Paul : Well, we’ve been doing some studies over the past few months, and we’re about to start analyzing our different options.
George : I see. What have you got so far?
Paul : One option would be to create our own sales force and sales outlets, the advantage with that is that we have complete control over the entire sales and distribution process…
Emily :  The issue is that it’s such a huge country, it would be impossible to be everywhere, and the cost of recruiting and training would be horrendous.
George : I see your point.
Paul : Yes, that’s true, but we could start with just a few outlets, a few cities and we could develop and increase little by little…
George : Indeed, but it sounds like it would be a lengthy process… What other options are there?
Emily : Another option would be to use an agent. The advantages to that solution is that they already know the country and the culture. Plus, they can organize all the customs and legal paperwork, so we wouldn’t need to do it ourselves.
Paul : Yes, but then we are completely dependent on an external… the external expertise, we don’t develop our own internal expertise.
George : I take your point, any other ideas?
Paul : We could create a partnership with an existing national network, using their know-how, and develop our own outlets as we develop.
Emily : In any case, I think we need to integrate an e-commerce activity at the same time. We can sell our products directly to the end user, and dispatch from our European production centers.
George : Absolutely, I agree, we can’t do without an internet presence. Having said that, we do need to explore how to grow our physical presence in China.