Liki24.com: 4 tips for startups scaling into Europe from Ukraine

By Anton Avrynskyi, CEO & co-founder at Liki24.com

Four years ago, my startup Liki24.com set out to conquer the markets of eight EU countries. It could have been nine if we hadn’t made so many mistakes in Poland.

Poland was our first international market, but we had to pull out. The price of that failure? Hundreds of thousands of dollars. The gain? A clear plan for scaling into Europe from Ukraine — built on insights, not assumptions.

Here are the four key elements of successful expansion, based on my company’s experience.

Test one hypothesis at a time

Every new market needs testing — even if it’s a neighboring or culturally similar country to Ukraine.

A typical strategy startups use — one we followed before expanding into Italy — was launching and promoting a website, collecting leads, and mentioning at the checkout stage that this was a test. Customers got a bonus, while we assessed the demand, customer acquisition costs, and what they bought.

The testing phase takes about three months, after which a startup can decide whether to enter the market.

Before, we scaled without a clear strategy, investing a lot of resources and testing everything at once. It was slow, expensive, and risky — a big mistake.

The right path is to test one distinct hypothesis at a time: Will unit economics work? Is there enough demand? Can you acquire customers at the right cost?

Our rule now: We make tests only if the outcome will directly impact our next steps.

Hire 3 managers for every stage, market

Hire different types of leaders for each phase of expansion. There are three.

Stage 1: The launch

Find a launcher — an entrepreneur who excels at starting projects and knows your market. As a personality, it must be a "hunter" who's comfortable with challenges and uncertainty. They will help your company adapt, find partners, test hypotheses, and set up initial processes.

The most effective way is to hire a local entrepreneur full-time, even if they don’t speak Ukrainian. In Romania, for instance, our team consists entirely of residents. This gives us a deep understanding of the market.

Stage 2: Building operations

Once the launch is complete, the “hunter” usually gets bored without new challenges. That’s when it’s time to switch gears and hire an operational leader — a disciplined "farmer" who can cooperate well, establish stable processes, and tame the chaos.

The "farmer" will lead your company through a long period of process setup, which should result in profitability.

Stage 3: Maintaining ‘machine’

At this point, look for an administrator — a manager who will ensure that all operations run like clockwork.

Adapt to local expectations

A successful market entry starts with understanding the needs and pains of your future users. The economics and positioning of your business in the international market will heavily depend on it.

Find what matters most to a specific nation — talk to your customers. People in different countries often view the same product or service differently. Some value speed, while for others, a key argument is price.

In Romania, speed of delivery is a top priority for Liki24.com. In Italy, customers care more about having access to a wide range of rare health products.

Most insights on trends and competitors in our target markets come during testing. We launch the product, look at market reactions, and always speak with customers. Feedback from the first hundred saves us months of consumer trend research.

Motivate team with quick wins

Scaling should be fast. We measure market entry timelines in weeks, not months or years. Otherwise, the process drags on, and the team loses motivation.

Without short-term results and early wins, the "action-result" connection fades. But when the team sees quick outcomes — first customers, first payments — it sparks enthusiasm and energy.

Communicate this with your team and help them streamline the path to that first milestone. Learn to cut the unnecessary to let them focus on the main task.

Quick wins trigger a snowball effect: A motivated team moves faster, building on one achievement after another.

This story is a translated and edited version of the Forbes article, titled "Liki24.com’s service failed to enter Poland, but eight other EU countries opened their markets. How to conquer Europe from Ukraine? Anton Avrynskyi shares his insights."

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