The smart approach for service expansion to Europe

Over the past decade, I’ve advised many partners on how to successfully export their services to the United States, as well as areas as vast as Europe.

This article will focus on Europe for any Microsoft partners who come from other parts of the world and may be interested in setting up in Europe.

Before we get into that, let me dive into EMEA. There is a misunderstanding in marketing and sales that there is an area that is actually called EMEA. EMEA is short for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, spanning approximately 120 countries, hundreds of languages, and who knows how many currencies. However, calling these areas EMEA as if grouped to coexist is not really accurate; it does not exist and never will.   

Countries in Europe are constitutional democracies, but in many countries in the Middle East and Africa, you’ll see varying ways to lead countries [being diplomatic here…]. Several countries in each of these three parts of the world are at war with each other as we have multiple wars going on in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, especially in recent months.

There are many countries that have a lot in common, but it’s very diverse and it’s hard to see the EMEA areas as being more than just an artificial way of conveniently grouping a very large number of countries together.

I’m too often in conversations with people from the United States who want to export their business to EMEA areas, and I always say that this region doesn’t exist and that it’s an artificial construction with no foundation in reality. So, if someone asks me to help them set up in what they call "EMEA", I always start the discussion by trying to get them to be more specific and about where exactly they want to go.

For the purpose for the rest of this blog, let’s ditch the idea of "EMEA" and move on to what can be achieved in these areas as Microsoft partners. At the moment, there are tremendous opportunities in the Middle East and in various parts of Africa, so it's a great bandwagon to jump on. But in this article, I’ll focus only on Europe, and narrow it down to the European Union, the United Kingdom and Switzerland. This makes a total of 29 countries and a GDP of approximately $28 trillion, which is close to 90% of the GDP in the United States.

I love the United States of America and live there part-time, but I also love Europe. Born in Sweden, I started my first company abroad in the United Kingdom in my early twenties, together with a friend from school. At that time, the United Kingdom was still part of the European Union, and we could freely start working in London, live there and set up a business with very little red tape. Everything was easier because we knew the language and legislation was easy to understand, but we of course needed to understand cultural differences, which would influence the way to do marketing, sales and operations.

Many countries, such as France, where I also live part-time, make communicating a challenge if you don’t know the local language (in this case, French). There’s an old saying that goes: you can be a customer without knowing the local language, but you’ll never be able to successfully sell unless you can do so in the local language. And this is one of my main points.

Each country is different and cannot be seen as a joint market, even if though that is a European dream that many wish would be true. The United Kingdom and Ireland are native English speakers, with many other countries seeing English as their unofficial second language, especially in the tech sector. But it is a significant disadvantage for an English-only speaking sales rep to compete with someone who is fluent in the local language and culture.
 
The United Kingdom is often the obvious choice for Americans hoping to start out in Europe, especially as a big domestic market. Marketing and sales in the UK will be fairly similar for Americans, so it’s a great first bet. However, bear in mind that you cannot just copy what you’re doing in the United States and apply it to the United Kingdom, as the context and tonality are slightly different. There are many positives with the United Kingdom for someone from the United States or Canada and it’s easy to make the case for it being a lower-risk alternative compared to many other countries.

However, since the United Kingdom exited the European Union a few years ago, it’s not as great an option for a legal entity serving countries in mainland Europe. If you want to sell to customers in the European Union, you might want to have a legal entity in one of the 27 countries that are within the European Union.

There are plans for a pan-European type of legal entity, ‘EU Corp’, but it will take a few years before that becomes a reality. In the meantime, you’ll need to pick the country of registration carefully from within the EU. Twenty countries in the European Union use the Euro currency, which makes selling easier, so my advice is to pick one of those if you want to go outside the United Kingdom.

Ireland is a wonderful country for tech companies that are both part of the European Union and trade using the Euro, but the domestic market is very small, so you’ll most likely want to sell to other countries. The benefit of Ireland is that you speak the language and that legislation is similar to that of the United States, while still choosing a country within the European Union. The cost level is also quite competitive. However, if you want to access the largest markets in Europe, you should look at Germany and perhaps also consider France.

Germany is often grouped with neighboring countries, Austria and Switzerland, into an informal region called DACH. They share a lot of culture, and all speak German (not really true for Switzerland, which has four official languages, but the German language is dominant). Germany is the world’s third-largest economy, and together with getting easier access to Austria and Switzerland, it makes for a wonderful business proposition. Please note that Switzerland is not part of the European Union and they have their own currency, which makes the country less of an ideal option for the base of your European operations.

France is also a great market as it’s one of Europe’s largest economies, with parts of Belgium and Switzerland also speaking French.  This adds potential for a wider customer base. My personal opinion is that the French are often eager to adopt new technologies, but they very much prefer technologies that are ‘made in France’, which adds an extra obstacle. But if you’re relevant, it doesn’t matter where you come from.

A good idea is to hire people who speak German or French and then set up shop locally. Or you can take the indirect approach for these countries, which is lower risk, a smaller investment and gives quicker results. The indirect approach is to find great partners that can work together with you and serve their respective local markets.

It's not likely that you will win the whole of Europe overnight, but you can win in select markets if you do it right. My advice for success is that it’s absolutely crucial to carefully pick the markets where you see a great opportunity and that will make a great market fit. Start with one country and then expand. The old mantra, ‘less is more’, is very true in this context.

Finally, make sure that you’re operating locally with a local presence of people who speak the local language and know the local culture, either by hiring the right people locally or by finding the right local partner.

Becoming successful in Europe is often about being laser-focused and more about knowing your business, speaking the local language, and embracing the local culture.

All the best and looking forward to seeing you in Europe!

Posted by Per Werngren on April 06, 2026