Do you have the right person on the ground in Ukraine?

When companies plan to enter a new country, the discussion often starts with market size, competitors, pricing, entry models, and potential customers. All of that matters, of course.

But one question is sometimes treated as a practical detail, even though it can have a major impact on success: who is actually on the ground?

In demanding markets, local presence is not just a convenience. It can be a strategic requirement.

Ukraine is a good example. Travelling there is currently time-consuming, and depending on the destination, one market visit can easily take several days just in travel. If the person responsible for developing the market visits only once a month, a surprisingly large part of the year may be spent simply getting there and back.

That time matters. It means fewer customer meetings, slower follow-up, fewer informal conversations, and less ability to react when opportunities appear. It also means that much of the understanding of the market comes indirectly, rather than from being present in the daily commercial reality.

This is why I believe that when recruiting someone to open a new market, companies should look beyond a good CV or even strong industry experience. Those things are useful, but they are not enough.

The right person needs to be able to sell, build trust, use good commercial judgment and work independently in an environment where there may be little structure. They need to understand the local market, have access to relevant people, and be resilient enough to keep moving when progress is slow or unclear.

The same applies to market entry advisors.

An advisor who is not located in the market may still provide useful analysis and structure. But if they are not close to the market, there is a risk that they become more of a distributor of second-hand information than a true source of first-hand insight.

A really valuable market entry advisor does more than describe the market. They know who is credible, who is active, who is worth meeting and what is really happening beyond the formal reports. They can open doors and make relevant introductions. In that sense, they are not just advisors — they are business matchmakers.

Market entry is rarely won by reports alone. It is won through access, trust, judgment, persistence and execution.

And very often, that starts with having the right person on the ground.

Do you have one?

More reading here:

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jukkalaikari