Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) fear international expansion, believing European markets to be complex and risky. However, three British companies—EcoWrap, Heritage Blends, and SwiftPay—successfully expanded across Europe within a year by overcoming these misconceptions. They adopted focused market entry strategies, starting with specific countries rather than attempting to conquer all of Europe at once. Each company identified receptive markets and aligned their products to existing demands, allowing them to swiftly establish a presence in those regions and achieve significant sales quickly.
The biggest mistake we see is overthinking," explains Sarah Mitchell, CEO of EcoWrap, whose biodegradable packaging solutions now serve clients in 12 European countries. "We spent six months researching every possible regulation and requirement, when we could have started with one country and learned as we went.
We looked for markets where our solution solved an existing problem rather than trying to create demand from scratch," Crawford notes.
Heritage Blends began with Germany, recognizing the country's appreciation for premium tea culture and its central location for European distribution. Within three months, their Earl Grey variants were selling in over 200 German specialty stores.
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