Global expansion: 8 founders on how to take your company global
Thinking about expanding beyond your borders? Real business owners share their advice.
Taking a business "global" sounds exciting and profitable, but it can also be challenging, costly and slow. Fortunately, if you’re considering global expansion for your brand, there are plenty of entrepreneurs who have paved the way.
We spoke to six founders who have taken their businesses from start-ups to global success stories to uncover their tips for global expansion.
“Launching into a new market is like starting a new business”
Australian protein-ball brand Bounce launched into global markets in 2007
It was in 2004 that former business coach and personal trainer Paula Hannagan started selling natural protein balls from her garage in an Australian coastal town. She and her husband, Andy, pioneered a new category of “protein ball,” established Bounce, and within a few years launched in the UK, before breaking into Canada in 2011 and the US in 2014.
Today the brand sells one protein ball every 1.9 seconds - and international sales from global expansion have been vital to that success. However, Hannagan says that while global e-commerce is exciting, entering new markets can be costly. “Launching into a new market is equivalent to starting a new business,” she says now. “[It] can be extremely costly.”
Those costs can include overseas freight, brokerage fees, product listing fees, marketing, and any changes that must be made to packaging to align with a given country’s regulations.
"Account for the fact that global expansion will be extremely costly.”
“Make sure you account for this in your cash flow, as you don't want working capital to be diverted away from your key market,” she advises.
Hannagan also recommends enlisting specialist brokers or export-market specialists and seeking advice from business owners who have already expanded overseas.
To help offset the costs, she suggests seeking government grants and support for small businesses moving into new markets. “We've utilized these initiatives in the past to help us understand the competitive retail landscape and to inform our export business strategy.”
“Always localize – whether that’s language, influencers or compliance”
Bondi Sands launched into the US in 2019. Here’s what the founders learned
When self-tanning entrepreneur Blair James co-founded Bondi Sands in 2012 the brand had just four products. Today, the self-tanning empire includes 100 products and is stocked in 30,000 retailers globally across four market categories.
Looking back, James says the brand made “plenty of mistakes,” many stemming from compliance issues or a failure to adequately localize marketing messages.
"We had to rework and relabel every bottle – which was a costly exercise.”
“We had an instance with a wash-off tan in the US in the early days, where our ingredient list only called out the pigment, not the colour, as we do in Australia. However, in the US, this meant all our stock got held by the FDA [US Food and Drug Administration] and couldn’t be supplied to retailers. We had to rework and relabel every bottle – [which was] a costly exercise.”
James’ global expansion advice is to reach out to a compliance agency when expanding globally. “They can help you intimately understand ingredients and labeling requirements, particularly for the UK and EU markets, which update frequently.”
But that’s not the only nuance brands need to appreciate. “Other things to consider are category understanding and language. We’re fortunate that Bondi Sands has a simple message – selling the Australian lifestyle – which allows us to be efficient with our marketing and storytelling. But in the US for example, we’ve had to simplify our message, as their understanding of self-tanning is less developed than in Australia and the UK."
"When working with influencers keep the brief tight, so you get the output you want.”
Lastly, James warns that engaging influencers in foreign markets can be risky. When Bondi Sands launched into the UK, they worked instead with Australian influencers who had large followings in the UK, such as Tammy Hembrow and Steph Claire Smith. Today, James says, “I’d recommend going through a reputable agent to keep the brief tight, so you get the output you want.”
“Be transparent with shipping costs”
Canine accessories brand Bully Billows has found success from abroad, with one third of online customers coming from outside its base in the UK.
Bully Billows specializes in high-quality harnesses, collars and leashes, and although the brand is based in the UK, it didn’t take long for overseas dog lovers to discover its products.
“We started selling internationally from the get-go,” says co-founder Anthony Koumi. “It started very organically without paid advertisement.”
Today, one in three online sales is a global customer, with the US and Europe the biggest markets. Kuomi says that when it comes to selling overseas, it’s crucial to be very transparent with customers about delivery and returns processes “to save any surprises to the customer”.
“We started selling internationally from the get-go."
He recommends partnering with local shipping and delivery carriers. “For example, FedEx is vastly trusted in the States,” says Koumi, who has learned that many US customers would prefer to pay a premium in order to have the entire order fulfilled by FedEx. “This is the same in Europe, [where] DPD [Europe’s largest delivery group] is so trusted.” Bully Billows also offers cheaper delivery options, too.
“Make customer service a priority”
Since launching in New Zealand three years ago, natural skincare brand Emma Lewisham has successfully entered the Australian and US markets.
Expanding overseas was a straightforward decision for natural New Zealand beauty brand Emma Lewisham. “Within our first year of business, we were seeing strong return customers on www.emmalewisham.com from global markets such as Australia, the UK and the US,” recalls beauty founder Emma Lewisham. “[That] informed our decision to expand.”
Since then, the brand has seen 230 percent year-over-year growth in Australia, while the US is already its third biggest market.
Lewisham credits this success to the brand’s circular beauty values and products, but adds that she heavily researched each market before entering – and has made customer service a priority.
“We pride ourselves on being incredibly responsive on Instagram and email."
“We pride ourselves on being incredibly responsive from a customer service standpoint. We receive a lot of product queries through both email and Instagram direct messaging which we check hourly and respond to within 24 hours, although typically much sooner. We also have a live chat function on our website.”
She also recommends having a brand representative on the ground in key international markets, “both to support retailers and engage with other partners and local activations”.
“I should have signed up to Afterpay earlier!”
UK makeup brand Glisten has offered global sales since the day it launched.
Glisten Cosmetics founder Natalie Chapple originally launched her cosmetic glitter business as a side-hustle to help cover the costs of childcare. But Glisten quickly took off and evolved into a makeup business, with her eyeliners and eye shadows as popular abroad as they are in the UK.
Today, 85 percent of Chapple’s business comprises global sales, and her biggest market is the US. Her top tips? “Keep shipping costs more affordable. I’ve always had a ‘standard’ shipping [fee], which doesn’t get tracked, but I can offer it for free [for orders] over £30.”
“Keep shipping costs affordable.”
Offering currency conversion also removes friction, as does Clearpay (known as Afterpay in the US). Today, approximately 5-7 percent of Glisten sales are made using Clearpay’s Cross Border Trade program (akin to Afterpay's Cross Border commerce), which allows customers to purchase products in their own currency and pay in installments – and sees merchants paid, upfront, in their own currency.
Today, Chapple says her biggest mistake was not signing up to Clearpay earlier. “I was stupidly skeptical, and I should have just jumped on it. Being able to offer this sort of payment method abroad has helped me keep my international customers. It used to be hard to explain that my ‘buy now pay later’ scheme was only for my country - customers never understood why I couldn't offer it worldwide. So it makes for an easier conversion.”
“Keep it simple to start with”
US stationery business Cloth & Paper has shipped around the world since 2015.
Ashley Reynolds launched her stationery business in 2015 after she was unable to find a daily planner that suited her sleek, androgynous style. Today, the North Carolina brand has 45 staff and was recently ranked in Inc.com’s 5,000 fastest-growing companies.
Chief operating officer Ryan Reynolds says Cloth & Paper started selling internationally soon after its launch. “Although we have shipped to nearly every country possible, our primary markets are Canada, the UK and Australia, along with most of Western Europe.”
His number-one tip? “When starting off, keep it simple.” Today, Cloth & Paper ships with a consolidator (APC), which works with a number of carriers to provide door-to-door service. However, when the brand started shipping they simply used UPS.
“The rules here have changed a lot in the past few years."
Reynolds also recommends offering clear advice around customs costs. “The rules here have changed a lot in the past few years. Again, make it easy on yourself to start. We’ve found most customers who purchase internationally have a decent understanding of what customs fees they will be expected to pay when the product arrives, but providing as much information as you can ahead of time will help to eliminate any bad experiences,” he says.
“For countries where you can avoid having to get involved with the customs process, just let the customer handle it, and then once you become more comfortable, you can work to improve that part of the customer experience.”
“Ensure global staff feel like they’re part of your business”
Serial fashion entrepreneur Jodhi Meares launched activewear brand The Upside in 2013, before expanding overseas three years later.
“I always wanted THE UPSIDE to be a global brand,” says founder Jodhi Meares. “That’s how I pictured it from the outset, and it’s why we were able to launch in the US and UK [just] one year after Australia.”
Today the brand, which is known for its printed leggings and logo tanks, is stocked by more than 250 retailers around the world.
Meares believes having a global outlook from conception made all the difference to their rapid international expansion – along with building the right team and then investing in them.
“We currently have 40 staff and growing,” says Meares. “When you hire overseas staff, don’t rush, leverage your networks, and once you find the right person, you need to go to additional lengths to make them feel part of the business.”
“Working from afar is a challenge, so you need to build genuine connections."
She adds, “Working from afar is a challenge, so you need to build genuine connections and work hard to make them always feel part of the broader team and business. [Frequent] personal contact – which has been harder these past few years – and regular phone and Zoom calls ensure we understand their needs and support them where we can. Another thing is to be respectful of them and their time – especially when navigating time zones.”
“Consider a freight broker and try to be on the ground”
Australian health-food entrepreneur Keira Rumble established Krumbled Foods, which specializes in edible collagen snack bars, in 2019. Two years later, the brand launched in the UK and New Zealand.
When Keira Rumble secured UK retail health chain Holland & Barrett as a distributor, she had just four weeks to register her business in the UK, airfreight stock from Australia, and pull together a marketing plan.
A day before Krumbled’s official UK launch – in the middle of the pandemic – she went into premature labor with her son.
“As a small business, you need to be able to adapt."
“As a small business, you need to be able to adapt,” she reflects, adding that it wasn’t until several months later that she was able to fly to London to officially launch the business and meet with retailers and press. “The limitations on me being able to physically enter the country given the pandemic significantly impacted the immediate success [of the launch].”
Rumble admits that international expansion has been an “incredibly expensive experience”. Her original planning didn’t take into account the cost of sending temperature-controlled products internationally, for example.
However, she says that connecting with the right freight broker (who serves as an intermediary between the brand and the carriers) has helped identify issues like this and reduce costs for the brand. It’s impossible to forecast every issue, though, she warns. “Little things will prove oddly difficult, like trying to set up a bank account. Even though we’d registered our business in the UK, we were knocked back by multiple ‘big banks’.”
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