Case 05 Software · 2024
Entering Romania without opening an office.
The board wanted Romania. We replaced a hockey-stick forecast with twenty-six customer interviews, a partner-led entry and a clear signal for when to hire locally.
- Client
- A Bulgarian business software company with 90 people
- Services
- Growth and market entry
- Duration
- 14 weeks
- Team
- Oliver Reed, Sofia Lindqvist
What changed
Illustrative outcomes for a fictional client.1
26
Customer interviews before committing
14
Pilot customers in the first two quarters
±6%
Year-one revenue against the revised forecast
The story
The situation
The company sold scheduling software to logistics and field-service firms in Bulgaria and had approved Romania as its first export market. The plan consisted of a revenue line and a proposal to open an office in Bucharest with eight hires.
What we found
Twenty-six interviews with potential customers showed strong demand in field service and almost none in logistics, where a local competitor was entrenched. Buyers expected Romanian-language support from day one, which did not require an office.
Buyers expected Romanian-language support from day one, which did not require an office.
What we did
We recommended a partner-led entry focused on field service, two Romanian-speaking hires based in Sofia, a local implementation partner and a stage gate after two quarters: build a local team at fifteen paying customers, otherwise stop.
What changed
The company signed fourteen pilot customers in the first two quarters and passed the gate in month eight. First-year revenue landed within 6% of the revised forecast; the original forecast would have been out by more than half.
Timeline
14 weeks
- DiagnoseWeeks 1–3
Twenty-six customer interviews, two segments.
- DesignWeeks 4–6
Partner-led entry model and stage gate.
- ImplementWeeks 7–12
First hires, partner signed, pilots live.
- Hand overWeeks 13–14
Quarterly planning framework in place.
The team
- Northbridge and this client are fictional. Figures are demo content written to show how outcomes would be reported, not results of a real engagement.