Poland Market Entry
Most foreign entrants lose their first year in Poland to the wrong entity choice, a mis-hired country lead, and a setup run part-time from headquarters. We live here, hire here and run teams here — we get you operating in months, not quarters, and hand over a local operation your HQ can actually run.
Market entry and go-to-market into Poland for DACH, French and international companies — entity setup, on-the-ground interim leadership, local hiring, and a delivery team that ships. Working languages: EN, DE, FR, PL.
What you get
- A market-entry plan grounded in how Poland actually works — entity choice (sp. z o.o. vs branch vs employer-of-record), the tax and VAT registration sequence, and a realistic timeline to first hire and first invoice.
- A country lead or interim manager in the seat from week one, so the entry isn't run part-time from a head office two time zones away.
- Your first local team actually hired — candidates interviewed, referenced and onboarded, with the HR, contracts and payroll foundations underneath them.
- A go-to-market motion fitted to the Polish buyer: positioning, pricing in PLN, and the channels that convert here.
- A written handover so your HQ owns the operation when we step out — decisions made, live risks, the people in seat.
How we work
- Local, not fly-in. Registered in Poland (CEIDG, NIP PL5272509306), based in the Warsaw metro, fluent in Polish plus EN/DE/FR — your HQ and your Polish hires talk to the same people.
- Diagnostic before commitment. We start with a scoped read on whether Poland is the right next market and what entry shape fits — not a twelve-month retainer on day one.
- Hire-and-hand-over, not hire-and-hold. The goal is a self-running local operation, not a dependency on us.
- Two principals. Bernhard runs entry strategy, interim leadership and delivery; Adrianna runs hiring, HR and people foundations — the two things that sink most entries.
Ideal for
- DACH, French and international companies opening their first Polish entity or office.
- Scale-ups standing up a delivery or engineering hub in Poland's talent market.
- PE-backed firms building or integrating a Polish operation post-deal.
- Companies that tried Poland with a remote setup and need someone on the ground to make it real.
Typical engagement shape
- Duration
- 3–9 months, from plan to a self-running local operation
- Team
- 2 principals — entry/delivery lead + hiring/HR lead — with vetted local partners (legal, accounting, payroll)
- Cadence
- On-site in the Warsaw metro, hybrid with your HQ
- Starts with
- A two-week market-entry read: entity options, timeline, first-hire plan
- Exit
- Local team in seat, operations running, written handover to your HQ
Why us for Poland
We've built and run teams in Poland from the inside — operational redesign and delivery leadership across CEE growth-stage companies (Abris Capital portfolio including WDX and Versabox), and inside AB InBev's global digital transformation programme. Poland is home, not a market on a map. See four engagements with real numbers →
Common questions
What's the best legal structure to enter Poland?
The three common routes are a limited company (spółka z o.o.), a branch of your existing company, or an employer-of-record (PEO) if you only need to hire a few people first. A sp. z o.o. gives you a real local entity and credibility but takes longer and carries accounting obligations; an employer-of-record lets you hire in weeks without incorporating. The right call depends on headcount plans, who signs contracts locally, and your tax position — we map it to your situation in the first two weeks.
How long does it take to set up and start operating in Poland?
With an employer-of-record you can have your first Polish hire working in a few weeks. A own limited company (sp. z o.o.) realistically takes a few weeks to register plus the VAT and tax registrations on top, so a first invoice in roughly two to three months is a sound plan. We sequence it so hiring and go-to-market start in parallel with the incorporation rather than waiting behind it.
Can you hire our first Polish employees for us?
Yes. Adrianna runs the hiring end to end — role definition, sourcing in the Polish market, interviews, references and onboarding — and sets up the HR, employment-contract and payroll foundations underneath the first team. You get people in seat, not a pile of CVs.
Do we need a Polish-speaking team, or can we operate in English?
English works inside most professional and tech teams in Poland. But sales, official filings, contracts and many institutions run in Polish. We bridge both — your HQ works with us in EN/DE/FR, and the Polish side of the operation runs in Polish — so nothing is lost in translation in either direction.
How is this different from a law firm or a payroll/PEO provider?
A law firm handles incorporation, a PEO handles the employment contract, an accountant handles the books — each does one slice and none of them runs your entry. We own the whole thing: the plan, the leadership in the seat, the first hires, the go-to-market, and the handover — and we bring the legal, accounting and payroll partners in around that, managed by us.
Which companies do you typically help enter Poland?
Mostly DACH (Germany, Austria, Switzerland), French and other international companies — scale-ups opening a delivery or engineering hub, and PE-backed firms standing up or integrating a Polish operation after a deal. Poland is our home market, so this is the work we're closest to.