Expanding Your Business in Central and Eastern Europe

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Expanding Your Business in Central and Eastern Europe

When it comes to taking your business to the next level, it is indeed a constant challenge. The act of

expanding a business to another country involves a lot of work and money in order to achieve the

right objectives. But with the right set of tools, the process will go as planned.

According to the McKinsey Global Institute’s report, conducted in December 2013, Central and

Eastern Europe (CEE) became one of the fastest-growing regions of the world from the 1990s up to

the global financial crisis in 2008. However, despite the lingering impact of the global financial crisis in

2008, the core strengths and advantages of CEE economies remain intact.

There are excellent investment opportunities in Central and Eastern Europe. Not only the western

investors placed their money into the eastern markets, but also an increasing number of domestic

companies are starting to take advantage and expand their business due to the highly educated and

affordable workforce, favorable business environment or strategic location.

In this article, we’ll try to provide some fresh ideas and useful information meant to help you

penetrate the CEE market, while developing an efficient strategy for your products and services:

Research the market before you set

To grow a business in another country rather than yours, you have to see if there is a place for you, if

there are potential buyers of your products or services and, of course, you’ll have to know the

political and economical framework of that specific country.





The CEE region is in close proximity to large consumer markets. The furthest CEE nations are less than

1,500 kilometers from Germany, one of the most important consumer markets in the world, with

nearly 400 million citizens and $12.3 trillion (€8.8 trillion) in annual consumption.

So, for those seeking to invest or expand their businesses in the CEE region, working with a partner or

a specialized agency that can bring useful insights from the market is essential.

Market entry activities that best suit you

Before your company decides to pursue a new market or location, there must be done a thorough

analysis of the target market. Analyze the competition, the market size and the market conditions in

order to minimize the risks of investing in a new market.

The expansion process of a company can be eased if you hire a business partner in the CEE region.

He’ll help you with the language barriers, time zone differences and business cultures.

Engaging in the local marketing is essential and, depending on your company profile, products and

services, you will have to find the best means of promoting them. Blanketing all the communication

channels – online and offline – just to check the to-do list is not an appropriate strategy and won’t

see the benefits.

For a B2B company, to broadcast on local advertising is meaningless – it costs a lot of money and the

results will be close to 0. A great tool to promote a B2B business is lead generation. Through the

process, you’ll be able to identify potential client or investors. This will help you target your business

development activity to the suitable audience and educate and inform the sales force about your

offers.

A company that targets a small market, with a not so large portfolio of products, already knows who

the potential customers are. The challenge is to get into see them and create a relationship with

those people in order to present what the company does. So, be available to meet people, your

potential clients. Nobody that has been approached simply via an email or a telephone closed a deal.

Another way to market your business in the CEE region is to attend tradeshows. There are a lot of

tradeshows taking place throughout the year. Most of them are dedicated to B2B companies. So, for

an IT company for example, attending tradeshows are an important part in its marketing strategy. It

is where they can meet their customers or investors. A lot of the attendees are looking for new

technology, something different to differentiate them from the competition.





Are you planning to expand your business in the CEE region or in the middle of the expansion

process? Tell us what challenges you encountered and how did you overcome them.