Most biotech tool companies ask how to expand to Europe. The better question is when. Expand too early and you don’t accelerate growth. You multiply weakness. Here’s how to know the difference.

The Questions We Ask Before Saying Yes to a Client Or, why “No” is sometimes the most professional word in international expansion. Most companies measure growth by how many clients they win. We look at it slightly differently. Some of the most important decisions we make are the ones where we decline an opportunity. That may sound counterintuitive for a company whose job is to help manufacturers expand internationally. But after three decades of selling complex B2B technology across Europe,...

At some point, every successful SME manufacturer hits the same wall. Sales are growing nicely at home. Export orders are coming in from further afield. Europe looks promising. The US feels inevitable. Asia is on the long list. And then someone says the words that quietly commit the company to years of downstream consequences: “We need a presence over there.” It sounds strategic. It rarely is. More often, it’s a reaction. A reaction to patchy distributor performance. A reaction to missed...