“We are considering a new business in Vietnam, but are not yet ready to commission a full market research study.” “We would like an outside perspective on whether the information we have gathered and the ideas we have developed are on the right track.” We often hear comments like these from people responsible for Vietnam business at Japanese companies. Whether they work at a local subsidiary or in an overseas business department in Japan, finding someone they can readily consult at an early stage can be surprisingly difficult.

B&Company offers a consultation service in which Vietnam market entry consultants and market research specialists act as a sounding board, with fees starting at JPY 50,000 for one hour. This article explores the questions that can be difficult to resolve internally and how to approach business planning in a rapidly changing market. It then introduces the service, situations in which it can help, and the consultation process.

Vietnam Business Questions That Are Difficult to Resolve Internally

When exploring business opportunities in Vietnam, many companies reach a stage where it feels too early to commission a full study, yet the information available is insufficient to make a confident decision. Getting past this stage involves two issues: the budget required and how to interpret the information already at hand.

Full Market Research Requires a Substantial Budget and Time

A comprehensive market research study, covering market size estimates, competitor mapping, consumer surveys, and interviews with industry stakeholders, is an essential way to increase confidence in business decisions. However, the process from research design to delivery of the report often takes several months, and fees typically run into several million yen. At an early stage, before the company has agreed on a clear direction, securing a budget of this size can be difficult.

As a result, companies often continue their deliberations using the information they already have, even when they recognize the need for research. They may lack the very information needed to decide whether to commission a full study and, if so, which questions it should focus on.

Adding an Outside Perspective to Your Information and Ideas

Many companies gather information themselves before commissioning a full study. They often already have hypotheses or ideas based on public statistics and news, visits to Vietnam, exchanges at trade shows, and discussions with business contacts. Yet it can be difficult to see how to interpret that information or identify gaps in their hypotheses when discussions remain entirely internal.

An outside perspective from someone who works with the Vietnam market every day can help put the information into context and clarify what needs to be checked next. We also often hear that companies want an external expert’s opinion to support further internal discussions.

An Approach to Business Planning That Fits Vietnam’s Rapidly Changing Market

When considering business in Vietnam, the freshness of information matters alongside the budget. In a market where conditions can change quickly, the planning process itself needs to take those changes into account.

Research from Six Months Ago May Already Be Outdated

Vietnam is changing rapidly in both its regulatory environment and its market. A clear example on the administrative side is the restructuring of local government implemented in July 2025. The country’s 63 provinces and centrally governed cities were consolidated into 34, and district-level administrative units below the provincial level were abolished.

This restructuring changed the basis on which provincial statistics and market catchment data had been organized, creating situations in which earlier research findings can no longer be applied directly to business decisions. On the market side, consumer purchasing behavior is also changing quickly as video-driven e-commerce grows and cashless payments become more widespread. Plans based on assumptions from a few years ago may no longer reflect actual conditions, including the choice of sales channels and price points. In this environment, it is not unusual for some of the assumptions behind a carefully prepared study to be outdated by the time a business decision is made.

Testing Hypotheses Quickly on a Small Scale Before a Major Study

In a rapidly changing market, it is more practical to move forward by testing hypotheses on a small scale than to begin with a single large research project. A discussion with an expert can first provide a quick check for major gaps in your hypotheses or assumptions.

You can then commission a full study only for the areas where greater confidence is needed, concentrating your budget on the questions that matter most. If market conditions change during the process, further consultations can help you revisit your assumptions and update your decisions. For example, an initial consultation can assess the plausibility of your hypotheses and clarify the key questions; targeted research can then address those questions, followed by another expert discussion of the findings. This allows you to move forward while checking the basis for decisions at each stage. A consultation format with a relatively small commitment per session is well suited to this approach.

Consult B&Company Experts from JPY 50,000 for One Hour

B&Company’s consultation service allows you to discuss questions about the Vietnam market and challenges in business planning directly with our researchers and consultants. Fees start at JPY 50,000 per hour, the minimum charge, allowing you to begin with a smaller investment of time and money than a conventional market research project. Sessions take place online or in person and focus on verbal advice and discussion, without requiring the preparation of written materials. This allows the available time to be spent on clarifying issues and exchanging views, making it easier to get to the heart of the matter even within one hour.

You can consult us on topics of any size and at any stage of your business, whether you want an initial feel for the market, help organizing a new business idea, or an objective view of your own research findings. Written deliverables such as reports are generally not included, but an optional report can be provided if, for example, you would like to share the discussion internally.

While a full market research study provides data to support answers to defined questions, this consultation offers a way to refine the questions themselves. Using the two approaches according to your stage of planning, or narrowing the issues through a consultation before proceeding to research, can help you use time and budget efficiently.

Three Reasons We Can Offer Practical Advice at an Affordable Price

Our ability to offer specific, practical views in consultations starting at JPY 50,000 per hour rests on three foundations built through many years of work.

Knowledge Built Through More Than 700 Projects over Nearly 20 Years

B&Company was founded in Tokyo in 2001. Since establishing our Vietnam subsidiary in 2008, we have completed more than 700 projects for private companies and public institutions. Our work across a wide range of industries has built an understanding of market structures, business practices, and issues that are easily overlooked when entering the market. We can draw on this knowledge in a consultation without having to research everything from scratch.

For questions commonly faced by Japanese companies doing business in Vietnam, we can offer specific advice based on numerous cases. This accumulated experience also allows us to explain where a client’s plans resemble previous projects and where they differ. Accessing, through a short discussion, knowledge that would otherwise take time and money to gather in a full study is one reason we can keep the service affordable.

A Database of More Than 900,000 Companies and Insights from Local Researchers

We maintain a proprietary database covering more than 900,000 companies in Vietnam. It allows us to bring specific information into discussions about the competitive landscape, potential business partners, or the composition of a particular industry. Understanding the overall picture, such as how many companies operate in a field and whether local or foreign-invested companies predominate, can make it easier to consider your own position in the market.

In addition, our local researchers based in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City regularly engage with Vietnamese businesses and consumers and bring practical insights from their research work. For companies developing plans in Japan, access to views grounded in local conditions that are difficult to capture through statistics and public information alone can be particularly valuable.

Sessions Available in as Little as One Week to Support Timely Decisions

After reviewing your topic and the issues you would like to address, we can arrange a session in as little as approximately one week. With a full market research project, the quotation, internal approval, and research design stages alone often take several weeks. This consultation format allows you to incorporate expert views without interrupting your planning process.

It is therefore easier to arrange a discussion when needed, whether you want to clarify key issues ahead of an internal meeting or management presentation, or identify what to check locally before a business trip. In Vietnam’s rapidly changing market, the timing of decisions can affect business outcomes, making ready access to expert advice a significant practical advantage.

Three Ways a Sounding Board Can Help Your Vietnam Business

The service is used in three broad situations, depending on the stage of business planning. The following examples, including topics from past consultations, illustrate how it can help.

Quickly Organizing Information and Testing Hypotheses Before Market Entry

When companies first consider entering the market, they often want a quick understanding of essential information, such as industry trends, the approximate size of the market, and the main players. Questions about the order of market entry, such as whether to start in Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City and which sales channel to use first, are also common at this stage.

Clarifying the questions that need to be checked before making a decision through a discussion with an expert can help guide subsequent research and business planning. One example is a consultation on Vietnam’s carbon credit framework and market trends. For a topic where the framework is still taking shape, identifying what has already been decided and what remains unresolved is itself the starting point for planning. Discussing the key questions with an expert early on can therefore be particularly useful.

Refining New Business Ideas with an Expert Perspective

At the concept stage, when considering whether your products or services could work in Vietnam or what business model might be viable, a sounding board discussion can broaden the questions and perspectives you consider. Assumptions taken for granted in internal discussions may still need to be checked from the perspective of someone who knows the Vietnam market.

Past consultations have included planning a new business using connected services for the motorcycle sector and generating ideas for solutions to improve efficiency in healthcare settings. In both cases, the discussion helped move initial ideas toward a more concrete business concept. The service can also be used to review existing businesses. Consultations on sales strategies to develop distribution channels for compost made from pig manure, and on customer acquisition strategies for a general contracting business serving Japanese companies, are examples of refining existing local operations to take them forward.

Clarifying the Direction of Partner Searches and M&A at an Early Stage

Local partners, such as distributors, contract manufacturers, and joint venture partners, often play a decisive role in the success of business expansion in Vietnam. Before beginning a full partner search, checking what criteria to use and how many potential candidates may be available can make the subsequent search more efficient.

For companies considering M&A with Vietnamese businesses, an early overview of the target market or industry can also help establish a clear direction. Clarifying criteria before the search, such as whether an acquisition, equity investment, or business alliance best fits your objectives, and the desired scale and location of the partner’s business, can make the subsequent process smoother. Our company database and knowledge gained through previous business matching support are useful in developing this initial assessment.

The Consultation Process and How to Prepare for an Effective Hour

The consultation follows the steps below.

1. Inquiry and sharing your needs: Use the inquiry form to share the topic you would like to discuss and relevant background information.

2. Scheduling: Our team reviews the details and arranges a session, which can take place in as little as approximately one week.

3. Consultation session: Discuss your questions online or in person, with sessions starting from one hour.

4. Follow-up: Additional sessions can be arranged as needed.

Preparation is key to making the most of the limited time. Sharing your research findings and materials, notes on business ideas, and issues under internal discussion in advance allows the consultant to review them before the session and begin with the substance of the discussion. Preparing specific questions, such as “Is this hypothesis reasonable?” or “How should we interpret this information?”, makes it easier to obtain objective views.

The consultation can also provide input for internal meetings or decisions on the next steps. A single session may not resolve every question, so additional sessions can be arranged as your planning progresses, allowing you to incorporate expert views at each stage.

This service provides advice within the scope of public information and desk research. If the discussion identifies a need for primary research, such as individual interviews with industry stakeholders or consumer surveys, we can provide a separate quotation for a full market research project. Having clarified the questions through a consultation can make research design more focused and help you use a limited budget more effectively.

Clarifying the Next Steps for Your Vietnam Business Through Expert Discussion

Even before committing a substantial budget to full market research, there are ways to bring an expert perspective into your planning. Discussing your information and ideas with an outside specialist who knows the Vietnam market can increase confidence in your hypotheses and clarify what needs to be checked next.

In Vietnam, where regulations and consumer behavior can change quickly, repeated testing on a small scale can lead to more efficient business decisions. Even if you only have your own research findings or an initial idea, an expert review can help provide the basis for deciding your next step.

With consultations starting at JPY 50,000 for one hour, B&Company welcomes topics of any size, from organizing information before market entry and developing new business ideas to reviewing existing operations and exploring partner searches or M&A at an early stage. If you are looking for a sounding board for your Vietnam business, please feel free to contact us.

Find more about our Spot Consulting service

https://b-company.jp/services/spot-consulting/

* If you wish to quote any information from this article, please kindly cite the source along with the link to the original article to respect copyright.