"We need distributors for our product in Poland. Please find them for us." Dominik gets this message almost every week. And almost every time the answer is the same: sure, we can find them, you'll sign the deals, and nothing will happen. This one mistake costs companies a full year.
In this episode you'll learn why the distributor model fails for unknown brands in Poland, what a distributor really calculates before touching your product, and what you have to do first if you want this model to work at all.
This is for companies selling physical products or software in B2B that want to enter Poland through resellers, agents or distributors, especially if the plan is to find partners, let them sell, and just take a share of the profit.
Dominik Wantuch, founder of Architecture of Sales, has run 30+ go-to-market projects in Poland, many of them building partnership networks. Here's the honest version of why the model breaks.
Why the model fails: On paper it looks perfect. The distributor generates sales, carries the cost and risk, and you take a share of the profit. It doesn't work this way, and the distributor is not to blame. A company with a low budget and a brand that doesn't exist in Poland wants a distributor to do all the selling on a success fee. Poles are not suckers. They won't do it. Six months later you hear "the market isn't ready, the price is too high, the timing is wrong." The real reason: you put no skin in the game.
You always sell twice. First you convince resellers to cooperate. Then you prove they can actually make money with you. Without the second part, nothing happens.
Three people must win in every distribution deal:
- The owner needs a business case: margin, volume, cost to take you on, and what he gets back.
- The salesman needs commission worth fighting for. If your product pays less than one that sells itself, you lose.
- The end customer needs a real reason to buy and proof that someone in Poland already trusts you.
What actually works: Either sign some resellers and run demand generation to prove they can earn with you, or sell yourself first, prove demand exists, then approach distributors from strength. A Polish distributor will not build your brand for you. They sell what already has demand. Your job is to create the demand.
Looking for a distributor in Poland? Start here: architectureofsales.com/are-you-looking-for-a-distributor-in-poland
Want to talk through your own situation? Book a call directly at architectureofsales.com and Dominik will tell you honestly whether the distributor model makes sense for your product at all.
🔗 Dominik Wantuch on LinkedIn
