03/18/2026
“We are going to wait until this passes.”
The other day I spoke to a European business owner about expanding into the US market and that was the reason why they didn’t want to expand right now.
The companies that win in the US are not the ones that waited for the perfect moment. They are the ones that moved when the window was open. Tariff landscapes shift, competition increases, and every quarter you spend deliberating is a quarter your competitor might be spending building relationships, pipeline and brand recognition on the ground. The geopolitical pressure on European businesses is not going away in six months.
Maybe not in six years.
Hormuz is not reopening on a schedule that works for your fiscal year. The war in Europe is not ending because your board needs more certainty before approving a budget. Waiting is a decision too, and right now it is an expensive one.
Hormuz is effectively closed. War is being fought on European soil. China has gone from opportunity to liability. And across Europe, energy costs, inflation and uncertainty are eating into margins in ways that are hard to ignore anymore.
I have spent over two decades helping European companies enter the US market. And I have never seen the case for America this strong. Not because the US is easy, but because right now it is the one large, stable, open market where growth is still a realistic outcome.
My partner Gene McNaughton and I are hosting an Executive Briefing on March 26th at 0700am PST, 1000am EST, 15:00 Swedish time, 16:00 Finnish time for senior leaders who are either actively planning US expansion or seriously evaluating it. We will talk about market entry strategy, the decisions that actually determine success, and the traps that catch even well-prepared companies off guard.
Spots are limited.
Register here: https://lnkd.in/eBtTHuZf
Europe strategy Capteeni