Ireland to Europe - A playbook for Irish SMEs.

Most Irish SMEs never sell outside Ireland. Many that try spend a year and a lot of cash on the wrong market, the wrong hire or the wrong message.

Ireland to Europe is a step-by-step playbook for owners and sales leads who want to find out whether the EU is their next market, and how to test it with a capped budget and clear decisions.

What you’ll be able to do after reading it

• Check you’re ready with a 12-point scorecard, and see what to fix first if you’re not.
• Choose your first market on evidence, using a seven-criteria scoring method and snapshots of eight common markets (Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, the Nordics, Spain, Italy and Poland).
• Adapt how you sell with seven “cultural dials” (hierarchy, formality, pace, risk and more) and a first-meeting checklist.
• Pick the right route to market: direct, partner, agent, fractional leader, local hire or branch, compared side by side.
• Know the real cost of hiring with a break-even worksheet to run before you post a job.
• Run a 90-day market test with a week-by-week plan, funnel targets and go / adjust / stop rules agreed in advance.
• Start outreach straight away with five ready-to-adapt templates, discovery questions and answers to nine common objections.
• Use AI and automation sensibly: decide which tools you need, which processes to automate and where a human must step in.
• Check the admin before you spend, with pointers on Irish grants, VAT basics for selling into the EU, contracts and data protection.

What’s inside: 25 pages across nine chapters, plus printable worksheets (market scoring sheet, 90-day plan on a page, conversation tracker) and a sources list.

Who it’s for: Owners, MDs and sales leads of Irish SMEs selling B2B products or services, with steady sales at home and a serious interest in the EU.

Who it’s not for: Anyone looking for a magic shortcut, guaranteed leads, or detailed legal or tax advice. This is a practical framework, and you still have to do the work.

About the author: Jamie Nuttall is a Director of Infinite North Advisory. He has more than 15+ years of experience in B2B sales, business development and partnerships across European markets, and offers fractional business development leadership to companies testing new markets.

Good to know

• Instant PDF download, first edition (October 2026).
• Licensed for use within one business. Please don’t resell or share it.
• General business guidance only, not legal, tax or financial advice. Grants and VAT rules change, so confirm them with your accountant or Local Enterprise Office before acting.