“Entering a new market takes the courage to begin and the discipline not to confuse speed with progress,”. Ulyana Fitsa at the Sales Forum 2026

Exporting means building a market

The first and most important change a business must make is to stop treating entry into a new market as a routine export operation.

“Shipping products abroad does not mean you have entered a market. True market entry begins when a company understands local consumers, the category structure, sales channels, its partner’s economics, regulatory requirements, and its own role in developing the brand,” Ulyana Fitsa explained.

Kormotech’s gradual expansion strategy in Belgium is a good example. The company’s products are now available in Famiflora stores, but Kormotech does not see this milestone as the end of the process.

“Why Belgium? First, because it is a mature and highly competitive pet food market. Consumers have a wide choice, are well aware of international brands, and pay close attention to product quality. At the same time, they assess value for money very rationally. This is a challenging environment for a new brand, but that is exactly why it provides a strong test of how competitive your offering really is.

For Kormotech, Belgium is not about achieving maximum coverage from day one. We chose a gradual market entry. Products from four of our brands — Optimeal, CLUB 4 PAWS, Delickcious, and My Love — are now available in Famiflora’s physical stores. We deliberately built the initial range around popular products and plan to adjust it based on local consumers' actual demand. In the first month of sales, we already saw strong interest, particularly in Optimeal and CLUB 4 PAWS wet food.

What surprised me most was where a new market can actually begin.

Our first contact with our future partner took place not in Belgium, or even in Europe, but in Bangkok. Only three months passed between that first conversation and our first shipment to Belgium.

For me, this is a strong example of how international sales are almost never a linear process today: choose a country, find a customer there, and sign a contract. An opportunity may emerge at a trade show, a conference, or during an unexpected meeting on the other side of the world.

This leads me to one clear conclusion: networking in international business is not an additional sales activity. It is part of the sales funnel.

Even more importantly, a company needs an internal system that can quickly turn such a contact into real business: assess the partner, agree on the product range, validate the economics, and ensure regulatory compliance, logistics, and delivery,” Ulyana Fitsa explained.

Overcoming management misconceptions from the outset

“Some mistakes can be avoided by asking a different question before entering a market. Instead of asking, ‘Can we sell there?’ ask, ‘Do we understand exactly how we are going to win there?’ Ulyana Fitsa noted.

One of the most common misconceptions is that finding a strong distributor is enough and that the distributor will build the market independently. In reality, a brand owner cannot fully delegate responsibility for strategy and positioning to a partner.

Rather than following the common practice of entering many countries at once to test demand, Kormotech’s Logistics Director recommends a different approach:

“I believe in the principle of not being slightly present everywhere, but being strong enough wherever you decide to compete.”

The ability to acknowledge and analyze your decisions is critical when scaling. Business maturity is not defined by the absence of mistakes, but by the ability to learn from them and avoid repeating them.

Operational readiness and cross-functional collaboration

The discussion at the Sales Forum also focused on a company’s operating system. A business should not scale faster than its supply chain and overall operational readiness allow. When planning and production cannot keep pace with rapid sales growth, that growth immediately becomes a source of risk.

“Success in a new market is not determined by the strength of any single element. It depends on ensuring there is no weak link between the product, the channel, the brand, the local team, and the operating system,” Ulyana Fitsa said.