One state. Then the whole country.

Every manufacturer I talk to who wants to enter the US market says the same thing.

"We need a national strategy."

National distributor. National trade show presence. National everything.

And I get it. The US feels like one massive opportunity. You want to go big or go home.

But that thinking is exactly what gets manufacturers stuck.

Here's what actually happens when you try to enter the US nationally as a small time manufacturer out of a small country.

You spread thin. Your resources don't match the territory. You're chasing buyers in California while trying to close deals in New York. Your follow-up slips. Your relationships stay shallow. And after 18 months of hard work, you've got a footprint everywhere and traction nowhere.

The US isn't one market. That's the reframe.

It's 50 markets. Each one big enough to build a serious business in. Each one small enough to actually win.

I was working with a manufacturer recently. Great company. Real competitive advantage. And they had their eyes on the US.

We looked at the whole country together. Tried to divide it into regions. Seven regions. Still too big for where they were as a company.

So we stopped trying to think nationally. And we asked a different question.

What's the right-sized market for THIS company, right now?

Florida.

The opportunity there was unbelievable. And because of the size of this company, Florida was just the right size. Not a consolation prize. A deliberate starting point.

Succeed in Florida. Prove the model. Then start knocking out one state after another.

The big idea: Strategic restraint isn't thinking small. It's how small manufacturers build big US businesses.

Most manufacturers try to take the whole country at once. The ones who actually win pick one state, go deep, and let the results do the talking.

Sound familiar? If you're sitting on a real competitive advantage and trying to figure out how to enter the US without burning through your runway, reply to this email.

I'd love to hear where you're at.

Reply to this newslette or at david@serogrowth.com and let me guide you through your new market entry journey.

P.S. Florida isn't the only right answer. The right answer depends on your product, your buyer, and your capacity. But the process for finding it is the same every time. Reply if you want to know what that process looks like.