"Absorb what is useful, discard what is not, add what is uniquely your own." — Bruce Lee
In 2018, the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation came into force and fundamentally changed the calculus for any SaaS service with a connection to EU residents or their data. I was consulting with a U.S.-based SaaS company that had proxy servers in Europe. Those servers suddenly carried potential legal liability they had never anticipated.
The European subscriber base constituted less than 1% of gross revenues. As a small company, the cost and operational complexity of navigating an untested and aggressive new regulation wasn't justifiable against that revenue. The servers were decommissioned. It was not an ideal outcome — but it was the right business decision given the circumstances.
Whether you are building for a single domestic market or planning for international expansion, the decision must be made explicitly in the roadmap. Several of the earlier analyses — target market, compliance, IT infrastructure — are directly affected by whether the scope is national or international.
Roadmap Considerations
◆ Identify all relevant international data protection and privacy regulations before designing the infrastructure — GDPR, CCPA, and equivalents. ◆ Design the infrastructure and architecture to handle a globally dispersed user base, even if you're not serving one yet. ◆ Adapt UI/UX to align with the expectations and usability patterns of the target audience in each market, not just translate the existing interface. ◆ Offer payment options that accommodate regional preferences and currency requirements.