Why EcoLocked Chose Geographic Depth Over Global Expansion Despite Worldwide Demand

Why EcoLocked Chose Geographic Depth Over Global Expansion Despite Worldwide Demand

Inbound leads from three continents. Prospects ready to buy. Revenue sitting on the table. Most founders would celebrate this problem and scramble to serve every market. EcoLocked said no.

In a recent episode of Category Visionaries, Steff Gerhart, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of EcoLocked, explained why her team deliberately constrained their geographic footprint despite global demand for their CO2-negative concrete admixes. The decision reveals a principle that hardware companies ignore at their peril: supply chain complexity scales geometrically, not linearly.

The Temptation of Global Demand

EcoLocked’s product addresses a universal problem: construction accounts for 15% of global emissions, and every developed market is under pressure to decarbonize. The demand is genuinely worldwide.

“We do get requests also from the us, from Canada, from South America, and then also a lot from Asia,” Steff shares. These aren’t casual inquiries—they’re legitimate prospects with real budgets and genuine need. For most startups, this represents validation. Product-market fit exists across continents.

The conventional wisdom says capture this demand immediately. Strike while interest is hot. Global expansion demonstrates momentum to investors. Geographic diversification reduces risk. Every growth playbook preaches the same message: more markets, more revenue, more scale.

EcoLocked looked at that playbook and chose a different path.

The Supply Chain Constraint

The decision to stay regional stems from a hard constraint that digital products never face. “Since we rely on a supply chain that right now we are focusing here on the kind of European part, that would be quite some effort to build up a new supply chain in that other market,” Steff explains.

That phrase—”quite some effort”—dramatically understates the challenge. Building a supply chain isn’t like opening a new sales territory. It’s not about hiring regional reps or translating marketing materials. It’s about establishing reliable sourcing, consistent quality control, logistics infrastructure, regulatory compliance, and vendor relationships from scratch.

For EcoLocked, which uses biochar as a core material, supply chain means securing feedstock, processing capabilities, quality verification, and delivery logistics. Every new region requires building these capabilities independently. You can’t ship heavy construction materials economically across continents. You need local supply chains.

The Current Footprint

EcoLocked’s geographic strategy reflects this constraint. “We are mostly in Germany, but we have customers in the Netherlands and we are talking to a bunch of custom prospects across Europe. So Italy, uk, France, Denmark, Spain,” Steff notes.

This footprint isn’t random. It represents markets where their existing European supply chain can operate effectively. Germany provides the core infrastructure. The Netherlands shares logistics networks. The other European markets remain accessible within the same regional supply chain framework.

This is regional depth, not global breadth. Instead of serving customers poorly across multiple continents, they serve customers well within one integrated supply chain region. The distinction matters more for hardware than software.

The Cost of Premature Expansion

What happens when hardware companies expand geographically before mastering supply chain? They fragment their operations, dilute their focus, and multiply their complexity.

Every new region requires dedicated resources: supply chain development, quality control, regulatory navigation, logistics coordination. These aren’t one-time setup costs. They’re ongoing operational overhead that scales with geography.

For a lean startup team, this overhead becomes crushing. Resources that should improve the product or serve existing customers well instead get consumed managing supply chain complexity across regions. Quality becomes inconsistent because you can’t maintain the same standards across disconnected supply chains.

Customer experience suffers too. When supply chains are strained, delivery becomes unpredictable. When regional operations are under-resourced, support quality drops. You end up with unhappy customers across multiple markets instead of delighted customers in concentrated markets.

The Discipline of Saying No

The hardest part of EcoLocked’s strategy isn’t understanding supply chain constraints—it’s actually saying no to revenue. “This is why we are really concentrating our efforts regionally,” Steff explains.

Every declined prospect represents real money left on the table. Sales teams hate it. Investors question it. Board members push back. The pressure to capture available revenue is intense, especially for startups trying to prove growth.

But chasing every opportunity is how startups die. Not from lack of demand, but from operational complexity that exceeds their execution capacity. The discipline to say no separates companies that scale sustainably from companies that collapse under their own growth.

When EcoLocked Will Expand

Geographic constraint isn’t permanent strategy—it’s sequencing. EcoLocked will enter new regions, but only when they can do it properly. “If we decide to go into the new region, then you know, we would do preparation and with full force,” Steff notes.

That phrase—”with full force”—describes a completely different expansion model than incremental geographic creep. It means treating each new region as a major strategic initiative requiring dedicated resources, thorough preparation, and full commitment.

This approach delays revenue from those regions but dramatically increases the probability of success when expansion does happen. Instead of tentative half-measures that fail, you get full regional operations that work from day one.

The Preparation Investment

What does “preparation” actually mean for hardware companies entering new regions? It starts with supply chain development long before first customer acquisition.

You need to identify and qualify feedstock suppliers. You need to establish quality control processes that match your existing standards. You need to navigate regulatory requirements that vary by jurisdiction. You need to build logistics capabilities for reliable delivery. You need to develop vendor relationships that take months or years to mature.

Only after this infrastructure exists can you effectively serve customers. Trying to build supply chain while serving customers is a recipe for disappointed customers and burned reputation.

The Regional Depth Advantage

While competitors chase global footprints, EcoLocked’s regional concentration creates compounding advantages. Deep presence in one region means stronger supplier relationships, better quality control, more efficient logistics, and deeper market understanding.

In the concrete industry, where “everyone knows everyone,” regional reputation matters intensely. Being the trusted partner in Central Europe carries more weight than being the unknown vendor attempting to serve everyone everywhere.

Regional depth also enables the physical proximity strategy that EcoLocked’s sales process requires. You can’t maintain the lab visit approach, the face-to-face relationship building, or the rapid iteration when you’re stretched across continents.

The Framework for Hardware Expansion

EcoLocked’s approach suggests a framework for hardware companies thinking about geographic expansion. The decision isn’t about market opportunity—it’s about supply chain readiness.

Before expanding to a new region, answer these questions: Can we source materials locally at our quality standards? Can we deliver reliably and economically? Can we maintain the same customer experience we provide in existing markets? Can we dedicate sufficient resources to build real regional operations?

If any answer is no, delay expansion. The revenue you capture by expanding prematurely will be offset by operational costs, quality problems, and damaged reputation. Better to dominate one region completely than to serve multiple regions poorly.

The Three-to-Five Year Vision

Looking ahead, Steff’s vision includes regional expansion but maintains the discipline of depth over breadth. Beyond their current Central European focus, they’re targeting “North America, Middle east.”

Notice what’s not on that list: everywhere. Even in their expansion vision, they’re targeting specific regions they can serve properly, not attempting global coverage. Each regional expansion will follow the same pattern: thorough preparation, supply chain establishment, then full-force market entry.

This patient, disciplined approach to expansion is the opposite of “move fast and break things.” It’s more expensive upfront and slower to show revenue growth. It’s also the only approach that works when your product depends on physical supply chains rather than cloud infrastructure.

The Real Constraint

For software companies, geographic expansion means translating interfaces and maybe adjusting for local regulations. The marginal cost of serving a new market approaches zero. Growth-at-all-costs makes sense.

For hardware companies, every new geography means rebuilding core infrastructure. The marginal cost remains high. Growth-at-all-costs leads to collapse.

EcoLocked understands this distinction. Their geographic strategy isn’t conservative or risk-averse—it’s realistic about operational constraints that no amount of ambition can overcome. For hardware founders facing global demand, the lesson is clear: master your supply chain in one region before attempting to build it in another. Saying no to revenue today preserves your ability to capture it properly tomorrow.