You want a partner in India. Here is how we find one that fits.

• Enquiries from India arrive, and you cannot tell the serious ones from the rest

  We check who is behind an enquiry, what they really want, and whether they can pay. You answer the three that matter and politely close the rest.

• Your distributor sells your product when it suits him

  He was the first to answer, not the best. We find out what a good distributor for your product must be able to do, find the candidates, visit them, and help you change or replace him with the agreement in your favour.

• You visited twice and came back with business cards, not a partner

  Trips to India settle nothing unless the groundwork is done first. We do it before you fly: the shortlist, the visits, the first talks. Your next trip is for decisions.

• Your first supplier's second batch was not like the samples

  His quotation was checked; his machines, people and discipline were not. We look at the factory and at parts coming off the line before the first order.

• Someone has copied your product in India

  Often the best answer is a proper licence partner who makes it well, pays you for it, and defends the market with you. We find that company and negotiate the licence.

• Your bank, your board or your children want an India plan

  We find out whether India will pay for your product, at what price, through whom, and what it would cost to be there. You get a plan built on visits and figures, not on a conference presentation.

What goes wrong. A distributor is appointed because he was the first to answer. He sells your product when it suits him, not when it suits you, and after two years you know no more about the Indian market than when you started.

What we do. We write down what a good agent or distributor must be able to do for your product: the customers he must already reach, the service he must give, the stock he must hold. We find the candidates, visit them, and shortlist the few that fit. We negotiate the agreement so that targets, territory and exit are clear.

What you get. Sales in India without a company of your own, and a partner you chose with your eyes open.

What goes wrong. The samples are perfect and the first production batch is not. The supplier's machines, people or discipline were never checked, only his quotation.

What we do. We find the Indian manufacturers who can make your parts to your drawings and standards, visit the factories, look at the machines and at parts coming off them, and shortlist the ones that can deliver. Then we negotiate the terms and stay involved through the first orders.

What you get. Lower costs without lower quality, and a supplier who was checked before the order, not after.

What goes wrong. The technology goes to a company that cannot make it well, or the agreement leaves the territory, the improvements and the fees vague. You end up with a cheap competitor instead of a partner.

What we do. We find the Indian company whose machines, people and customers complete what you bring, and check that both sides want the same thing from the arrangement. We negotiate what the licence covers, where it applies, whether anyone else may have it, and what it pays, and we work through the agreement with the lawyers so that your interest is in the text.

What you get. Your technology made in India for the Indian market, paid for, and still yours.

What goes wrong. Joint ventures fail on things that were never discussed: who controls what, how money moves, who owns improvements, and what happens when one side wants out.

What we do. We find the partner, check what they bring and what they expect, and put the difficult points on the table before the agreement is drafted, not after. We stay through the negotiation and keep in touch with both sides once the company is running.

What you get. A partner who shares the cost and knows the market, and an agreement you can live with.

What goes wrong. The company is formed before anyone has checked whether India will pay for the product. Two years later the office is there and the orders are not.

What we do. We find out first: the customers, the prices they pay, the competitors, and the first orders you could win. If the answer is yes, we help with the set-up, and we can act as your local arm until your own people are in place. Pradeep has done this himself: he is a director of KOENIG Equipment India and NOE Formwork India, the Indian companies of two German firms. If buying an existing company is the faster route, see buying a company in India.

What you get. Full control, with the groundwork done before the money is committed.

1. We understand your business

   What you make, what you can offer a partner, what you expect from one, and why a partnership is the right route now.

2. We describe the partner you need

   A written profile: the machines, people, customers and money the partner must have, and the things that would rule a company out.

3. We search and we check

   A long list from our network and research, then a short list built on visits, discussions and a technical look at what the company can do. We measure by fit, not by the number of companies contacted.

4. We bring the two sides together

   Introductions, meetings and a proposal that sets out who does what. Differences in expectations and in business habits are worked through now rather than left for later.

5. We help you agree and start

   Negotiation of the terms, the first written agreement and the contract worked through with the lawyers, and support while the partnership takes shape.

   Legal and tax work is done by qualified firms we have worked with for years. We coordinate it, so you deal with one contact.

Between the first enquiry and a signed agreement, you need someone on the ground. Depending on what you need, we present your products, take part in exhibitions, meet potential customers, visit factories to look at parts and products, look at competitors and work out how your product should be priced for India, alongside the partner meetings themselves.

What it saves you: money in the entry phase, time spent on trips that settle nothing, and the risk of choosing a partner you never saw.

• Tower cranes, from GermanyThe first long-jib self-erecting tower cranes in India, and internal-climbing tower cranes for buildings over 300 metres: market analysis, application support, imports, training, and a collaboration to manufacture.
• Mechanised plastering, from GermanyPlaster mixed on site and sprayed by machine, new to India: two plastering models now made in India by an Indian company, support for Indian applications, and mortar suited to the machines.
• PET blow moulding machines and specialised PET bottles, from JapanA collaboration to manufacture two-stage stretch blow moulding machines in India for the first time, and a market survey for introducing anime-shaped plastic bottles in India.