For any businesses that want to expand, focus on your core business and outsource the rest. Use serviced offices and outsource administrative tasks
Building businesses is a form of art. Like painting a brush stroke, every aspect requires detail to attention. At the end, you might not end up with what you expected – you can have a stunning piece of art, or something collecting dust in the corner.
That is what we have learnt here at Compass Offices. We opened our first centres in 2009 in Hong Kong. In the past seven years, we have opened over 40 centres. In 2014, we successfully launched our second batch of centres in Sydney, Melbourne, Vietnam, Manila, Seoul and Poland.
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We also had centres in Malaysia, Thailand, Dubai and Guangzhou that did not take off as we planned. From these experiences, I have learned that expanding your business to other countries is an intricate process.
These are practical tips that I’ve learnt along the way in building and managing businesses in multi-countries:
Start with a good foundation
Hiring the right talent and a capable country leader is the number one priority. Not everyone is cut out for remote work. So it is important to identify self-motivated and action-minded candidates that can thrive in this setting.
It is normally tempting to keep the best people in core cash-generating businesses and be reluctant to send them away from core business where they are doing very well.
Good people who are not doing so well in existing or home markets are usually sent as the opportunity cost is much lower and the core business not affected. Consider sending the best people instead of the lowest opportunity cost.
Find a balance between micromanaging and being completely absent
The next step is to define a clear expectation and establish ground rules to keep lines of accountability. Centralising decision is tempting as it can give you a control and standardisation.
However, it is important that your team also have autonomy. That way, you can have local input and provide relevant products and services for local customers.
This will prevent you from being a seagull manager – one who flies in, makes a lot of noise, craps all over and flies away.
Don’t lose focus by dwelling on underperforming markets
It is easier for CEOs to spend their time to try to fix underperforming markets, instead of paying attention to well-performing ones.
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We experienced this at Compass Offices with a couple of markets. But it is important to remember that a poor performing market is a liability rather than an asset. Don’t waste your time. The sooner you make decisions on the future of the market, the better.
Prioritise building company culture
Recognise that each market will develop its own culture to reflect the personality of the country. However, the company’s core culture should remain in place.
For example, if your company culture prioritises the needs of customers, this core value should be reflected in every market, regardless of location.
To do this, schedule regular check-ins with your team and make sure they know that you are within their reach.
Each new country is like a new business
Even if you have everything figured out for your market, this does not always translate to smooth sailing ride when you expand to new markets. Do not underestimate the challenge of starting in a new country with foreign customers, behaviours, and preferences. It requires more people and resources that we would expect.
For any businesses that want to expand, focus on your core business and outsource the rest. Use serviced offices and outsource administrative tasks.
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Even the greatest artists took the time to finish their masterpieces – and many “failed” numerous times before completing their masterpiece.
Approaching a business the way you would approach art isn’t a grand comparison to make. It takes time and patience to establish a foundation, figure out what works and adjust to a market.
No matter what happens, the learning experience is priceless.
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