Page 44 - THE ROMANIAN HEALTH CARE

Chapter 6: Market entry and business culture

6.1 Market entry

Opportunities in international business are an often used word. Romania has been described

as a country with an abundance of opportunities the land of endless commercial chances. If

that might have been true some years ago, it is not the case today. Today, market entry in

Romania is a matter of good deep market research, both desk research and field research.

Realistically it will take at least half a year before the first results will be visible, at least three

field visits and a budget of minimally 25,000 euro spent on travel and related as well as hours

spent on business development management.

Corruption is a significant problem in Romania. It is found in many branches of the

government and public institutions. It comes in many forms and shapes from a little “present”

to a nurse in the hospital to granting contracts to friends by politicians. For example the 3

new hospitals are at risk of corruption, construction contracts for the building might be

granted to “friends”. However, be prepared to encounter corruption in private sector

companies as well. Purchasing managers are sometimes willing to accept a higher price level

when they receive a bribe. This might only happen when purchasing is not done by the owner

of the company. Transparency is an indicator for the quality of a potential business partner.

Often a good start is the website. When it looks professional, lists fiscal numbers, bank details

and is at least bilingual, some basic criteria are met for reliability. A bilingual website shows

openness to potential partners from abroad.

For market entry there are three basic models in the healthcare sector.

Strategy Description Type of product
Distributor Local party that that takes your Products that circulate relatively quickly,

product in its assortment and sells smaller products with a relatively low

it in the local market. The value per product. The distributor needs

distributor has your product in to take them in stock and is not keen on

stock. One or more distributors are a large investment in inventory.

possible, look at exclusivity and

region.

Agent Local party that sells but does not Works best for products that have a high

have stock of product. Usually value per product and are often made to

works for a commission. order.

Direct sales Sales from your own office with Can work for all products, but requires a

frequent travel to the market. lot of time devoted to getting to know
the market.

The market entry strategy depends highly on the market proposition of the exporting

company as well as the Romanian market. Realise that a minimum requirement for success is

that some structural variables are in line with each other. In the Romanian price driven

market, it will be hard to get success with a high quality premium priced product. If a product

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