Initiative · Project
Entering the German market
Market entry isn't a marketing project. It's building a business.
Entering Germany from abroad: market assessment, entity and local administration, first customers, team, accounting and premises.
The situation
“We want to start in Germany.”
Your product works in your home market, and Germany is the logical next step. But as soon as things get concrete, questions come up that were settled long ago at home.
- Which legal form, and who sets it up?
- Who takes care of tax, accounting and post?
- Where do the first people, the first premises and the first orders come from?
Usually one person coordinates all this alongside their actual job, and every step waits for the one before.
Where it often goes wrong.
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Treating formation as a formality
Legal form, articles of association and tax determine liability and costs for years. Handle them on the side, and you pay for restructuring later.
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Marketing before the market
Campaigns go live before it's clear who buys, at what price and through which channel. That burns budget and sends the wrong signals.
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One step after another
First the company, then the bank account, then the team: working through it all in sequence costs months. Much of it can be prepared in parallel.
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The market stays foreign
Many German companies prefer to buy where there is a local contact and contracts in German. A translated website rarely does the job.
Which disciplines work together here.
7 of 13 disciplines, one team, one point of contact. Every service has a clear role, and you decide which ones we take on.
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D01 Business Development
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Checks demand, competition and target groups in Germany before money goes into the entry.
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Sets segments, offer and route to market, and tests them with first pilot projects.
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Finds partner companies for sales and cooperation that shorten your route into the market.
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D02 Sales
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Sets up sales for Germany: target groups, process, roles and the first sales team.
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Researches suitable companies and contacts in Germany and prepares the first outreach.
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D12 Corporate Services
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Prepares the formation of the German company and coordinates the notary and tax advisers.
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Handles business address, post, dealings with authorities and deadlines, with a local contact person.
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D03 Marketing
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Plans positioning, channels and budget for the launch in Germany.
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D08 HR & Recruiting
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Finds your first people in Germany, from country manager to sales.
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D11 Finance & Accounting
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Sets up financial accounting and coordinates tax advisers and ongoing bookkeeping.
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D13 Real Estate & Facility Management
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Assesses locations, coordinates the search for space and prepares the lease negotiations.
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You decide the scope.
You can start with market research, hand over only formation and administration, or do the whole entry with us. You decide what we take on. There are no packages and no minimum size.
Good questions. Straight answers.
Do we need a German company to get started?
Not necessarily. Early tests often run through your company at home.
Whether and when a German company makes sense depends on your team, contracts and tax. We work that out with tax advisers and lawyers whom we appoint on your behalf.
Do you also handle tax and legal matters?
We coordinate both, but we don't advise on them ourselves. Tax advice, legal advice and notarisations are handled by licensed firms and notaries. We appoint them on your behalf, prepare everything and keep the threads together.
Does a market entry take long?
Usually longer than expected, because formation, hiring and first orders each have their own lead times. It goes faster when a lot runs in parallel and decisions are made quickly.
You'll get a first view of the timeline in the free Initiative Check.
Do you stay on after the launch?
If you want us to, yes. We can run local administration, accounting or recruiting for you on an ongoing basis. Or we hand everything over to your own team in good order.
Proof first. Contract second.
In the free Initiative Check, we listen for 45 minutes and ask the questions that usually only come up after the contract is signed. Then you get a short written assessment: what we see, how we would go about it and roughly what it would take.
No obligation. And if we're not the right fit, we'll tell you.
Or write to us at hello@intoops.com.