They held 90% of their market, which sounds like a strength until that market starts to shrink. Diversification was the obvious answer, but the path forward wasn't. Their instinct was to secure Canadian distribution rights for a new product. That instinct needed to be bigger.
The opportunity wasn't Canadian rights. It was North American rights. That single reframe changed the entire scale of what was possible.
We wrote the proposal to secure exclusive North American distribution from the Japanese manufacturer, conducted the market research, led the rebranding from a Japanese to a North American perspective, secured UL and CSA certifications, built the channel partner network, replaced a trade show strategy with a LinkedIn lead generation program, and implemented a CRM to manage the pipeline. All of it during COVID-19.
What started as a product launch became a manufacturer's agreement. Customer purchase commitments were secured in advance. A full distribution channel was in place. The business didn't just survive a contracting market. It came out the other side with a wider one.