repeat small shipments to test demand, and knows in advance when its order already requires regular exporting.

If your orders often exceed the per-shipment limit, move to regular exporting with a customs broker.

Source: SUNAT – Charlas: Exporta Fácil 2024

Common mistakes

Choosing a distributor only because it accepted quickly. Ask for references, check which brands it handles and start with a short-term contract.
Believing Exporta Fácil works for everything. It has a limit per shipment, does not accept perishables and does not exempt you from the permit that the sector requires for restricted products.
Jumping to a subsidiary or a joint venture without having sold in the market first. Test first with a light mode.
Confusing agent with distributor. The agent does not buy your product or take on the sales risk; the distributor does buy and decides its resale price.

Practise with the calculators, the COMEX Simulator and the review questions on the main page.

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