The Client
This e-commerce company was preparing to launch its services in North America. Market entry of that kind rests on the first hire: one person on the ground who can establish presence, build local relationships, and represent the brand credibly from day one. Getting that hire wrong delays a launch; getting it right accelerates everything after it.
The Challenge
The company’s COO needed to grow presence in a local market quickly and hire top talent to do it — without an internal recruiting function positioned for that market.
Key challenges included:
- Making a first local full-time hire to enable a North America launch
- Hiring top-tier talent on a launch timeline, where every week of delay pushes revenue back
- Working through a brief that evolved as the launch plan sharpened
- Coordinating a search across time zones alongside launch preparation
- Assessing candidates for the right seniority level for a lean, early-stage market entry
They needed a recruiting partner fast enough to keep pace with a live launch, and flexible enough to adapt as requirements shifted.
The Solution
The client came to 1840 & Company through a referral, selecting us for our high ratings, geographic proximity, and the guidance we provided during scoping.
Our approach included:
- Launch-Focused Search: We built the search specifically around the client’s market-entry goal — hiring one local, full-time staff member to enable their North America launch.
- Rapid Shortlisting: Once the project kicked off, we worked through a large volume of leads and delivered shortlisted candidates within a few days.
- Iterative Calibration: When early candidates came back as too senior for the role, we incorporated that feedback immediately and recalibrated the shortlist.
- Flexible Brief Management: We adjusted to the client’s changing brief as their launch plan evolved, rather than holding them to the original scope.
- Cross-Time-Zone Responsiveness: Our team responded quickly across time zones, keeping the search moving alongside launch preparation.
The Outcome
The client filled the role and moved ahead with its North America launch on schedule.
They gained:
- A successful hire for the role, ready to start immediately
- Shortlisted candidates within a few days of kickoff, from a deep pool of leads
- A search completed inside roughly one month, start to finish
- Fast, flexible responses across time zones as the brief changed
- Local presence established through the right first hire, rather than a rushed compromise
The client rated the engagement 4.5 for quality and schedule and highlighted our ability to move fast without sacrificing quality.
