Should our client enter this new market?

• That you clarify the objective first. A client trying to offset a declining home market does not have the same criteria as one trying to get there before a competitor.
• That you separate the market's appeal from the client's ability to succeed in it. A fast-growing market can be a poor choice for a company with no advantage there.
• That you put numbers on it. Sooner or later you will need to estimate market size, reachable share and the time needed to pay back the investment.
• That you address the how. Building alone, partnering or buying a local player differ in cost and risk, and a good candidate raises the point without waiting to be asked.

1. 1

   Clarify the objective and the success criterion

   Ask what the client expects from this market, over what horizon, and whether it has set a threshold, such as a revenue target or a payback period.
2. 2

   Assess the market

   Its size and growth, how it splits into segments, how profitable current players are and the entry barriers specific to the industry: regulation, access to distribution, customer habits.
3. 3

   Assess the client's position

   What it can carry over from its current business (brand, product, know-how, costs) and what it will lack. Also ask how incumbents will react.
4. 4

   Run the numbers and choose the entry mode

   Estimate reachable revenue, investment and costs, then compare entry modes. Close with a decision and its conditions.

"So our client is a French low-cost gym chain considering opening in Spain. To be sure I understand: is it looking for a new source of growth because France is reaching saturation, and does it have a target in numbers, such as a number of gyms or a profitability level in five years?

I see four questions to address. The first is the Spanish market: how many people hold a gym membership, at what price, and how much room the low-cost segment already takes. The second is our client: will what makes it successful in France, I am thinking of its operating costs and its ability to find sites, work there? The third is the economics: what it costs to open a gym and how long it takes to pay back. The last is the entry mode, because opening its own gyms and buying a local chain are two very different projects. I would start with the market..."

This example is made up: it shows the tone and the construction, not a script to memorise. Your answer has to come from your own experience or from the data the interviewer gives you.

• Forcing a generic grid, such as customer, competitors, company, without tying it to the decision. The interviewer gets a list of topics instead of a line of reasoning.
• Not asking why the client wants to go. Without an objective you cannot say whether entry is a success.
• Judging the market attractive and concluding yes without examining whether the client can win there.
• Never giving a number. An entry recommendation with no order of magnitude for revenue and investment remains an opinion.