Uncovering Market Entry Decision Factors for the Sheet Metal and HVAC Industry

Expanding geographically, adding trades, and competing for larger or new types of projects are examples of market entry approaches used by construction firms to grow their organizations. Growth provides the opportunity to develop and motivate personnel, expand the brand, and mitigate market risks. Unfortunately, market entry also may cause business hardship. Although the literature suggests having a standard decision process leads to better outcomes, a formal, written protocol for addressing domestic market entry decisions could not be found in the construction literature. This paper briefly outlines a method for creating an applied market entry decision framework, and then details one critical aspect of this process: prioritization of decision factors. Key decision factors are uncovered through a review of the literature and interviews with industry professionals, and then prioritized using modified Delphi workshops. The top two decision factors for both workshops were 'Market need' and 'experience and abilities of the champion.' The results contribute to the construction body of knowledge by providing the most important factors for sheet metal and HVAC contractors to consider when entering a new market.