How To Build Your US Market Budget: A Guide for European Companies

As an Executive for a European company I am tackling the next year budget rather sooner than too late. And now is that time of the year for me to share some best practices with you.

Whether it is for your own US subsidiary or your export business market – creating a dedicated US market budget is crucial for success. This guide breaks down the essential components and provides practical steps for building a resilient budget that acknowledges the unique challenges and pending tariff charges of the US market.

Understanding Revenue Planning

Your 2025 revenue plan needs to balance optimism with realism and so we usually come up with different budget scenarios to match the real world paired with optimism and pessimism at the same time. Think of an onion to have a solid scenario at its core and build a resilient or best case outer shell to show possible turns on your numbers when doing business in America.

Let’s break down the key components:

Base Revenue: Your Foundation and Core

Start with what you can count on. This includes:

• Existing contracts and recurring revenue streams
• Blanket purchase orders
• High-probability renewals from satisfied customers
• Already committed expansions from current clients

Think of this as your “sleep well at night” revenue – the foundation of your US operations.

Growth Revenue: Your Ambition

This represents your strategic growth initiatives or even entering new verticals, winning new partners or customer segments for new or existing product:

• New customer targets based on market analysis
• Potential projects with new or existing customers
• Expanded services to existing customers
• Geographic expansion within the US

Remember: The US market often requires more endurance and stamina in customer acquisition compared to European markets, so budget accordingly. Have a look at your existing pipeline to judge the amount of potential business you hold ready to possibly convert.

Risk Adjustments: Your Safety Net

Be realistic about potential challenges:

• Calculate potential customer churn rates
• Factor in market condition impacts
• Include currency fluctuation buffers (typically 5-10% of revenue)

We also put an example for a 2025 budget template of an industrial hardware company for you at the next page

The 40-40-20 Rule: A Strategic Approach to OPEX Budget Allocation

If you feel unsure about how to tackle the expense side of upcoming scenarios on the strategy, you can refer to a proven framework helps balance stability with growth opportunities:

40% Core Operations: Your Foundation

This is your operational backbone, let the foundation be 40% of your budget in terms of:

• Essential team members
• Basic infrastructure
• Compliance requirements
• Customer support

40% Growth Initiatives: Your Future

Remember, if everyone slows down it is easier to pass the competition. Invest in expansion:

• Market development activities
• Product adaptations for US market
• Team expansion
• Strategic marketing

20% Risk Management & Opportunities: Your Safety Net

Remember the US Election 2024: What Trump’s Win Means for European Tech Companies article we published recently? Exactly unpredictable tariffs and duties may be the reason you assess scenarios in a 20 percent share of your expenses. Prepare for both challenges and opportunities in connection with further growing the US market:

• Market uncertainty buffer for tariffs
• Currency hedging
• Emergency fund
• Opportunity capture fund, e.g. near shoring production steps into the US.

Conclusion: Keys to Success

Creating a successful US market budget for 2025 requires:

• Thorough planning
• Regular monitoring
• Quick adjustments
• Clear communication

Remember: The US market offers enormous opportunities, but success requires dedicated planning and resources. Your budget and strategyshould be both ambitious and realistic, with built-in flexibility to adapt to changing conditions.

Need help getting started? Have a look at our supplementary strategy framework or reach out to us for detailed planning tools and templates.