Entering Germany takes more than registering a company. You need customers, conversations, follow-up and someone who can represent your commercial interests on the ground.
Business Center Reutlingen supports international companies with market development, customer and distributor outreach, trade-fair follow-up and ongoing commercial representation in Germany.
Most international companies start with the question of whether to form a GmbH. It is the part that can be planned precisely, so it feels like the beginning.
Company formation can be important, and for many businesses it eventually becomes necessary. But company formation and market entry are not the same thing. A registration number does not make a German purchasing manager reply. Before building a permanent structure it is worth knowing who buys, how you intend to sell to them, and who follows up locally when your team is not in the country.
That is what this service is for. If you are still working out which route into Germany fits, start with Germany market entry for Indian companies. If the structure is the open question, the detail is on GmbH formation for foreign founders and forming a GmbH from India.
Understand the market before building the structure.
For companies testing whether Germany is worth committing to.
A local point of contact for your German market.
For companies with first German leads, customers or distributor conversations, but no permanent sales team here.
Build business in Germany without hiring your own sales team from day one.
For companies ready to develop accounts systematically rather than react to inbound interest.
For selected companies we can take on an ongoing sales agency mandate. In those cases the commercial model typically combines a monthly retainer with a success-based commission.
What the split looks like depends on the product, the industry, the gross margin, the average order value, the length of the sales cycle, how much market development is required and whether there is an existing customer base to build on. We work that out per mandate rather than publishing a percentage, because a number that fits one product misprices another.
We generally act as a commercial intermediary. Binding quotations, product commitments and contract acceptance remain with the represented company unless expressly agreed otherwise. Where a mandate requires authority to bind you, that authority is defined in the representation agreement and drawn up with a lawyer. The exact scope, authority and remuneration model are always defined individually.
Manufacturers with a strong product and no German sales organisation.
Industrial suppliers targeting German OEMs, Tier suppliers or engineering companies.
Indian companies entering Germany that want to test and develop the market before building a full local sales organisation.
Trade-fair exhibitors who need structured follow-up once their team has flown home.
Companies planning a German subsidiary that want to build the commercial case before or alongside forming it.
For many industrial suppliers, German trade fairs provide unusually concentrated access to relevant buyers and decision-makers. What happens next is where most of that value is lost.
Your team flies home. The buyer who was genuinely interested receives nothing for three weeks, and by then the conversation has gone cold. What is needed is qualification of the leads, follow-up in German while the meeting is still recent, sample coordination, additional meetings, quotation follow-up and distributor conversations — all of it locally.
You return home. Your Germany follow-up continues. Where this is agreed as part of the mandate, we stay on the ground after your team has left.
We look at the company, the product, pricing, certifications, the target market, existing customers and what you want to achieve in Germany. Not every product or mandate is accepted. If Germany is not yet commercially ready, we will tell you before starting an ongoing representation mandate rather than after three months of retainer.
Target customers and industries, the activities to be carried out, who is responsible for what, how reporting works and the commercial model. Written down before anything starts.
We carry out the agreed activities: outreach, conversations, meetings, follow-up, distributor discussions and whatever else the plan defines.
Structured updates on accounts, conversations, meetings, opportunities, RFQs, quotations, market feedback and the next actions. You should always be able to see what has happened and what is coming.
Commercial representation is a stage, not a destination. The intended path is towards your own employee, then your own office, and where it makes sense a German GmbH or subsidiary with an address that belongs to you. We support the transition rather than resist it.
| Service | Starting price |
|---|---|
| Germany Market Entry Sprint | from €2,900 net |
| Commercial Representation | from €1,900 net / month |
| Active Sales Representation | from €3,900 net / month |
| Commercial Agency | Retainer plus an individual success fee |
| Trade fairs and extensive travel | Quoted separately |
All assignments are scoped individually. These are starting points, not a binding quotation.
Before we take on active sales representation we look at German market fit, whether the product documentation is in a state a German buyer can work with, pricing, the certifications your segment expects, delivery capability, existing customer relationships, sales materials, and how quickly your own team responds when we need something.
That last one matters more than people expect. A German buyer who asks for a technical answer and waits ten days for it has already formed a view. If Germany is not yet commercially ready, we will say so before starting.
We do not carry out technical certification testing ourselves. Where a product needs assessment against a standard, that is a specialist's job and we bring one in.
Many mandates start at a trade fair rather than with a full representation agreement. We run that as a separate service — preparation, the fair days themselves and the follow-up afterwards. See trade fair support in Germany.
We are not automatically your distributor, importer, manufacturer, certification body, lawyer, tax adviser or customs adviser. In Germany legal and tax advice is reserved to admitted Rechtsanwälte and Steuerberater, and we work with them rather than around them.
You remain responsible for product quality and safety, technical specifications, certifications, regulatory compliance, delivery, warranties, pricing and any contractual commitments you enter into.
Real presence in Germany. An office in Reutlingen in the Stuttgart region, twenty minutes from the airport and the trade fair, in one of Europe's densest industrial areas. Not a serviced desk rented by the hour.
India and Germany. Christoph spent fifteen years in international automotive including two years living in Bangalore. Nancy grew up in Bangalore and has lived in Germany since 2017. The team works in German, English and several Indian languages.
More than company formation. Market entry, local representation, company formation, a business address and the structural questions sit with the same people, so the commercial and the legal side do not have to be coordinated across three providers.
Personal involvement. This is not an automated lead-generation service. Suitable mandates are handled as real business-development assignments, which is also why we take on a limited number at a time.
Business Center Reutlingen provides administrative, organisational and commercial support and introduces you to licensed professionals. We do not give legal or tax advice, in Germany only admitted lawyers (Rechtsanwälte) and tax advisors (Steuerberater) may do so. Prices shown are net starting points and are not a binding quotation.
Written by Christoph Schuler
Founder, Business Center Reutlingen. Fifteen years in international automotive at Daimler,
two of them living in Bengaluru.
Published 5 September 2026 · Last reviewed 5 September 2026 · This page describes our own commercial-representation service and operating model. Legal, tax, customs and product-specific questions are handled with the appropriate specialist advisers where required.