Business expansion 
to grow local and go international

• Realistic addressable opportunity
• Entry cost and time to revenue
• Margin after localization
• Go or no-go recommendation

• Certifications and approvals
• Industry regulations
• HR and employment rules
• Impact on launch timeline

• Localized positioning and messaging
• Website and sales material
• Language versions
• Tariffs, proximity and currency

• Demand generation by market
• Execution from headquarters
• Partner identification and validation
• Attribution to revenue

Two paths. Local expansion grows revenue from existing clients through cross-selling, upselling and retention, and opens new segments or verticals. International expansion takes you into new countries through systematic process of market research, a business case analysis, legal/regulatory checks, cultural adaptation and a practical go-to-market plan.

Early stage companies must acquire at least 3-5 clients in their local market. This will allow companies to better support early adopters, receive feedback from beta clients, and most of all gain credibility that your local market has a buy-in to your solution. Of course if the solution is targeting a segment that is not available in your local market, it makes sense to start with the region where there is the highest need.

After that, most companies should start with the clients they already have, because existing relationships are the fastest source of new revenue (i.e., extending reach through subsidiaries of existing clients). International expansion makes sense when you want to reduce dependency on your domestic market, extend your target market, become the standard in your industry or increase margins, and when a business case supports it. We suggest not to wait too long to enter the US or international markets, as the fewer local competitors you have, the more likelihood to be shortlisted for consideration.

Apart from assessing the Serviceable Available/Obtainable Market, we also look at characteristics such as proximity, cultural affinity, competitor saturation, local regulations, and localization aspects. A Vancouver-based company may start its US expansion in Washington, Oregon and California. A Quebec-based company may do better entering other major European markets before entering France (depending on the industry, of course).

Not to start. We design go-to-market plans that generate demand in the new market while your sales team operates from your headquarters. If you want a distribution network, the plan includes a process to identify, validate and monitor distributors/resellers/agents’ performance. Once you have established a substantial client base in a certain region, it will be time to consider opening an office for support and building relationships with existing clients. 

We have delivered international marketing services in more than 60 markets across five continents. Most of our clients prefer to start doing business in the US, Europe or Latin America first. We also had great success in Australia, Japan, and other exotic markets. Again, the selection of the market is based on the best fit for your solution. Our team is multilingual, executes mostly in English and French, and we work with a network of 35 associates covering over 60 countries.

Plan for quarters, not weeks.  It depends on the market, the levels of new regulations that you have to adhere to, the amount of localization required, and the budget that you are willing to invest. As you need to establish your authority and trust in the new market, getting new prospective clients often takes 6-12 months before they are ready to buy, especially for a new offering in their market, and local certifications or approvals can add time before launch.

Cross-selling promotes additional, complementary products or services to existing clients. Upselling encourages clients to buy a higher-level or upgraded version of what they already use. Both increase the client lifetime value (CLV), leading to stronger profit margins, lower cost of retention, and better acquisition ROI.

By revenue, new qualified pipeline/customer base, and market presence. For local expansion we track expansion revenue from existing accounts and pipeline from new segments. For international expansion we track pipeline generated, sales accepted lead rate, pipeline velocity, win rate, and market visibility score.