When you want to launch a brand or product in a new market, it takes more than Excel simulations or forecasts. You need a multi-functional, cross-organization team that’s thinking carefully about local consumer behaviors, regulatory environments, and competitive landscapes.

Many companies pursue international expansion due to saturated domestic markets, competitive pressures, and the desire to diversify revenue streams. But even the most careful planning can come undone with unexpected challenges.

It’s important to be prepared for anything — but you don’t know what you don’t know. I spoke with global leaders who have experience in market entry, and gathered the lessons they learned about expansion and localization, as well as the challenges they faced and what they would do differently in the future.

Above All - Be Considerate and Careful When Embarking Market Entry

As you aggressively chase your revenue goals, it’s easy to forego thoughtful planning. But if you don’t take the time to cross-functionally map your market entry plan, that can cause delays, inefficiencies, and redundancies, as well as overall failure — especially in a competitive and saturated market.

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Lesson 1: Ensure Necessary Compliance and Regulations

Compliance and regulatory considerations aren’t exactly fun, but you need to pay careful attention to them when you’re expanding — if you don’t tick off all the boxes, it can derail your entire market entry.

Different rules can be complicated. When two different SaaS platforms expanded from the U.S. to Europe, they suddenly had to navigate the E.U.-wide GDPR data privacy standards as well as the varied and individualized legal frameworks of each distinct European country.

One real-estate company noted that GDPR compliance "meant we had to overhaul our data privacy protocols completely.” They also had to localize the platform, supporting multiple languages and different regional industry practices.

Legal processes are the bedrock of your market expansion. Once you are sure you’ve signed every form and followed every rule to the letter, you’ll be able to immerse yourself in the market, confident that any regulatory roadblocks are pushed aside.

Lesson 2: Don’t Underestimate Local Players’ Advantages

Upon entering the Australian market, a Canadian bicycle company realized it hadn’t taken the necessary time to understand its competitors. It had overlooked established distributors’ economic advantages, especially in the mass market bicycle industry, where availability and distribution often outweigh brand equity.

Those distributors had already optimized logistics networks to deal with Australia’s vast geographical spread; the Canadian company didn’t take advantage of the existing solutions. As a result, it faced higher operational costs and struggled to compete on price. That degraded the company’s value proposition. Who wants a more expensive bike with little brand recognition that takes longer to get?

The winning move was to approach a distributor and have them take over those efforts so the bike could compete in that market — the area’s existing infrastructure was not only already in place, but core to being competitive.

Lesson 3: Remember the Little Things

An important part of selling a product? People.

And you need to be able to see and believe things yourself to truly understand and make informed choices. While it’s important to have local fixers and trust the on-the-ground team, you should be there yourself too. Immersing yourself in the environment is key to meeting customers where they are.

From a distance, there are things you’ll miss. And in new markets, the nuances of culture and communication are everything. You’re doing yourself and your product a disservice by going off a summary rather than personal experience.

Lesson 4: Adapt Products to Environments

Everyone knows you should adapt your products to an environment — but you have to really put in the effort. Not every aspect of that environment will be immediately obvious.

For instance, a German-designed electric shaver with an attached self-cleaning device faced hurdles in Japan. Its self-cleaning device was designed for convenience, to sit next to the sink — but local insight revealed there was no space on the sink. Management should have gone into a Japanese home first, and then would have seen the problem before releasing the product.

It’s important to truly understand the setting: where the product goes, how it’s used, and even how it should look to blend in with the space. When the company adapted to Japanese consumers’ needs, it was able to reenter the market with a much more viable product.

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Maze Brighting Market Entry

While you don’t know what you don’t know — and there’s no way to plan for everything that happens — these leaders’ takeaways should be front of mind when you enter a new market.

• Compliance is Key: Paperwork can’t take a backseat. Make sure you’ve crossed all your t’s and dotted all your i’s, or your expansion will hit avoidable roadblocks.
• Seeing is Believing: Immerse yourself in local cultures so you can make decisions that align with their own beliefs, ideals, and daily practices. Have eyes on the ground, and get to the ground yourself.
• Plan Strategically: Don’t just blaze ahead. Take time to consider potential hurdles, looking both to the case studies and looking into the new markets’ attributes.
• Be Adaptable: No matter how well you plan, there will be surprises. The ability to be flexible (and even admit errors) will help you bounce back.

Expanding into new markets is a complex, multi-faceted team sport, and preparation is the most crucial tool a company can have. Careful, measured steps and a willingness to adapt on the fly will be an asset. Companies can better prepare for the challenges of global expansion with thorough preparation, cultural sensitivity, and the humility to listen, learn, and quickly adapt.