How to launch a business in Russia? Doterra Trading Company Experience

doTERRA is an American manufacturer and distributor of essential oils and products based on them. The products must be of the highest quality and have a unique therapeutic effect. There are more than 5 million consumers worldwide. At the end of 2017, a representative office was opened in Russia.

Our specialists have successfully completed the project of business processes alignment for an international trade enterprise in Russia.

doTERRA is a manufacturer and distributor of essential oils and products based on them. The company was founded in April 2008 and by the end of the year has reached an unprecedented level of $ 1 million revenue.

More than 5 million consumers around the world have recognized the highest quality and the unique therapeutic effect of doTERRA essential oils.

The company has the highest retention level — 68% people make repetitive orders of the doTERRA essential oils. Due to the rapid growth the company doTERRA opens 1-2 branches in new countries every year.

Now doTERRA already operates in European countries, Japan, Australia, Canada, Mexico, Singapore and other countries.

The global brand entered the Russian market in 2017 due to the growing demand for doTERRA products among russian consumers. The company needed to launch the trading business in accordance to russian legislation and ensure smooth functioning of its IT environment.

How to start a business in Russia?

When you come to a new market it is important to find a reliable partner with expertise in your field.

First Bit has completed a lot of business projects with foreign companies, having knowledge and expertise in the field of russian legislation, as well as the availability of qualified English-speaking consultants.

First Bit consultants outlined a work plan in order to launch the doTERRA business in Russia:

Automation of purchases, sales, accounts receivables, etc.;
Aligning the sales process in accordance with federal law about online cash receipts;
Automation of tax and accounting;
Launch of warehouse and logistics business processes;
Integration with the doTERRA enterprise software in the USA head office;
Aligning the work of the company IT environment in accordance with the general data protection regulation.

The project was implemented in several stages from December till August 2017

Stage 1. Creating the infrastructure for further deployment of the software needed to launch the doTERRA business in Russia

The specialists of the First Bit deployed a cloud server and configured information security tools and systems in accordance with the requirements.

Stage 2. Automation of operational accounting

The 1C:Trade Management solution was chosen as the main one, as it allows you to transparently automate commercial operations. As a result purchases, sales, accounts receivable and other sections were automated.

Stage 3. Integration of 1C:Trade Management with the head office accounting system

At the doTERRA head office in the USA, the "DataTrax" system is used for accounting. The specialists of the company First Bit integrated both systems for the instant and complete data exchange.

Stage 4. Bringing the processes into compliance with Federal Law No. 54-FZ

1C:Trade Management was additionally integrated with the ATOL Online service of the "cash register for rent" class. Thanks to this integration, doTERRA can register sales in accordance with the federal law.

Stage 5. Integration with warehouse and logistics systems

1C:Trade Management was integrated with the DSS system. Now it records all the delivery requests, as well as other processes related to the goods movement.

Stage 6. Automation of tax reporting

To automate tax reporting, the software product 1C:Accounting was integrated with the main 1C:Trade Management system.

Results

As a result, the specialists managed to:

Create the infrastructure for doTERRA office functioning, and implement all the necessary software for sales accounting;
Align IT environment to the russian general data protection regulation;
Integrate 1C:Trade Management with 1C:Accounting for tax reporting.

Cooperation of experts

For the first time, a joint team of doTERRA, First Bit and the head office in United States (InfoTrax) worked in close cooperation to open an office and launch a business in a new country.

According to our American colleagues, it was the face-to-face interaction of experts from all parties involved in the project that allowed us to achieve our goals in the shortest possible time.