Introducing their son to soccer, one executive thought of an ambitious idea: providing high-quality training programs to children. The coaching would teach not only technical abilities but also the sport's developmental benefits, enhancing children's social, cognitive, and physical skills. It would call for, of course, highly talented soccer coaches.

The idea quickly grew, from neighborhood to neighborhood, from state to state, crossing international borders. Starting with just some napkin-math and a minimal business plan, the passion project transformed into a company with over $30 million in revenue.

Setting Up and Expanding Your Business

A talent-based business presents a unique challenge: It’s people-first, not reliant on a physical product. So it’s crucial to hire the right team and invest in them. When they feel supported, they become ambassadors, the frontline of brand representation.

As such, the organization focused first on seeking out high-quality coaches and materials, and building a curriculum. The pool of coaches comprised skilled players seeking part-time employment. The organization rented fields from schools, community centers, YMCAs, and sports clubs to get started.

Word-of-mouth was crucial in the early days’ expansion, as was partnership. One afterschool program partnership led to another, and another, opening the gates to more and more neighborhoods. But there were some important factors to bear in mind.

1. Calibrate your business plan to the market

Though they may be 30 minutes away, the markets can vary greatly. Expanding from its first neighborhood to its second, the company had to lower prices to meet the market. However, it also paid less in rental fees, which allowed for different margin calibrations.

"We thought the quality of our program would justify higher prices, but we didn’t realize that people preferred their local town recreation programs over premium offerings,” the founder said. To succeed, we needed to integrate into the local community by being part of these programs, which helped build brand awareness. Simply charging higher prices without this local integration did not work."

‍

States also varied in their pricing structures, and hiring practices and the available talent pool were taken into consideration.

2. Talent pools can differ

Where coaches were abundant in the first area—which was home to many actors and musicians seeking a reliable gig—a subsequent market was centered around college students, who generally look for more seasonal, flexible, or short-term work. Because of their numerous activities and distractions, they were generally less reliable, consistent, and high-quality employees.

It was a mismatch for a company so focused on talent.

Also, in an attempt to scale quickly, the company hired a highly credentialed senior leader (who wasn’t familiar with the business) to drive entry in the market. But that wasn’t what the organization needed.

As a talent-driven company, it needed a hands-on leader who was familiar with the mission and operations — someone who could build local partnerships and knew how to integrate the coaches and programs into the local community.

"We learned that you need to have the right people in place who understand both the business and the local market,” the Operations executive said. “Sending someone unfamiliar with our operations or hiring locals who don’t understand our business didn't work. It’s about balancing local expertise with company knowledge to ensure effective integration and success."

‍

3. Cultures and understandings vary

The transition across borders proved even more challenging. What was soccer in the U.S. was the deeply-loved football elsewhere, a sport with extremely established national roots. Parents introduce kids to the sport before they can crawl; they’re often the first coach.

And, of course, there was well-established local competition. Market entry was difficult, and at a time when the company was scaling so rapidly that the team was stretched thin. Some senior leaders couldn’t contribute substantially to the strategic planning and infrastructure development needed to penetrate the competitive market.

Several years later, these factors led the company to exit the country.

At each stage, the company had to adapt to differences in pricing, talent, and culture. Expansion wasn’t its end-all, be-all, either—when a potential acquisition came knocking, the company withdrew from its global efforts to refocus on the thriving local ones.

Sometimes it’s simply best to focus on existing and or few markets instead of spreading thin.

‍

‍Maze Brighting Your Talent-Driven Business

• Assess the motivation of your talent: 
  • Which markets have the right market dynamics - where would the talent would be highly motivated and committed to delivering your product/service?
  • How do you match that with the product/service demand that you're offering?
  • How to you grow your talent in the organization? In the case of this organization - will someone be satisfied being a soccer coach for 10 years?
• Calibrate the right mix of internal and local knowledge to open a new market:
  • What internal knowledge do you bring from one market to another? Do you send a strong leader in one market to open another market?
  • What local knowledge do you need to hire and integrate into the organization? Do you do that through partners, consultants, fixers or a full-time employee?
    

• Ensure headspace of key leaders in evaluating a new market entry opening:
  • Failed market entry can be costly. Which key leaders need to have headspace and mental capacity to think thoughtfully on the market entry.
  • For how long do you need to pull key leaders in? What else gets de-prioritized by pulling those leaders into this strategic priority?

Ultimately, success in a talent-driven business comes down to balancing strategic growth with an unwavering commitment to the people who deliver your product or service. Whether expanding locally or internationally, aligning your talent with the market’s unique needs ensures your business thrives in the right places, with the right people.