Welcome to Going Global.

Scaling a brand internationally is one of the most significant opportunities for growth available to a business. It is however one of the easiest to get wrong and can have lasting negative implications.

Every year, numerous proven brands with a loyal customer base struggle when they cross borders. This is rarely because the concept is poor. More often, their expansion was approached in the wrong way with inadequate market analysis resulting in their strategy being wrong – the wrong markets chosen, their go-to-market strategy being wrong and if they’ve chosen to work with a local operate, the chosen partner is often not appropriate.

The majority, if not all, of these mistakes are preventable. Going Global has been created to help brands avoid them.

About the series.

Going Global is a weekly series from Catesby for those responsible for making international expansion work: founders considering their first overseas market, leadership teams charged with delivering a growth plan, franchise developers, and the investors and operators assessing a brand's potential global growth.

Catesby is an insight-driven consultancy focused on the consumer sector, partnering with retailers, F&B operators, consumer brands and their owners to help them cross borders. Having represented brands in over 35 markets in the last two years, this series draws on that experience across the GCC, Latin America, Southeast Asia, North America and Europe. The intention is to provide practical, commercially grounded insight into what determines whether a brand succeeds or struggles in a new market.

That experience reinforces a central principle: the brands that succeed internationally are not always the largest or the best funded. They are those that approach expansion in a disciplined, methodical way rather than accepting the first international enquiry they receive. It is measured by the long-term value created rather than the number of agreements signed.

Each week, the series will focus on one decision, discipline or pressure point, setting out what matters, what is commonly misjudged and what good looks like in practice. It follows the journey in the order a brand typically faces it:

• The why: Establishing a clear rationale for international growth and determining whether the business is ready.

• The where: Evaluating which markets should be prioritised, and which require patience.

• The how: Selecting the entry model, structure and level of control that shape every decision that follows.

• The who: Identifying, assessing and securing the right partners to develop and scale the brand.

• The launch and beyond: Getting the first locations right, and building a business that delivers sustainable, long-term growth.

Catesby appreciate that no two brands are the same, nor are their requirements or constraints when looking to expand internationally. Instead, the framework that Catesby applies with its clients is bespoke to each brand focussing on the category, its ambitions and appetite for risk. The objective is to help brands ask better questions and recognise what good international growth looks like.

We certainly look forward to receiving your thoughts as the series develops. If you are keen to understand what any of the topics we cover could mean for your brand or you are currently experiencing any challenges with your international expansion then please do not hesitate to contact me to discuss how we can assist.

James Rogers

Founder & CEO, Catesby