You Don’t Need to Be Big to Go Offshore – But You Do Need a Plan

Expanding into an international market can be one of the most rewarding – and risky – moves a small or mid-sized business can make.  While global opportunities may seem within easier reach than ever, success offshore requires far more than ambition and a great product or service.

This article explores the practical realities of international expansion for SMEs, including why a well-prepared business case is essential, the key elements it should contain, and the critical decision points you’ll face from initial feasibility through to full market entry.  Whether you’re eyeing your first overseas customer or planning a broader strategy, this is what you need to know before you go.

Why You Should Do a Business Case

In “Get bigger or get out of the way: an insider’s guide to navigating strategic growth for mid-sized firms” I discussed the need for SMEs to maintain competitiveness through strategic growth, and the unique advantage most have in using culture to advantage as an M&A value-multiplier.

Whether you are considering expanding through M&A, or via direct entry into new markets, you need a business plan.

This guide for leaders and boards of SME’s focuses on the additional complexities and considerations your business plan needs when you explore overseas growth potential.

1. It adds rigour and structure to the search, and is good governance especially if you have more than 1 decision-maker, or a current or future partner or investor
2. It provides a logical and efficient process for evaluation and progressive decision gates
3. If others are involved in contributing to the business case, it encourages broader ownership of the final decision and its successful implementation
4. Regardless of the expansion outcome, and especially if it is not successful, the business case is a valuable post-implementation reference for assessing what worked and what didn’t, documenting the learnings and laying the foundation for a more successful expansion strategy in future.

The Essential Ingredients

1. WHY – what you want to achieve through overseas market expansion. Be as specific and detailed as you can about the benefits.  Expansion is a long term and often significant investment, so knowing why you are doing it helps you stay the course when tough decisions are needed.
2. WHERE you might go and with what products/services. This is all about context and competitive positioning.
   • This is where you need to be very realistic about whether this market(s) is right for your business and to what extent. Leave the emotion/intuition out of your assessment and seek external perspectives to balance your own.
   • Recommend assessing 2-3 markets which you feel might offer the benefits and are relatively similar – you might be surprised at the benefits of an option that wasn’t top of mind. Assess where/if your local competitors expand and try to understand why – they may have information or resources you don’t, or maybe they see the same potential as you.  Think about whether their decisions signal opportunity or threat.
   • Know exactly who your competitors are and why, assess their business model as best you can. Local or international?  It may be very different to yours, and there could be a very good reason for that e.g. technology adoption and platforms, infrastructure or supply chain logistics could be more or less advanced, complex, or regulated than in your home market.
   • Leverage your local partners/suppliers/customers with contacts in these markets. Go see them on the ground and talk to them to complement the extensive desktop research you will have done before this.  Walk around and observe, get a feel for customer/client behaviour and how they value and purchase similar products/services.
   • The first desktop assessment must be comprehensive, when you think you’ve dug enough, keep digging! You know what matters in your market, don’t make any assumptions.
3. WHAT – it will cost and when you might make a return. Allow at least a year to break even and 2 years to make a profit, depending on business cycle times and whether you are in a business with high barriers to entry.  If you make money sooner, great, but it’s prudent to have the cash to fund a longer runway.
   • Leaving a market creates a very bad impression locally – you will damage your reputation and may find locals don’t take you seriously if you decide to go back in future.
4. HOW you will enter the market, WHO will be your local people and supply chain/partners and WHEN you will go live. Don’t be afraid to decide the timing isn’t right and to postpone implementation.  It’s better to delay than to fail.
   • This is also the time to document a thorough risk assessment and ensure you have contingency plans and mitigation options. Be overly cautious especially if you are replying on local partners – while your contracts should be watertight, they can also be ignored – especially at a distance.
   • Don’t underestimate the difficulties and complexities of navigating different business cultures and languages – doing business with people locally is a very different experience to being a business visitor or tourist!

Once you’ve established the “why,” the research you’ve gathered helps shape and refine the business case, guiding more focused decisions at each stage.

Whether this is you as a founder/owner, a senior leadership team reporting to a private equity partner, or a board, treat the process as progressive and slightly iterative – allowing for regular check-ins, refinements, and, when necessary, course corrections.

At each key milestone, seek input, test assumptions, and make sure you have the data needed before advancing to the next stage. Expanding overseas requires time, investment, and attention—and it will inevitably draw focus from other areas of your business.

That’s why a disciplined approach is critical: if the right decision is to not proceed, it’s far better to discover that early than after significant resources have been committed.

What the Business Plan Helped One Firm See Clearly – and succeed as a result.

When I was approached to establish and lead the Asian operations of an Australian-based firm one of the first things I asked was “can I see the business plan?”   There wasn’t one.  So the CEO and I put together a roadmap for developing a 4-phase  business plan over 4 months, with a report to the board to seek clarity, direction, and approval to continue at the end of each phase.

Aside from all the obvious benefits I’ve outlined above, the business planning process yielded 4 other important insights that helped us avoid failure:

1. WHERE we first planted our flag
2. WHAT our optimum client mix was and HOW we could leverage clients across continents
3. HOW we integrated our business culture (a competitive advantage) and WHO our people would be
4. WHEN we went and what signals we needed to stay/go

WHERE we first planted our flag

When I was first approached, the executive team was pretty set on Shanghai as our first move into Asia.  There had been a small project there – not quite in our core service – but China was booming, and competitors were planting flags in Shanghai, often skipping Hong Kong altogether.

Still, a solid business plan needs fresh eyes.  So, in Phase 1, we widened the lens and included Singapore and Hong Kong.  After deep research, local visits, and stakeholder chats, we ranked the cities for the board.

The results?

The board chose Singapore, with Hong Kong as backup.  It turned out to be a great decision.

The key takeaway: it wasn’t that Shanghai was wrong, but that past experiences and market buzz can blind us to better fits.  Over time, working across Asia, it became clear that China wasn’t ideal for our niche model – while a Singapore base let us deliver value, take fewer risks, and build stronger regional partnerships.

WHAT our optimum client mix was and HOW we could leverage clients across continents

When we first started mapping out the business plan, we assumed our existing institutional clients would help anchor our growth in Asia – after all, many had offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Singapore.  But once we dug in, we realised those regional offices were relatively small, with limited, locally owned project budgets.  On top of that, local leaders had their own preferred partners, making it tough to break in.  It was a humbling early lesson: success in a new market can’t rely on old assumptions about client behaviour.

HOW we integrated our business culture (a competitive advantage) and WHO our people would be

Culture was one of our biggest competitive advantages, but when I was tapped to launch the Asia business, I quickly realised I didn’t fully grasp all the nuances, rituals, language, and unspoken ways things got done.  To help bring that culture with us, we invited team members to relocate and help seed it locally.  Out of hundreds of employees across Australia, only one person seriously considered the move.  What we hadn’t accounted for was how much our Aussie culture valued lifestyle, familiarity, and being a “big fish in a small pond.”  Luckily, that one applicant was exactly who we needed – someone who truly lived the culture and helped translate it into our new regional team.

WHEN we went and what signals we needed to stay/go

After choosing Singapore, we got to work – building the business plan, having early client conversations, and lining up what looked like a major first project that would cover much of our startup costs.  Then the global financial crisis hit, and that project disappeared overnight.

Still, we’d done the groundwork, knew the market potential, and had budgeted for a first-year loss.  Even with the uncertainty, the board backed the plan, and I relocated as scheduled.  It took a full year to land our first big project, but starting early gave us a head start – while others waited out the GFC, we were building relationships, learning the landscape, and proving we were serious about Asia.

Why the Business Case Mattered More Than We Knew

Looking back, the detailed business planning process gave us far more than a roadmap – it helped uncover blind spots, challenge assumptions, and build early credibility in the region.  We learned quickly that relying on global client relationships wouldn’t be enough, that culture doesn’t automatically travel, and that market entry requires deep local insight and patience.

Even when the GFC threw a wrench in our early plans, the groundwork we’d laid gave us the confidence – and resilience – to move forward.  That preparation gave us a real edge: we entered the market informed, intentional, and a step ahead of competitors who waited for more certainty.

A solid business plans get you through the door and maximises your opportunity for sustainable success.  But laying the groundwork is just the beginning.  Building an agile, scalable business is what takes you further.

If this feels worth exploring further, I’d welcome the conversation.

Caroline M Burns

Get insights and advice based on real-world experience in “Get Bigger or Get out of the Way: An Insiders Guide to Navigating Strategic Growth” and “Is Culture the Spanner in the Works of M&A?

Note some case study details have been changed or blended with other similar cases to protect confidentiality.

This article was originally published in the July 2025 edition of my newsletter The Regenerative Edge.