Spain is a gateway in both directions. Someone has to run each end.
Foreign companies open in Madrid to reach Spain and Latin America. Spanish companies go the other way. Both fail on execution more often than on strategy.
Why entries stall
The strategy holds. Execution in a new country is where it slips:
The entity is the easy part
Setting up the entity is a form to file. The first hires, the first customers and the reporting line are the real work.
The first hires set the culture
The first manager hired for a new country sets the tone of the office for years.
The channel is chosen from a distance
Distributors and partners picked on a deck, then found to have other priorities.
Two reporting formats
The local team builds what its market needs. Head office asks for another format.
We embed an operator who has done it before, to run the entry as a project: the first hires, the commercial plan and the reporting back to head office. Legal incorporation and tax stay with your advisers. When the office can stand on its own, the engagement ends.
Who this is for, and who it is not
Best for
- International companies opening their first Spanish 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
Crossing in either direction
Whichever way you cross the Atlantic, you get someone who has run that leg before, and a company behind them.
Reviews head office can read
Head office gets our regular reviews as well as the executive's reporting, so drift is visible from abroad.
Specialists across the Atlantic
Tax, people or supply questions outside the executive's field reach someone who has the answer.
A successor we find
Should the person running the entry leave, we carry the brief forward, find the successor and manage the changeover for you.
At home on both sides
Head office may report in English or German while the Madrid office works in Spanish, so we match for someone comfortable in both.
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
