SWISS Gate currently operates with inbound leads, which means that potential customers approach SWISS Gate and request products. Therefore, the customers are always known and willing to buy the products. However, SWISS Gate also wants to acquire more market shares with a strategy to approach distributors themselves. The current strategy is not very optimal because the place of shipment cannot be influenced.

First, a concept was created. This concept consists of 5 steps, which SWISS Gate can follow to find a distributor abroad, who is suitable and competent to sell SWISS Gate products. After this concept, important attributes were searched in order to create the criteria catalog. Finally, tools were created to support this process, such as an Excel spreadsheet or a handbook. A case study was conducted to see if the concept is applicable in practice or only in theory. A scenario was invented and processed.

The result is a concept with 5 steps, in each step suitable framework and analysis are available. The first step is an internal analysis, the second step is the selection of a rough international strategy to find out how the company wants to operate abroad. The third step is the mode of market entry to understand how the company wants to distribute there. The fourth step is selecting the market to find out where the company wants to supply. And the last step is the selection of distributors. In the case study, it was determined that Japan would be a suitable place to sell SWISS Gate's CBD there. SWISS Gate is a company that scores with quality, transparency and competence. In addition, Japan is a huge market with potential, as the Japanese population is aging and the Japanese government is investing heavily in traditional and herbal healthcare, which includes CBD. It is also important to note that the Japanese CBD market is the second largest in Asia, but is regulated differently than normal. CBD cannot be manufactured in Japan, but it can be sold, held and consumed. This means that this huge market is only stimulated by exports.