Framework library · Growth strategy
Market entry strategy
Market entry strategy is the sequence of decisions around moving into a market the business does not serve: whether to enter at all, where first, when, by what broad route, with which offer, how success will be judged and what would make it leave. Writing the exit criteria before entering is the step most plans skip, and the one that stops a weak entry from running on for years.
Use it when
- You are deciding whether to take an existing product into a new country, region or customer segment.
- Several candidate markets exist and you need to choose which to enter first and in what order.
- Timing matters, such as a regulatory deadline, a spectrum award or a replacement cycle that opens a window.
- A previous entry ran on without clear success or failure, and you want the next one to have exit criteria from the start.
Avoid it when
- Whether, where and when are settled and the open question is the legal route: export, licensing, joint venture, acquisition or a new subsidiary. Use market entry modes, which compares those routes in detail.
- You need to rank many countries on data. Use a country selection matrix first and bring the shortlist here.
- The move is a new product for existing customers rather than a new market. Use the Ansoff matrix and a product process such as Stage-Gate.
How to run it
Write why you would enter
The reason in terms of the business: growth the core cannot give, customers already asking, a capability that travels. If the main reason is that a rival has entered, test it hard.
Choose where, and in what order
Shortlist markets on size, access and fit with what you do, then pick the first where you would learn the most for the least risk.
Decide when
Tie the timing to something outside the business, such as a tender, a regulatory deadline or a replacement cycle. Weigh what being first gains against what being early costs.
Choose the broad route in
Alone, through a partner, or by buying. If the choice is close, compare the routes in detail with market entry modes.
Define the offer and what success looks like
What you will sell, adapted for the market, and the measures and dates that would show the entry is working.
Write the exit criteria before you enter
The results, by date, that would make you stop, sell or scale back. Agree them with whoever funds the entry.
Work through it
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Mistakes to avoid
- Starting with the route ("we should buy someone") before deciding whether and where to enter.
- Choosing the largest market first, where competition and cost are highest, instead of the one that teaches the most.
- Leaving success undefined, so that every result can be read as progress.
- Writing exit criteria after a weak start, when they will be set at whatever has been reached.
Where it comes from
No single originator. The sequence assembles questions from established work, including market development in H. Igor Ansoff's "Strategies for Diversification" (Harvard Business Review, 1957) and the timing of entry in Marvin Lieberman and David Montgomery's "First-Mover Advantages" (Strategic Management Journal, 1988). Source.
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Further reading
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