Market entry into Vietnam
Four things, in whatever order your situation needs. Some clients arrive with a company already registered; others with nothing but an idea.
Is there demand, and at what price
Before the legal work, the question worth paying for is whether anyone here will buy the thing at a price that works. That means looking at what is already on the shelves, what it costs, who imports it, and what the buyers of it currently complain about.
This is the stage where we most often tell a client the honest answer is not yet, or not this product. It is also the cheapest stage at which to hear it.
Legal entity and licences
Foreign-invested companies in Vietnam can take several forms, and the right one depends on what you intend to do, not on which is fastest to register. Trading, manufacturing and services carry different licensing requirements, and some sectors carry conditions on foreign ownership.
We work through the registration with you and coordinate the local professionals who have to sign off on parts of it, rather than handing you a list of agencies and wishing you luck.
Distribution partners who will actually sell
A distribution agreement is easy to sign and easy to make worthless. The distributors worth having are already busy, and the ones with capacity usually have it for a reason.
We find candidates, check what they really move and to whom, and sit in the negotiation. Then we stay involved long enough to see whether the product is being sold or shelved.
The first customers
Entry is not finished at registration. It is finished when someone has paid. We help with the first sales conversations, the pricing that survives a local buyer's counter, and the operational tidying-up that always follows a first order.
If this is close to what you need, tell us the specifics. We will say plainly whether we are the right partner for it, and what it would cost, before anything starts.
Start a conversationQuestions people ask about this
Do I need a Vietnamese company to sell here?
Not always. Selling through a local distributor or importer can work without registering anything, and for testing demand it is usually the sensible first step. A legal entity becomes worth it when you need to control pricing, hold stock or hire.
How long does company registration take?
For a straightforward trading company, commonly around four to eight weeks once the documents are in order, and the documents are what take the time. Conditional sectors take longer, and we will say so before you plan around a date.
Can you help if we already have an entity but nothing is moving?
That is a common starting point. Usually the problem is distribution or pricing rather than paperwork, and it is diagnosable in a short piece of work before committing to anything larger.