Key in your market entry strategy is some market research. Of course there are reports on market size and market growth, but often these are general. Specific knowledge on how your product is perceived and what your competitions is, is harder to get but more valuable.
Our local consultant can advise you on the best way to enter the market, based on market and competition research.
Indonesia is called the Emerald of the Equator for its sheer tropical beauty. Being a collection of about 18,000 islands and located in Asia, Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelago. The Indonesian government is a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the president is both head of state and head of government.
Ranking 114th in the world in the ease of doing business, Indonesia imports goods and services worth approximately a quarter of its GDP.
While Indonesia is open to trade and foreign investment, business deals must follow proper due diligence process to ensure smooth sailing later. Enforcing of cursory contracts is not easy, and diligent pre-contract research is required to realize the vast International Business Potential that Indonesia offers.
With a multi-billion dollar international trade, the Indonesia international business sector offers several business opportunities. With regular trade fairs and business information updates, the Indonesian government and industry tries to provide a friendly environment for foreign business to explore business opportunities.
The top 5 imports into Indonesia are:
While Indonesia can be a great place with an international business culture for commercial opportunities, it is also a developing country. Income is distributed very unevenly and the people in Jakarta have the most spending power. Other big cities like Medan or Surabaja, or the touristic island of Bali follow. It is wise to start your commercial activities here. East-Java, South Sumatra and the other island have in general a poor population where only specific products would sell.
Diligent research, planning, and local partners are recommended to prevent complications later. Especially when dealing with the ‘grey’ economy in Indonesia with all its personal relationships and favours this is essential. Business agreements have to be well researched and thought out before being formalized.
The best preparation for doing business in any country is visiting it. This way you can experience the culture, check the shops and build your network.
With Trip.com you can compare flights and also book your hotel.
Hotellook compares different hotel sites so you always have the best rate.
Localrent connects you to national rental car providers per country.
If you have a consumer product that you can’t sell directly from your home country to your end customer, you need at least one step in between. This can be a distributor (who also acts as wholesaler or importer), a big retailer directly, or it can be a large web shop. Let’s look at the pro’s and con’s of each option.
For a B2B product that is not a commodity or for customized solutions the story is different. Here sales needs to be done in alignment with the department that actually delivers the service or that determines the price case by case. Also then you have three different options.
As counts for any country: you first have to define the target group that you want to sell to. If these are businesses, then you can reach out directly through emails and targeted advertisements, e.g. on LinkedIn. If this arouses interest and gives a sufficient response rate, then you may have found an easy way to get the market’s attention.
If your target group is more diffuse, or is a consumer group, then you have to rely more on advertising such as on Facebook or Instagram.
With the tooling of our partner Instantly.ai you can define your target group, whether it’s 50 or 50.000 people. Send them a sequence of emails, directly in their inbox, for typically under 10 dollarcents per persoon.
First determine who are the end-users of your product or service. And where do they buy it now? The best way to determine the right entry strategy is to approach these parties. Would they consider your product or service as an alternative? Do they agree with the positioning that you have in mind? And what competitors are they buying from now? These data will help you determine the right strategy.
