Sectors

Our Sectors

D2C Strategy focuses on logistics, construction, green energy, manufacturing, infrastructure and defence: sectors where market entry depends on commercial potential and the ability to operate locally

Logistics

Why It's Hard to Enter Cold

Cabotage rules in many markets reserve domestic point-to-point freight for locally registered carriers. A foreign logistics operator needs a local carrier partner or a domestically registered fleet to move goods within the country itself.

What D2C Strategy Watches For

We track freight forwarder licensing requirements and cabotage exemption routes, since some trade agreements allow limited cabotage that a foreign operator can use before setting up a local fleet.

Construction

Why It's Hard to Enter Cold

Public works contracts in most markets require a bidder to hold local contractor registration and to post a performance bond, sized as a share of contract value, before a bid gets accepted.

What D2C Strategy Watches For

Building codes vary by market: a structure certified to one country's seismic standard needs local re-certification before it can be used elsewhere. We also check retention practices, since a client withholding a share of payment until the defects liability period ends changes a contractor's cash flow assumptions.

Green Energy

Why It's Hard to Enter Cold

A renewable project's revenue is usually set by a long-term power purchase agreement. The tariff a developer secures often depends less on the technology and more on grid connection queue position, since queues can run years behind in some markets.

What D2C Strategy Watches For

Curtailment risk gets modelled explicitly: a grid operator reducing output during periods of oversupply cuts revenue even after a project is generating at capacity. We also track the specific window during which a subsidy or tax credit stays open, since these windows close on a fixed calendar date set well in advance.

Manufacturers

Why It's Hard to Enter Cold

A product's import duty depends on its tariff code classification. Qualifying for a preferential rate under a free trade agreement adds a second test: a minimum share of value added within the country, calculated under rules of origin that a relocating manufacturer needs to meet precisely.

What D2C Strategy Watches For

Free zone incentive structures get compared site by site, since duty exemptions and tax holidays vary by zone even within the same country. Where public procurement carries a local content preference, we check whether a manufacturer's planned production would qualify for that preference before a site gets committed.

Infrastructure

Why It's Hard to Enter Cold

Infrastructure concessions for toll roads or ports often run for decades, with a government or state utility as the counterparty and often the guarantor of minimum revenue. A bidder's risk depends as much on that government's credit as on the underlying asset.

What D2C Strategy Watches For

We check whether development bank financing is attached to the concession, since that financing often comes with conditions on tariff-setting and environmental standards that outlast the original contract term. Political risk insurance, available through bodies like the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, gets priced into the bid where sovereign credit is a concern.

Defence

Why It's Hard to Enter Cold

In defence and security, the commercial case cannot be separated from the route to delivery. A company may identify real demand but still be unable to proceed if its proposed local structure or delivery model does not meet the market’s regulatory requirements. The issue is particularly acute in complex and emerging markets, where formal approval alone may not be enough to make an operation viable.

What D2C Strategy Watches For

D2C Strategy establishes whether there is a credible path from market interest to an operating contract. That means identifying the approvals required and testing whether the proposed local arrangement can support them. We then examine what delivery will require in practice, including the strength of the local partner and the controls needed to operate compliantly.

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Tell us which of these six sectors applies, and which market you're weighing.

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