Entry into the United States marketplace for European businesses can be both prohibitively expensive and culturally complicated. Sharp entrepreneurs and seasoned businessmen have often failed to transfer European success across the Atlantic. In this comprehensive and clear guidebook, attorney Manny Schoenhuber gives readers the benefit of many years of experience in the sector, including his time serving as a board member of the European American Chamber of Commerce Texas.
MASTERING MARKET ENTRY: USA (The European’s Guide to Making It Big in America) is a book that covers both the how-tos and the what-ifs, giving a holistic overview of both the opportunities and the hazards that may present with expansion into the US business landscape.
Schoenhuber’s book breaks down the process of “making it big” into four distinct stages he names “The Four Es of Market Entry”: Evaluate, Engineer, Execute, Elevate. Within each stage the author gives step-by-step advice. Early on he suggests that many European businesses fail to enter the US marketplace due to fear, citing the famous case against McDonald’s where a plaintiff was awarded $3 million in damages after they had spilled hot coffee on themselves. As the author has it, the frivolous nature of the case “made many parts of the world believe the US was a legal Wild West where anybody could receive a windfall for anything.” This fear was enough to put off many businesses, thereby missing their crucial opportunities for growth. Easier to maintain the status quo and stay on the other side of the pond. But as Schoenhuber writes, “[c]onvenience, comfort, and overly conservative business choices usually lead to the absence of growth and, in some cases, to losses.” Better to be brave, but also crucial to be ready.
The book offers practical advice on things like hiring staff, tax laws, and other compliances—with the author referencing successful companies who have already made the leap. Practicalities aside, one of the book’s great strengths is the positivity that Schoenhuber delivers with his prose, which will certainly encourage and inspire many of those wondering whether a move to America is the right thing for their businesses.
Though by design a publication targeted to a niche audience, Manny Schoenhuber’s MASTERING MARKET ENTRY: USA (The European’s Guide to Making It Big in America) is well structured, easy to follow, and thorough. The book could easily become an invaluable first port of call for those looking to expand their business to the USA.
~Kent Lane for IndieReader