Running a Business in the US Means Dealing With Reality, Not Assumptions

What European companies often discover only after entering the US market

2025 was a year when we spent a lot of time in the US. I personally traveled from the East Coast to the West Coast, while other Moravio colleagues spent time in Texas and Florida (more about this here). During that time, I met many founders and managers from Europe who were either launching businesses in the US or seriously preparing for it.

From my experience when I met people in the US, one thing became very clear. Many companies feel reasonably confident before they enter the market. The language is familiar, the tools are similar, and business news travels fast. This sense of familiarity is often misleading. Starting a business in the US is relatively straightforward. Running it well is where reality begins to surface.

I noticed several recurring challenges that keep coming up in conversations with European founders. These are not edge cases or isolated mistakes. They are patterns. And most companies only fully realize what they are dealing with when they are already deep in the process. That is exactly why I believe it makes sense to share these observations openly.

Cost Reality

The first real shock usually has nothing to do with incorporation or legal setup. It is financial. In my personal opinion, the cost of doing business in the US is one of the most underestimated factors. Sales, marketing, visibility, and customer acquisition are significantly more expensive than many European companies expect. Paid acquisition is competitive, attention is expensive, and standing out requires sustained investment, not short campaigns.

In practice, companies often budget for products and people, but underestimate the ongoing cost of demand generation. European companies expanding to the US quickly realize that pricing, positioning, and growth expectations need to reflect this reality. Otherwise, even strong products struggle to gain traction. From my experience when I met people in the US, many companies that want to expand end up struggling financially not because their product is weak, but because the cost model simply does not add up.

Speed and Decision Making

US business culture rewards speed and clarity. Decisions are expected faster, communication is more direct, and confidence plays a bigger role in how messages are perceived. This often creates friction for European companies that are used to longer discussions and more cautious positioning.

From conversations I’ve had with people in the US, I realised that many challenges are not about product quality, but about tempo. Running a business in the US means adapting to faster sales cycles and quicker decision making without sacrificing substance. Those who fail to adjust often appear slow or uncertain, even when they are simply being thorough. The US can feel similar to Europe at first glance, but once you operate locally, the differences become very clear.

Structure and Compliance

How to start a business in the USA for foreigners is well documented and relatively easy with the right advisors. Choosing an entity, opening a bank account, and setting up basic operations can happen quickly. This part is rarely the problem.

What tends to be underestimated is what comes next. Doing business in the US as a foreign company means navigating ongoing compliance, state-level differences, tax complexity, and regulatory changes over time. From my personal opinion, structure should never be seen as a one-off decision. It needs to evolve together with the business. Companies that treat setup as a finished task often face friction later, especially when growth accelerates.

Talent and Delivery

Execution is where many strategies start to break. Hiring in the US is competitive, expensive, and retention is not guaranteed. At the same time, relying solely on European teams can create distance from the market if not handled carefully.

Many European companies succeed with hybrid models that combine US-facing roles with European delivery teams. The key factor is not geography, but ownership and alignment. Talent shortages, especially in technology and AI, make delivery capacity one of the most important assets when running a business in the US. This is often where external partners become critical, not as a cost-saving measure, but as a way to maintain speed and quality.

Visibility and Trust

Perhaps the most underestimated aspect of US market entry is credibility. References from Europe rarely translate automatically. Visibility has to be rebuilt almost from zero, regardless of how successful a company has been elsewhere.

Trust is built through presence, consistency, and relevance. Being visible at the right events, speaking the language of the market, and understanding local expectations matters more than polished decks or long track records abroad. European companies expanding to the US often discover that credibility is earned locally, not imported. What I keep seeing when working with US clients and partners is that trust is built through repeated, direct interaction, not through reputation carried over from other markets.

What It Comes Down To

Since we are also entering the US market ourselves, some of these points naturally reflect challenges we face as well. However, what I describe above are not Moravio-specific problems. They are common patterns that repeat across industries and company sizes.

When talking to founders and executives operating across markets, one theme keeps coming back. Success in the US rarely comes from dramatic moves or bold statements. It comes from respecting the market early, adapting without losing identity, and investing where it actually matters.

Starting a business in the US is an administrative step. Running it successfully is a long-term commitment. We see this firsthand.