Before you hire someone to help you expand into overseas markets: 15 questions to ask a service provider

Short answer: When you hire a service provider to expand into overseas markets, first get clear answers on four kinds of things: whose name the registration is under, where the money goes, how to stop if it does not work, and who is on the ground. If they cannot answer, do not sign yet.

Scenario: three service providers, three different pitches

This is a hypothetical scenario, not a story about a specific client.

You are responsible for evaluating your company's first overseas market, and you have proposals from three service providers. The first says “all-inclusive, you'll be on the shelf very soon”; the second says “it depends on the case” and gives no quote; the third gives a quote split into stages. All three say they have experience.

How do you compare them? The most direct way is to ask each one the same set of questions and write the answers in the same table. Below is that set of questions, in four groups, 15 in total.

Start with the free resources

The FAQ of the Trade Administration, Ministry of Economic Affairs, says that companies without export experience can use the International Marketing Consulting Center, run by TAITRA on the Trade Administration's behalf: register online and a consultant will hold an initial discussion ¹. Hearing the free advice first, then the paid proposals, makes it easier to see what the other side is adding.

Group 1: registration and regulation (Questions 1–5)

Using the Philippines as an example, all five questions can be checked against official sources:

• Only a local company can hold the registration. Importers must obtain an LTO from the FDA before importing, and must also obtain a CPR for the product ³; for cosmetics, only a company registered to do business locally can file a notification ². So the registration will always be under someone else's name; the question is what the contract says, see your product registration is under the importer's name: what if you want to switch later.
• Official processing days are published. The FDA Citizen's Charter lists 14 working days for an initial LTO for food distributors ⁴ and 23 working days for cosmetic notification ⁵, neither counting time to prepare documents or supply missing ones.
• The copy has red lines. Food supplements must not carry curative or therapeutic claims ⁶; see the food and cosmetics label checklist.
• Trademark rights come from registration. In the Philippines, rights in a mark are acquired through valid registration under the law; an applicant without a domicile or business establishment in the Philippines must designate in writing a Philippine resident to receive notices ⁷. Filing in your own name and designating a recipient is a different thing from putting the whole mark under the service provider's name.

Group 2: where the money goes (Questions 6–9)

For Question 7 you can check the official fees: a 1-year cosmetic notification in the Philippines costs Php 500 plus a 1% legal research fee ⁵. The official fee itself is usually not much; the service fee is the real money, and only when the two are listed separately can you compare the three providers.

For Question 6, LUFÉ's own services page says: “Each chapter is priced on its own. At the end of each chapter, you can decide to keep going, stop, or change direction.” You can ask us the same question.

For how to judge Question 9, see agent, distributor, exclusive agent: what is the difference.

Group 3: how to stop if it does not work (Questions 10–12)

The US Department of Commerce's Philippines Country Commercial Guide says agent and distributor contracts usually specify a 30-day termination notice ⁸. If the other side's contract has no termination clause, or a much longer notice period, ask why. For what to close off when you pull out, see how to exit a market cleanly.

Group 4: who is on the ground (Questions 13–15)

Question 15 has a legal threshold you can check: in the Philippines, micro and small domestic market enterprises with paid-in equity capital below US$200,000 are reserved for Philippine nationals ⁹. For a comparison of the thresholds of four entry modes, see the market entry modes comparison table.

When this article does not apply

• You already have an overseas buyer placing orders. Handle that order's quote and shipping terms first; see Jumping's Incoterms guide.
• You are looking for a logistics or customs company. What to ask then is freight rates, transit times and customs documents, not these 15 questions.
• You only want one-off translation or design. The scope is small; just get the deliverables clear.

Frequently asked questions

How do agents make money? The US Department of Commerce's Philippines Country Commercial Guide says there are two common types of importers in the Philippines: stocking distributors that buy and hold inventory, and agents (indenters) that act as intermediaries between foreign suppliers and buyers without holding stock; agents earn a commission, with standard commissions of 5–10% depending on the industry ⁸.

A service provider says they can handle everything through to listing. Can I trust that? First ask what they mean by “listing”: which channel, who decides whether it accepts the product, and what happens if it does not get listed. Whether a channel accepts a product is the channel's decision; if someone presents it as certain to happen, ask one more question.

How many providers should I compare? There is no standard answer. What matters is asking each one the same set of questions and writing the answers in the same table; hearing the free consultation from TAITRA on the Trade Administration's behalf first ¹ makes it easier to see what the paid ones are adding.

One small next step

Copy these 15 questions into a table, ask each provider the same set, and leave blank any cell they cannot answer. Do not sign yet with the one with the most blanks. The same goes for LUFÉ: you are welcome to bring this table to us. Send it over on LINE and we will answer it question by question.

This article is a summary of experience and practice, not legal advice. Last verified: 2026-10-25.