For startups at the seed and Series A stages, international expansion offers a chance to scale quickly and access new market opportunities.
Whether your offering is a digital product, subscription service, or expertise-based solution, entering a new market requires thoughtful strategy, operational precision, and the ability to adapt to new dynamics.
This guide provides actionable insights to help startups lead their market entry efforts and successfully navigate the complexities of expansion.
Why Market Entry Matters for Startups
Expanding internationally can accelerate growth and provide strategic advantages. For startups offering non-physical products or services, market entry offers:
Access to New Audiences: Entering new regions allows you to tap into diverse customer bases and unlock additional revenue streams.
Validation Across Markets: Demonstrating demand in multiple geographies strengthens your value proposition and attracts investor confidence.
Competitive Positioning: Establishing an early presence in key markets helps you secure a foothold before competitors do, especially in fast-growing regions.
Step 1: Identifying the Right Market
Choosing the right market is foundational to your expansion success. Focus on regions where your offering aligns with customer demand, infrastructure, and economic dynamics.
1. Evaluate Market Demand
Customer Alignment: Identify regions where your product or service solves a clear problem or meets a specific need.
Economic Trends: Look for markets with growing adoption of similar services or industries aligned with your business.
Total Addressable Market (TAM): Assess the size of the opportunity to ensure the potential revenue justifies the effort.
2. Analyse Competitors
Identify local and global competitors operating in your target market.
Look for gaps where your product’s unique value proposition can create differentiation.
3. Assess Market Accessibility
Research regional regulations, cultural nuances, and market-specific challenges.
Ensure your team and resources are equipped to handle compliance, localisation, and operational demands.
Mariana, Perlego's Head of Europe & Latam and a Brighteye mentor, shares her perspective on this important decision:
"In addition to these points, I think it's important to highlight 'customer addressability'. Once you identify regions where you can solve a clear problem, prioritising those requiring minimal changes to your product or service offering will be a good idea, especially if it's the first time you're expanding in a new market.
For example, you might be able to solve a big problem in an underdeveloped country, however, it might also require further infrastructure development such as addressing low connectivity or vastly different payment systems. In these cases, you might want to focus first on other regions where you still solve a need but where your upfront investment and product iteration is limited."
Mariana Aristizábal,
Head of Europe & Latam at Perlego,
Brighteye Expansion Mentor
Step 2: Building a Market Entry Strategy
For startups offering non-physical products, market entry is about tailoring your approach to the new region while maintaining control and agility.
1. Direct Market Launch
Deliver your product or service through digital channels or remote engagement, enabling direct access to your customers in the new market.
Adapt your sales and marketing strategies to highlight how your solution fits local needs.
2. Establishing Local Presence
Set up a small regional office or hire local team members to enhance credibility and foster closer relationships with customers and partners. It's equally possible to do this remotely if preferred.
Use virtual engagement tools to maintain cost efficiency while building a localised presence.
3. Partnering for Success
Form strategic partnerships with local businesses or industry groups to boost awareness and gain market insights.
Collaborate with region-specific platforms or networks to streamline adoption and establish trust.
Step 3: Crafting a Go-to-Market Strategy
A tailored go-to-market strategy ensures your offering resonates with local customers and aligns with their expectations.
1. Market Segmentation
Identify specific customer segments (e.g., small businesses, enterprises, or individuals) based on their needs and readiness for your offering.
Develop targeted campaigns for early adopters who are most likely to champion your brand.
"One valuable concept I came across from Sachin Rekhi is having now and future customer segments. The now segment represents a smaller and more niche audience that you can address immediately with your current offering, while the future segment encompasses a broader audience to expand over time.
Having this view helps to:
Keep focus and allocate resources more efficiently.
Build confidence and assurance to investors or the wider team that there is a big opportunity even if you are tackling a smaller segment in the short-term.
Many companies are tempted to go after the largest audience because that's where they see the largest opportunity. I won't say that's wrong, however, it may come at the risk of wanting to be everything for everyone without really solving a big enough problem for anyone. We've seen that focusing on an initially smaller segment makes it easier to direct resources more efficiently, starting small and then expanding into adjacent segments.
When prioritising the segments you want to first focus on, consider which segment has:
The most acute problem to solve
The strongest resonance with your current value proposition
The strongest competitive advantage
The greatest ease of reach
The strongest willingness to pay"
Mariana Aristizábal,
Head of Europe & Latamat Perlego,
Brighteye Expansion Mentor
2. Localisation
Adjust your branding, messaging, and user experience to reflect local language, culture, and preferences.
Ensure your offering is easy to access and use in the local market, considering region-specific needs or preferences.
3. Pricing Strategies
Research pricing norms in the target market, considering local economic factors and purchasing power.
Test flexible pricing models to accommodate different customer expectations while maintaining profitability.
4. Digital and Community Channels
Leverage digital marketing, social media, and community engagement platforms to drive awareness and connect with local audiences.
Host virtual events, webinars, or Q&A sessions to showcase your expertise and build trust with potential customers.
Step 4: Operational Setup
International expansion requires a strong operational framework to ensure delivery, support, and compliance.
1. Localised Operations
If applicable, adapt your processes for local time zones, languages, and customer preferences.
Ensure customer support is accessible, efficient, and culturally relevant.
2. Compliance and Legal Readiness
Familiarise yourself with regional regulations, particularly around data privacy, tax structures, and consumer protection.
Ensure contracts and terms are aligned with local legal standards.
3. Scalable Infrastructure
Use tools and platforms that allow you to seamlessly scale your operations to meet local demand.
Maintain flexibility in your delivery methods to accommodate varying customer needs across regions.
Step 5: Measuring Success and Adapting Quickly
Entering a new market is a dynamic process. To ensure success, continuously evaluate performance and refine your approach.
1. Establish Key Metrics
Customer Acquisition: Track the growth of new users or clients in the region.
Engagement: Measure how customers interact with your offering and respond to marketing efforts.
"You will need a few months of data before you understand your retention rate, use engagement at the start as a leading indicator of retention and signal of customer value."
Mariana Aristizábal,
Head of Europe & Latamat Perlego,
Brighteye Expansion Mentor
Retention and Revenue: Monitor customer satisfaction and recurring revenue to assess market stability.
2. Collect Feedback
Actively gather insights from customers, partners, and local stakeholders to refine your offering.
Use surveys, feedback forms, and direct conversations to identify areas for improvement.
3. Iterate and Optimise
Use early data to experiment with messaging, pricing, or delivery methods.
Stay agile, adapting your strategies to meet evolving market conditions and customer expectations.
"Continuous Discovery Habits from Teresa Torres is a great read and fits right into this point.
There were 2 key takeaways I got from this book:
1. Importance of continuous interviewing: many times people limit themselves to doing interviews only at the start. Instead, she suggests having a set-up where you can speak regularly to current or prospective customers to maintain a steady flow of insights.
2. Asking "story-based" questions instead of direct questions: For example: Tell me about the last time you subscribed to an online service, what convinced you to subscribe? vs What criteria do you consider when subscribing to a new online service? The first question is based on real experience and will likely give a more reliable answer.
At Perlego we've seen the value of being closely in touch with users. It's probably the easiest way to be creative and to build a product that actually adds value. You are not asking people what they want, instead, you are listening to their pain points and needs and based on these and your experience you can build creative solutions.
I highly recommend this book for anyone looking to build more user-centred products and services."
Mariana Aristizábal,
Head of Europe & Latam at Perlego,
Brighteye Expansion Mentor
For startups in the seed and Series A stages, expanding internationally is an exciting opportunity to grow your reach and establish an international footprint, testing your expansion hypotheses. With a focused, startup-led strategy that emphasises customer engagement, localisation, and operational agility, you can navigate the challenges of market entry while maintaining control over your growth trajectory.
Expansion isn’t just about entering new markets—it’s about learning, adapting, and building a presence that supports your long-term goals. Approach it strategically, and you’ll set the stage for sustained success.
When international expansion might not be a good idea:
Mariana shared her honest perspectives on when expansion might not make sense for companies:
"Although international expansion is often seen as an exciting growth opportunity, it’s not always the right move. Expanding too early can create significant challenges.
For example, in our case, we were too early to expand. The global TAM compared to our home market was very appealing and it seemed like the natural step to accelerate growth. And, don’t get me wrong, international expansion can absolutely fuel growth, but timing is critical.
We underestimated the resources required to support expansion effectively. With limited resources (as many startups face), we found ourselves stretched across multiple priorities and doing too many things at once. Eventually, we ended up putting some of these markets on “standby” - keeping them afloat but not driving the rapid growth we initially hoped for.
To avoid this, I would advise against international expansion in the following situations:
1. When you have a lot of ongoing priorities and you cannot commit additional investment.
If you cannot allocate resources to international initiatives, they will likely get deprioritised in favour of home market priorities. This leads to slow growth and frustration within the team.
2. When you haven’t figured out how to grow in your home market
If you haven’t figured out how to grow in your home market (unless you decide that you are pivoting away from that market) you might be doubling on challenges and make things unnecessarily complex. Often, even if markets differ, many of the lessons learned and approaches taken to grow can be replicated or taken as blueprint in new markets.
Mariana Aristizábal,
Head of Europe & Latam at Perlego,
Brighteye Expansion Mentor
Comments