Can you get a foothold in the US market in 30 days?

Establish a solid, sustainable business in the United States in just 30 days! This is the challenge the Danish startup Planday have given themselves –  look over their shoulders and experience their 30-day voyage ‘over there’.  

Each year, many Danish companies try to put down roots in the US market, but only a few succeed in this mission. What is needed? How do you become successful, handle defeat, and face challenges?

For many, the United States is the key to large-scale success that many companies crave: 360 million. people, a coveted currency, and a huge market. But it requires passion, strategy, and time. At Planday, they call it “the extra UMPF”.

Can they do it and follow in the footsteps of companies like Falcon Social (also helped by Lemonsqueeze), Trust Pilot, and Zendesk? Only time will tell.

Teaming up with the pros
For several years, Planday has wanted to take on the US market, and now is the time. To give themselves the best chance of success, Planday  has teamed up with the New York-based “New Market Agency”, Lemonsqueeze, that helps Scandinavian companies create traction and gain a foothold in the United States. Lemonsqueeze has developed a successful five-step model to set up a business in New York.

The model is contains two phases. The first phase lays the foundation and takes care of all the practical aspects of setting up a company in the US:

• Company Assessment
• US Setup and
• Recruitment of US employees.

When this essential foundation has been laid down and the practical aspects are settled, the last phase is launched:

• Onboarding of employees and
• Management of daily operations.

  Thie phase is primarily about optimizing sales and progress. Lemonsqueeze handles this ‘on location’ from their base in New York.

In early July, Lemonsqueeze began the process for Planday. They made a US roadmap, a battle plan to gain US traction, and established their business, banking, credit, insurance and all the other practical and administrative duties that expanding to the other side of the Atlantic requires. Lemonsqueeze then recruited two talents, a junior consultant and a sales executive respectively, with a background in SaaS (Software as a Service) and the hospitality business, with proven experience.

Follow the adventure!
With the initial part of the strategy completed, the time has finally come! For the next 30 days, we will follow Plan Days race to establish themselves in the US market, and the ups and downs they experience in trying to scale their operations in ‘God’s own country’.

Late Sunday evening, two of Plan Days founders, Christian Brøndum and Anders Frederiksen, arrived in New York’s busy JFK airport, and by Monday morning they had two new US employees, working from the Lemonsqueeze office in Brooklyn.  Together with the team from Lemonsqueeze, they must ensure that Planday finds the same success in the US that they have in the Nordic countries. The goal is set, phase 1 is completed, and everyone is excited to start the mission.

This week, there is an intensive ‘onboarding’ of the two new Planday evangelists. The battle is controlled firmly by Peter Bøgh from Lemonsqueeze team. They must become completely incorporated into Plan Day’s DNA,  CRM systems must be in place, lead lists must be built, and KPI boards must  be set up.  Onward they go!