This question comes up almost weekly: "I work in Egypt, should I start working in Saudi Arabia?" And the quick answer people always hear: "of course, prices are higher there."
Prices genuinely are higher. But price is not profit, and the difference between the two markets is not only in the numbers.
The real difference is not the price
When you calculate, calculate net: marketing costs are noticeably higher in Saudi Arabia, the competition includes companies with much larger budgets, and the customer there compares more options.
There are also costs that appear after you start: registration and licensing, how you receive money, support on a different schedule, and local shipping or delivery.
And if you provide a service, there is a third and more important cost: your own time. A new market takes far more attention than the market you understand, and that attention is taken from somewhere else.
The customer is different, not just the price
The difference is not only purchasing power. How decisions are made, the expected response speed, the style of communication, even the terminology you use, all of it differs.
Content that works in Egypt does not necessarily work there, and the dialect itself matters in advertising. Many people copy their Egyptian campaign, run it there, and are surprised by the result.
Before you spend, read the comments on your competitors' pages there. You will learn more in two hours than from any report.
Time is the hidden cost
Any new market takes several times the attention you expect: learning, calls on a different schedule, longer follow-up on every deal, and mistakes to be corrected.
If you still run everything yourself, the new market will take from the time you spend developing and following up in your core market. That is why many companies enter Saudi Arabia and return to find their Egyptian sales have fallen.
Five questions before you decide
- How is your product delivered? Services delivered online are far easier than anything needing a physical presence.
- Who will reply and follow up? This market is not sold to with lazy messaging; it needs someone focused on it.
- Do you have anyone to introduce you? Referrals and relationships open doors there far faster than advertising.
- How will you price? If you take your Egyptian price and multiply it by a number, you will usually look suspiciously cheap or expensive for no reason.
- Has your local market genuinely hit its ceiling? If there is still room to grow in Egypt, the return on your effort is probably higher here.
Pricing: the most important entry decision
A cheap price in a higher-income market is not an advantage, it is a signal. The customer there reads a low price as lower quality or a temporary supplier, especially in services.
The right method: price on the value of the result in that market, and on the cost of serving it (which includes more time and more communication), not on a currency conversion of your local price.
And set payment terms from the start: a deposit, a clear transfer method, and an invoice. Vagueness about money with a distant client becomes a problem quickly.
The formal side: do not leave it to the last minute
Before you start selling, understand the formal shape of doing business: does the client there need an approved invoice? Does your activity require registration or a local partner? How will you receive money and at what transfer cost?
Digital services are much easier than products on this point, but even there you must agree the contracting and payment shape with the client from the start.
And do not build a full plan on something you are not legally sure of. One question to an accountant or a lawyer who knows that market saves you months.
Competition there is different
The Saudi market has strong local companies, Egyptian, Lebanese and Jordanian firms that have worked there for years, and international players. You are not entering an empty market waiting for someone.
The advantage that usually works is narrow specialisation: instead of "we do marketing," say "we work with dental clinics in Riyadh." That focus puts you against fewer companies and gives you the customer's exact language.
And start from the advantage you genuinely have: lower cost, higher speed, or experience in a particular sector. Without a clear advantage you are simply one more option in a crowded market.
The least risky way in
Do not move the business. Start with one service and one segment, with one or two clients through a contact or a local partner, and see the real difference in cost and time before you spend on campaigns.
That small trial gives you real numbers in three months instead of a big decision built on an impression. And if it works, you will have built your first local success story, the strongest marketing tool there is.
And note: the first client in a new market takes the effort of five clients in your own. Plan for that so it does not surprise you.
Do the maths before you get excited
Do a simple calculation on paper: if you enter this market, what will you spend in the first six months (time, travel, marketing, translation, a partner)? How many clients do you need to cover it? And in how many months do you expect to reach that number?
If the answer is that you need twenty clients in six months in a market where you know nobody yet, that plan is more optimistic than it should be.
Compare that number with the same amount spent in your current market: what would it bring? That comparison is the decision, not enthusiasm and not what people say.
And if the customer approached you?
Sometimes entry happens by chance: a client from there contacted you and you worked together. That is genuinely the best way to begin, because you learn on the client's money rather than your own.
But watch the trap: one client is not a market. Before building big decisions on a single experience, try to win a second and a third and see whether the pattern repeats.
Remote presence and its limits
Many services are delivered from Egypt to Saudi Arabia with no physical presence at all, and that genuinely works in software, design, marketing, content and consulting.
But a point comes where presence is needed: when the client wants meetings, when you enter tenders, or when you need to deal with official bodies. Know that point early and decide whether you are ready for it.
The middle ground that works for many: regular travel every few months rather than a permanent office. Far cheaper, and it gives the client a sense of closeness.
A local partner: advantage and risk
A local partner saves you a year: they open relationships, understand how business is done, and reassure the client. It is the fastest entry into any Gulf market.
The risk is depending on them for everything, leaving you a remote executor with no direct relationship with the clients. Keep your own line to the end client from day one, even if the partner is the face.
In short
The question is not "where are prices higher?", it is "where will my effort return fastest with the least risk?"
Choose based on your ability to deliver and to reach, start with a small measured trial, and price on value rather than currency conversion. The Saudi market is a real opportunity, for whoever enters it with a calculation.
This is part of a series on seasons and new markets, which also covers why you do not have to sell in Saudi Arabia at all.