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Which market to open first
The best market is where you can win and provide service
Before looking at which country buys the most bioreactors, ask where you have the best chance of winning. Process equipment is not sold on a good datasheet alone. Customers want installation, qualification support, spare parts and someone who picks up the phone during working hours. If you cannot guarantee that in a country, that country is not ready for you yet.
That is why it pays to compare markets on concrete criteria and data you can check. The most useful are the enquiries already coming in from each country, distributor interest, the rules your customers follow and the trade show calendar. That way the decision no longer rests only on the sales director's instinct.
Five criteria to score each market
Score each country from 1 to 5 on each criterion and add it up. It is not an exact science, but it makes the team write down why it is choosing a market and helps explain the decision to management and sales. Do it with someone from product and someone from engineering, who spot risks marketing does not see.
- Biomanufacturing investment. New plants or announced expansions, CDMOs and research groups with budget
- Regulatory route. Which GMP rules customers follow and what documentation they will ask for
- Distributors. Whether there are companies already selling lab or process equipment that could represent you
- Language. How much material you need to translate and who will review the technical copy
- Trade show calendar. Which event brings your buyers together and whether it clashes with other priorities
How many new markets can I open at once?
It depends on your team and budget, but for an industrial SME one market at a time is usually sensible, or two if they share a language and rules. Opening more means more translation, more travel and more distributors to look after, and in the end follow-up gets thin everywhere.
The regulatory route changes the marketing work
Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Finland are in the EU, and their customers work to EU GMP just as in Spain. The documentation you already use, such as URS responses, FAT and SAT protocols and IQ, OQ and PQ support, largely still works. What changes is the language and the references.
In Asia each country has its own authority. The PIC/S list, the cooperation scheme between GMP inspectorates, gives you a first picture. It includes, for example, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Chinese Taipei, but not mainland China or India. The further a market sits from that framework, the more adaptation of documents and messaging you should plan for.
Do I need my website in each Nordic language?
To start with, try a strong English version and ask your distributor and first customers what is missing. Then translate the pieces used most, such as datasheets and manuals, into the language they ask for. Also check what each country requires for the documentation that ships with the equipment.
Want us to check which countries already find you on Google and where your enquiries come from? Leave your details and we will help you score the markets.
Check my dataScandinavia, Germany or Asia, criterion by criterion
The table sums up what usually changes between the three options for a Spanish bioprocess equipment maker. The cells are a guide. What decides is how each criterion scores with your own data, above all the enquiries you already receive and the distributors showing interest.
| Criterion | Scandinavia | Germany | Asia |
|---|---|---|---|
| Customers' GMP rules | European GMP | European GMP | Each country's authority, many within PIC/S |
| Selling language | You can often start in English | German on key pages and datasheets | English plus the local language for documents and support |
| An event to start with | Nordic Life Science Days, September 2027 | ACHEMA, June 2027 | CPHI & PMEC China, June 2027 |
| Distributors | One partner may cover several countries | Strong local competition | One partner per country with its own service team |
| Service and distance | Close and in a similar time zone | Close and in the same time zone | Far, with a time difference and local service essential |
| Initial marketing effort | Medium | High | High |
What public data can I use to compare markets?
Exhibitor lists and official trade show figures, the list of PIC/S participating authorities, reports from industry associations and public agencies, and news of plant investments. Combine them with your Search Console and CRM data, which tell you where people are already looking for you.
The 2027 trade show calendar forces a choice
The dates already published make it hard. ACHEMA runs from 14 to 18 June 2027 in Frankfurt and CPHI & PMEC China from 16 to 18 June 2027 in Shanghai. With a small sales team you cannot be in both places, so decide early who goes to which show or which one you skip.
For Scandinavia, ACHEMA may not be enough. At the 2024 edition only 3.4 percent of participants came from Northern Europe. Nordic Life Science Days, on 29 and 30 September 2027 in Copenhagen, is a partnering event with startups, pharma and investors, useful for getting to know the Nordic ecosystem.
Is Asia worth it for an SME?
It can be if your product fits and you have a strong local partner who can install, train and provide service. Without that partner, distance and time difference make it hard to look after a GMP customer properly. Start with a single country, with very complete English material, and review the translation your distributor produces.
How to make the call with your own data
Before paying for a booth, look at your own data. Search Console tells you which countries find you, your CRM where enquiries and quotes come from, and past shows which distributors were interested. Public export agencies such as ACCIÓ in Catalonia and ICEX in Spain can help you test a market and find your first contacts.
David Monje, founder of crida studio, led marketing at TECNIC Bioprocess Solutions for four and a half years. There he bridged engineering, product and sales to open markets such as Germany, Scandinavia and Asia, with international trade shows as his testing ground.
