Scottish individuals have often gained work experience here in the days when programmers were plentiful in Scotland and the money was better in Germany. And many Scottish managers have gained German experience while working for Scottish-based subsidiaries of US parents. The linguistic, legal and cultural barriers are high and not to be underestimated. But in such a big, fast-moving market there are plenty of niches waiting to be filled by incoming companies. For the service company the route could be piggy-backing on a large corporate client which is making its move into Germany.
Acquisition is an increasingly common mode of entry.
Whatever the type of approach the incoming company will need the right German business and service partners. This is the make or break issue for Scottish SMEs in Germany. An example of how this has been solved is The Keltik Skunk Works who are putting together a pan-European network which includes Germany. The German partners in this network will benefit from new business and Scottish knowhow. And the Scottish Skunks will ultimately get into business with German corporations.