Feasibility and customer research when entering the Montenegrin market

Two studies, one decision

Companies that want to sell products, offer services or set up an operation in Montenegro often ask two questions separately: “Will this be profitable?” and “Who will I sell to?” Yet the two are linked. The sales volume, price and payment assumptions in a feasibility calculation can only be tested by talking to real buyers, and buyer research can only ask the right questions once the cost and price limits are known.

This guide explains how to run both studies together before entering the market. For statistics it relies on Monstat, Montenegro's official statistical office. It gives no market sizes, growth rates or probabilities of success: these vary by sector and period and must be calculated separately for your business.

Write down the questions first

Before starting the research, write down the questions that will determine the decision. Next to each question, note what information will be needed and where it will come from.

• Whose need does your product or service meet in Montenegro, and which need?
• Who is the buyer: consumers, businesses, public bodies, the tourism sector?
• How does the product reach the market today: imports, local production, a regional distributor?
• What are competitors' prices and the price range buyers will accept?
• What does it cost to get the product to market: transport, customs, warehousing, certification?
• Which sales channel is possible: direct sales, a distributor, a dealer, online?

Desk research: official data

The Statistical Office of Montenegro, Monstat (Uprava za statistiku), is the main producer and publisher of the country's official statistics. Its website publishes data on topics such as national accounts, prices, foreign trade, industry, internal trade, tourism, transport, population and structural business statistics.

Foreign trade data are especially useful for market entry. According to Monstat's methodological notes, these statistics are based on customs declarations; goods are coded according to the EU Combined Nomenclature (CN) and the UN SITC classification, and data are published monthly and annually. In the databases, imports and exports can be viewed by partner country and by product. If you know your product's customs code, you can compare from which countries and at what value Montenegro imports it across periods. Remember that monthly data are routinely revised; prefer annual data for decisions.

Statistics give a framework for the size and direction of a market, but they do not tell you who buys, what price they accept or why they are dissatisfied with their current supplier. That information is gathered through field research.

Field research: interviews with buyers and distributors

The aim of field research is not to sell but to test assumptions. Draw up a short list of businesses, distributors and potential partners in the target group, and ask the same core questions in each interview: From whom, and on what terms, do they buy this product today? In what quantities and how often? What are the payment terms? What do they look at when assessing a new supplier? Which documents do they require?

Record interview notes using the same template and compare them with the assumptions in the feasibility table. Price pressure, long payment terms or an unexpected document requirement that recurs across several interviews shows that the calculation needs to be redone.

Check potential business partners

Before moving forward with a prospective distributor or dealer, check that the company is actually registered and who has authority to represent it. In Montenegro, companies are registered in the Central Register of Business Entities (CRPS), which operates within the Tax Administration (Poreska uprava). The fee decision published by the Tax Administration lists the issuing of electronic register extracts and certificates, and the inspection on request of registration data not published on the CRPS website, as separate services. If a more thorough legal review is needed before signing a contract, carry it out with a lawyer.

Link the findings to the feasibility calculation

A feasibility study brings together the sales forecast, price, the cost of getting the product to market, set-up and operating costs, financing needs and cash flow. Information from customer research clarifies the most uncertain lines in that table: sales volume, price and payment periods.

Run the calculation with at least three scenarios: the expected case, a case where sales fall short of plan and a case where costs rise. For each scenario, show the break-even point and the month in which cash reaches its lowest level. If the scenarios differ widely, starting with a limited trial sale or a single distributor rather than full-scale entry may be a lower-risk path.

Choose the form of entry

Research usually ends with several options: direct sales from abroad, a local distributor or agent, a company set up in Montenegro, or a branch of a foreign company. Each option differs in cost, degree of control, and tax and documentation obligations. If you decide to set up a company, our guides on the business and cost plan and on information and document planning describe the next steps. If warehousing and shipping are needed, add logistics costs to the feasibility study as a separate item.

Be careful with assumptions about support and incentives

Before adding any support or incentive to a feasibility calculation, check in the official source which companies, in which country, the programme is open to. It should not be assumed that a support programme in Türkiye applies to a company set up in Montenegro; who each programme is open to is set out in its own legislation and call text. Remove any support you cannot verify from the calculation and check whether the business still stands without it.

Who does what?

Invest Consulting plans the feasibility study and customer research with you, compiles official data, prepares the interview list and templates, and links the findings to the calculation. Sales, investment returns or partnership outcomes are not guaranteed; the decision and responsibility rest with your company. Legal review should be carried out by a lawyer and tax assessment by an accountant.