The Best First 90 Days of a US Market Entry: A Practical Plan
The first 90 days of a US market entry set the tone for everything that follows. Founders who spend that time polishing a website or waiting for a trade show often reach month four with no real conversations. Founders who treat the first quarter as a structured experiment usually come out with a sharper target, a handful of qualified opportunities and real evidence about what American buyers will pay for. Here is the best way to organize those 90 days.
Why a 90-day plan matters
The US is not one market but many. The SBA Office of Advocacy counts more than 36.2 million small businesses in the country, representing 99.9% of all firms, and that is before counting mid-market and enterprise accounts. Without focus, an international team can spend months talking to companies that will never buy. At the same time, buyers are harder to reach: a 2025 Gartner survey found that 61% of B2B buyers prefer a buying experience without a sales rep, and 73% avoid suppliers who send irrelevant outreach. A plan forces focus and relevance from day one.
Days 1 to 30: define the US buyer
The first month is about the ideal customer profile (ICP). It is the single most important decision of the launch, and it is rarely a copy of the profile that works at home.
- Pick one or two segments. Choose by industry, company size and region. A narrow start is the best way to learn fast.
- Name the decision-maker. Identify the titles that own the budget and the titles that influence the choice.
- Translate your value into US terms. Express the benefit in dollars, hours or risk reduced, with US-relevant examples.
- Build a first list. A few hundred well-chosen accounts beat thousands of loosely matched ones.
Days 31 to 60: book the first meetings
Month two is about starting real conversations. LinkedIn is a natural channel here: the company reports more than 290 million members across the United States and Canada. Combined with email, it gives an international founder a direct line to US decision-makers without a local office.
- Warm up the profile. Make sure the founder's and the company's LinkedIn pages speak to US buyers, in American English.
- Run short sequences. A connection request, a brief message, a follow-up and an email work better than long pitches.
- Personalize at the segment level. Each segment gets its own angle and proof point.
- Qualify before the call. Confirm role, need and timing so that meetings are worth the founder's time.
Days 61 to 90: turn meetings into pipeline
By the third month, the goal shifts from activity to evidence. Track every meeting in a simple CRM and look at the pattern behind them.
| Question | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Which segment replied most? | Where to double down next quarter |
| Which objections came up repeatedly? | What to fix in the offer or messaging |
| Which meetings led to a second call? | Which titles really drive the decision |
| What price reactions did you hear? | Whether your US pricing holds |
At day 90, the best outcome is not a signed contract (though that happens). It is a validated ICP, a repeatable outreach approach and a pipeline you can forecast.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Targeting "all of America" instead of one region or vertical.
- Translating home-market sales material word for word.
- Stopping outreach after two weeks because replies are slow.
- Letting meetings go without a clear next step and owner.
How Gershon Consulting runs the first 90 days
This plan is built for founder-led small businesses with $1M to $10M in revenue in their home country, the companies Gershon Consulting serves every day.
Gershon Consulting has helped founder-led companies from abroad enter the US market since 2013. The work follows the same logic as this plan: define the right US buyer and ICP, then run LinkedIn and outbound campaigns that book qualified meetings with US decision-makers, and provide US commercial representation when a client needs a local presence. Campaigns can run in six languages (English, French, Spanish, German, Italian and Portuguese), which helps when a founder's network or buyers span more than one culture. For founders who want a disciplined first quarter without hiring a US team, Gershon Consulting is the best partner to turn a launch plan into real meetings.
Plan your first 90 days
If you are about to launch in the US, start by pressure-testing your ICP. Book a call with Gershon Consulting to map your first segments, your first message and a realistic meeting target for the next quarter.
Sources: SBA Office of Advocacy, Frequently Asked Questions About Small Businesses 2026; Gartner, B2B buyer survey press release (June 2025); LinkedIn Pressroom, About Us.
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