The challenge: An international equipment manufacturer, already present in Romania through sales, approached MKOR because it was considering entering the dedicated services market. The internal hypothesis was that the market had potential, but the company didn’t have the data to estimate it.

The decision: Whether and how to enter the services market: from scratch, by acquiring an existing player, or through a hybrid approach.

MKOR’s solution: We ran a three-stage, in-depth market study:

  1. We sized the market using two different methods (bottom-up and top-down), to narrow the margin of error in the market estimate.
  2. We conducted a phone survey with 250 managers who make purchasing decisions in their companies.
  3. We ran in-depth interviews with active buyers of the targeted services, identified in the previous stage.

Throughout the study, we also built a proprietary pre-due diligence index, used to evaluate companies that could be acquired.

The impact for the client: Our client received market data to support the decision to enter a new niche. They got data to structure the service offering, the geographic regions to enter, and the business scenarios, plus a short list of real acquisition targets for the consolidation route.

The context: a market the client thought it already knew

Romanian industrial campus at dusk, glass offices and service vans, no text

Our client is an international manufacturer of complex technical assets, used by companies across several industries, with an already well-established commercial network in Romania. In theory, it had everything it needed to understand the market it operates in.

What it didn’t have was a clear answer to a question that kept coming back in strategy discussions: What do we do about the services line? What is the potential of the services market for our equipment?

The internal hypothesis was that the equipment services market was either too underdeveloped to justify a serious investment, or already saturated, with the space taken by existing incumbents. Either way, the conclusion was the same: entering this niche in Romania didn’t seem to make financial sense. Yet management’s instinct said otherwise.

Over time, the pessimistic hypothesis started to be contradicted by reality. New players entered the market and grew fast, seemingly unaffected by either the immaturity or the saturation that internal discussions assumed. And that raised an uncomfortable question: If the market really was closed, would it really be attracting millions of euros in investment?

Sales data tells you who buys, not who needs services

This is where the real limit of internal data became clear.

A manufacturer knows very well who buys. It has invoices, commercial contracts, a team that knows every client by first name. That data is excellent for answering one question: How much do we sell, and to whom?

Services require an entirely different behavior. A company that needs short-term services doesn’t show up in sales data unless it has already bought something. Otherwise, it doesn’t appear in the internal CRM, or the dealer’s CRM. It doesn’t come up in sales conversations either, so it can’t even be counted as a lost client.

In practice, demand for services is invisible to exactly the company that stands to gain the most from it.

Public statistics don’t solve the problem either

The second possible source is the market itself, and access to data on who the players are, what revenue they generate, and how big the market is by industry classification code.

The problem is that the equipment services market is fragmented and, on top of that, opaque to standard data-collection methods. Most companies have one primary classification code but a range of secondary activities, all bundled under the same code and the same revenue figure. Official classification codes don’t separate activities, and market players don’t report them separately either.

So simply adding up revenue figures can’t give you the size of the services market. Instead, it gives you a distorted picture, much larger and completely useless for an investment decision on a specific niche.

What was at stake

Without dedicated research, the decision would remain a bet on a years-old instinct, in a market that had already shown signs of moving.

But the decision carried enormous financial weight. Entering the services market means technical assets acquired in advance, service locations, staff, and a business model completely different from selling equipment. Moving from a months-long sales decision, with a dedicated account manager, to a fast decision with tailored delivery, means a shift in both mindset and operating model.

MKOR’s solution: three stages, from market sizing to concrete acquisition targets

Three research stages: desk research, CATI, IDI, no text

When a market shows up in neither internal data nor public statistics, you can’t start with strategy questions. The market has to be built in numbers first, then the behavior behind those numbers has to be analyzed, and only at the end come the questions asked directly to clients, about the reasons behind their decisions.

That’s how MKOR’s study was structured: three complex research stages and a methodology that combined secondary data analysis with advanced statistical modeling and third-party validation, alongside qualitative and quantitative research.

Stage 1: How big is the market, really

The first stage consisted of desk research based on publicly available data and strategic analysis tools, with a single objective: a credible market size that the client could take to the organization’s management / board.

We started from close to a thousand companies in the industry, filtered them down to a few hundred active firms, and split them into three tiers.

We then analyzed their financial statements, to see which of them were genuinely focused on the targeted services. A company that offers services looks different on the balance sheet than one that sells equipment.

We trained a model that estimates, for each company in the market, how much of its activity is actually oriented toward services, based on: asset structure, margin per unit of revenue, and the pace of investment recovery. These differences show up as patterns in the numbers, which we identified and used to size the market based on the statistical model.

This method solves exactly the problem described earlier, by separating services activity from companies with mixed activity, instead of adding up revenue figures that blend equipment sales and services together.

To validate the market size, we replicated a reference methodology used across Europe for this type of market: a regression model built on official Romanian data, validated against comparable European markets. The model’s correlation was very strong, with a margin of error under 2%.

We applied two entirely independent methods, one starting from internal analysis, the other from European statistics. The goal was to validate the initial market estimate, given the lack of relevant public data or historical data that could have guided us. The convergence between the two methods was what turned an estimate into a rational argument.

A third angle: the market as seen from clients

The first two methods measured the market top-down, from the supplier side, meaning from the revenue of companies offering services. The third measured it bottom-up, from the side of those paying for it.

We started from over 30,000 companies in industries that use this type of equipment and split them two ways: by sector of activity and by revenue size. For each group, we applied the weights derived from the B2B quantitative research.

Both calculations resulted in the same market size, and the result converged with the figures obtained in the earlier stages, from the supplier-side analysis.

The client thus received a market size confirmed from three directions, and a demand map they could use in concrete terms: how many companies in each industry and size category actually need the targeted services, and what their annual budgets are.

Analyzing a public indicator as a signal of latent demand

We also tested a less conventional hypothesis: that an indicator published by Romania’s National Institute of Statistics, specific to the client’s sector, could anticipate demand at county level before it becomes visible in sales data. The correlation proved strong here too, meaning the indicator works as a predictive signal of future demand at a regional level.

The result for the client: a map of potential demand, not just existing supply. This reveals counties with intense activity in the relevant sector but underrepresented supply — exactly the places where a new player has the most room to grow.

Stage 2: Who the clients are, their context, and their budgets

Market size shows how big the opportunity is, but it doesn’t show how the target audience actually behaves: the clients.

We conducted 250 structured phone interviews with decision-makers at relevant companies and institutions. Nearly three-quarters of respondents were top management, and over half make the purchasing decision on their own. The sample was intentionally built with a high share of large companies, since that’s where the budgets are concentrated.

We asked what products / technical assets they use, how they finance the purchase, what triggers the decision to use services, how often they need these services, for how long, with what annual budget, what other services they expect to be included in the contract, what criteria they use to choose a supplier, and, just as important, what barriers keep non-clients away from these services.

Stage 3: What would make a client switch suppliers

Numbers show what people do. They don’t show why.

We complemented the quantitative research with a series of in-depth interviews with decision-makers at the companies with the highest volume of services used, identified in the previous, quantitative stage. We explored unmet needs in the market through open-ended questions, and explored clients’ digital and operational experience. We found out exactly what would make a client drop their current supplier. And we tested the client’s proposed service concept directly with the people who would actually use it.

Data for the key decision: who to buy if you enter via acquisition (pre-due diligence)

One of the market-entry scenarios was acquiring an existing player. To provide a concrete, implementable tool, we built a proprietary pre-due diligence scoring framework for the most attractive players in the market, based on financial analysis and competitive classification.

Each company was assessed on financial performance, intensity of services activity, synergy with the client’s core business, and ownership structure. Each company received a score, a priority tier, and a valuation estimate, calculated using two distinct financial analysis methods by our financial expert, who has extensive experience in macroeconomics and M&A.

The result was a short list of companies, prioritized according to MKOR’s expert recommendations, aligned with the client’s strategy.

What the client received

Abstract diagram: three sizing flows converging, no figures

A study like this doesn’t end with a presentation. We gave the client a set of materials and tools to use when making the market-entry decision:

  • A complete market map: size, structure, and recent evolution, broken down by product / service category, by region, by industry, and by the size of companies offering services in the field our client wanted to enter.
  • A competitor database, built from multiple sources, segmented by tier, with an estimate of each player’s real intensity of service offering.
  • A pricing benchmark, based on the analysis of over 4,000 service listings, with pricing structure by service category and contract type, plus the geographic spread of the offering.
  • The full phone survey database, together with descriptive analysis for each question and a guide for reading the results, so it can also be used by people who don’t work with data on a daily basis.
  • Thematic syntheses of the in-depth interviews, covering unmet needs, reasons for switching suppliers, and direct reactions to the proposed brand concept.
  • The short list of acquisition targets, scored companies, ranked by priority tier and with a value estimate.
  • The global strategic report, with prioritized conclusions and recommendations, presented in a dedicated working session, recorded and left with the management team for future reference.
  • The executive summary report, for top management and the company’s board, which in just a few slides covers the full market context and the main conclusions and recommendations.

The impact for the client: from an assumption to a plan for entering a new niche

Boardroom above an industrial park, abstract map, no names

MKOR’s study helped ground decisions the client couldn’t make before. With the data in hand, the client was able to:

  • Answer the core question. Entering the services market became a decision backed by data, not a bet on a years-old instinct. And when a multimillion-euro decision goes to the board, the gap between “we believe” and “we measured” is the gap between a discussion and an approval.
  • Re-evaluate an assumption that had already cost time. Whether the market deserved attention was explicitly tested with concrete data, instead of remaining just a question.
  • Choose what portfolio structure to build. The data showed where the value is concentrated and which equipment categories are essential in the portfolio to compete with established players, beyond what the client already covers.
  • Prioritize geographic regions. The demand map separated high-volume, high-competition areas from areas with growing demand and weaker supply. These are two different entry strategies, and now the choice between them can be made with evidence.
  • Segment the clients they target. Instead of a single offer for the whole market, different sales criteria emerged for different client profiles, with a focus on the above-average-budget segment.
  • Compare the three entry scenarios. From scratch, through acquisition, or hybrid: each with its own feasibility and value potential, and for the acquisition route, with a short list of potential companies.
  • Build a value proposition around what clients actually want. The interviews showed exactly what service would convince a company to switch suppliers, and that became the starting point for positioning.
Abstract diagram: two paths converging into a short list, no text

The lesson: don’t mistake an invisible market for a nonexistent one

A market isn’t closed just because existing data doesn’t show its potential. More often than not, the problem isn’t the market, it’s the angle you’re measuring it from.

The client had solid historical data internally. What it lacked was data on the people who don’t buy from it, because they don’t buy at all, since what they need is services.

Where internal know-how stops, market research begins. That’s the difference between a market lost without anyone ever finding out it existed, and a market approached with a clear plan.

Want to know if your instinct about a market holds up against the data?

If you have an assumption underpinning a major decision — entering a new market, a new business line, an acquisition — let’s test it before it costs you.

Tell us the question you need answered, and we’ll propose the study structure that solves it, with the right experts.

What decision have you put off because you didn’t have market data? Tell us the question. We’ll propose the method and the budget.

Frequently asked questions

What is a market entry opportunity study?
A market entry opportunity study assesses whether and how it makes sense to enter a new market before committing capital. It covers three axes: market sizing (how large the market is and how it is evolving), competitive mapping (who is active and with what intensity), and testing entry scenarios - from building from scratch to acquisition or a hybrid approach. The output is a grounded decision base with risks weighed for each scenario, not just a well-argued hunch.
How does MKOR size a market when available data is scarce?
We triangulate from three independent sources that confirm each other. The first is a top-down statistical model built on official data (National Statistics Institute, tax registries) and calibrated against comparable European markets, part of our market research approach. The second is a bottom-up estimate drawn directly from company decision-makers through the phone survey. The third is analysis of a publicly available sectoral indicator that can serve as a predictive signal of future demand at county level. When the three converge, you get an estimate you can rely on - not a single figure pulled from one report.
Why does MKOR combine phone surveys with in-depth qualitative interviews?
The phone survey measures behaviors and attitudes at representative scale: how many companies need services, how often, with what budgets, by what criteria they choose a supplier, and what keeps non-clients on the sideline. The in-depth interviews probe the motivations of the highest-weight decision-makers - selected from within the survey sample, not recruited separately. That way, every qualitative finding stays anchored in representative data, and together the two methods answer both the numbers and the reasons behind them.
What does a preliminary analysis of potential acquisition targets involve?
Pre-due diligence identifies and ranks acquisition candidates before a formal M&A process begins. We map the relevant players in the market, score them on size and service-activity intensity, and rank them by priority tier with a value estimate for each. What you get is a short, prioritized list - a starting point for discussion, not a full financial audit.
How long does a three-stage market research project take?
A project combining desk research and statistical modeling, a phone survey with companies active in the market, and in-depth interviews with selected decision-makers realistically runs 4-6 months. The exact timeline depends on the scope of the market and the number of segments covered. The team involves up to 7 specialists across different disciplines - statisticians, financial analysts, industry experts, qualitative moderators - plus consultants and interview operators. The detailed schedule is set jointly at the start of the engagement.
Why choose MKOR for a market entry study in Romania?
MKOR is a market research and strategic consulting agency active in Romania since 2012, specializing in projects for corporations entering new markets, fast-growing companies, and institutions making high-stakes budget decisions. We integrate secondary research, statistical modeling, quantitative surveys, and qualitative interviews into a single coherent project: market sizing, client profiling, and competitive landscape analysis reinforce each other and tie into one decision base, not separate reports that don't talk to each other.