The short answer
Budget for diagnostic, compliance, localization, channels, support, fulfilment, and measurement separately. Set the investment ceiling from contribution margin after returns or cancellations—not from an arbitrary media budget.
A cross-border market-entry budget cannot be reduced to agency fees and media spend. Separate seven cost layers: market diagnostic, compliance and claims review, localization, channel operation, local sales or customer support, fulfilment and returns, and measurement.
Split fixed decision costs from variable operating costs. Research and initial localization are largely upfront; media, marketplace fees, shipping, returns, and support move with demand. Mixing them can hide a model in which revenue grows but contribution margin does not.
RIVACTA's 30-minute Fit Call has no fee, the 2–4 week Market Diagnostic is ¥300K–¥500K, and managed execution is ¥800K–¥1.5M per month. Media, production, specialist review, and logistics are separate dependencies.
A decision-ready budget states break-even acquisition cost, contribution after returns or cancellations, internal owner time, and stop conditions. Without those four items, it is a spend list rather than an investment model.