Open a Dutch operation, or take a Dutch company abroad.
Foreign companies choose the Netherlands as a European base. Dutch companies look to Germany and beyond. Either way the slide deck is the easy part and the execution is where entries slip.
Where market entries go wrong
On paper an entry looks simple. On the ground it slips here:
The entity is the easy part
Setting up the entity is a form. The first hires, the first customers and the first reporting line are the real work.
The first hires set the culture
The country manager hired in a hurry sets the working habits of a new office for years.
Directness is read as rudeness, or the other way round
Foreign management and Dutch teams interpret each other badly, and the gap shows up in delivery.
Head office wants its own reporting
The local team builds what the market needs. The parent wants a different format.
An operator who has opened a market already runs the entry as a project: the first hires, the plan for customers and the reporting to head office. Your own advisers keep the incorporation and the tax. When the operation can stand on its own, the engagement ends.
Who this is for, and who it is not
Best for
- International companies opening their first Dutch entity
- Entrants who need speed and local knowledge from day one
- A launch that needs commercial, finance and operations led at once
- Businesses testing the market before committing to a full local C-suite
- A distributor or partner in place, but no one owning the market strategy
Not for
- A pure legal or licensing task an adviser should handle
- Businesses with no product or offer ready for the market yet
- A one-off market study with no intention to enter
- Companies wanting a nominee rather than an operating leader
Our role in the entry
A new market needs a leader on the ground and a watch on the plan. We provide the second for as long as the first is there.
In the room with head office
We review the entry with head office and your executive at agreed milestones, and name it early when progress and plan diverge.
Experience of the next border
Questions about Belgium, Germany or the Nordics can go to colleagues in our collective of 800+ who have worked in those markets.
A handover we lead
If your executive leaves before the office stands alone, we run the next search with the market notes we hold and manage the changeover.
Matched across cultures
We match for people who can read both head office and a Dutch team. Directness misread in either direction costs months.
Market entry works in phases, not a single launch
From pre-entry setup to an established business, with the scope adjusting as you go.
Pre-entry: setup and strategy
Entity structure recommendation, regulatory navigation, early relationship building, and market intelligence gathering, before you arrive.
Landing: first 90 days
Commercial engagement begins. Operational infrastructure established. Team building starts. Financial and compliance framework is operational.
Traction: months 3–12
Commercial pipeline develops. Operational model proves out. Team grows. Leadership needs evolve and scope adjusts.
Establishment: months 12–24
Business is established. Revenue is evidence-based. Specific functions may transition to full-time hires. We advise on when and how.
The market-entry leadership stack
Most entries need more than one function led at once. Start with the one under most pressure, then add others as you establish.
Market entry needs leadership across commercial, finance, operations and people
Start with the function under the most pressure, then add others as the entry matures.
Guiding entry into the UAE alongside
