15. Why finding the right distributors for your products matters?

Why Distribution Matters

When people think about building a global brand, the focus often falls on marketing, packaging, or product innovation. But none of these matter if you can’t reliably get your product into customers’ hands. Distribution is not a side issue—it is the backbone of global expansion. A brand lives or dies on the strength of its sales and distribution capability in each market.

Choosing the Right Model

One of the first strategic decisions to face for a New Zealand entrepreneur is choosing the relevant business model for each market. Options range from wholly-owned subsidiaries to joint ventures, third-party distributors, or even retail chains. Sometimes it makes sense to support a distributor with a local fulfilment centre to ensure they have stock ready to sell. Each model comes with trade-offs in cost, control, and risk. What matters most is ensuring that, whatever the model, both parties are committed to investing in brand-building and creating a sustainable, profitable business.

The Brand-Owner and Distributor Relationship

A distributor isn’t just a middleman—they’re your partner in-market. They handle importing, selling, distributing, and marketing the product in their territory. Agents and wholesalers may look similar, but they don’t carry the same brand-building responsibility. Managing these relationships requires constant attention. Challenges range from cultural differences to conflicting priorities, and sometimes simply a lack of transparency about what is happening on the ground.

The best distributor relationships are true partnerships—built on shared goals, trust, and regular communication. Contracts are important, of course, but the strongest partnerships go beyond paperwork. You sign the contract, put it in the drawer, and then focus on building the business together. Building an honest open rapport with  global distributors is an essential capability for the New Zealand entrepreneur.

Defining Responsibilities

Clear responsibilities between yourself and your distributors is essential. This means agreeing upfront on issues like financial support, minimum order quantities, regulatory approvals, and who carries the risk at different points in the supply chain. For example, Incoterms determines where legal responsibility for a shipment shifts from you to them. Getting this wrong can expose either side to unnecessary risk. In practice, compromises are usually found, but the clarity has to be there from the start.

Your next read in the series 16. How to build the global distribution network?

Building Global Businesses

A fuller explanation on this subject is outlined in my book “Going Global” www.goglobal.co.nz