How These Brands Overcame the Cultural Barrier and Went International

Visions of jetting off to survey a growing worldwide network of successful locations might pop into your head. Overseeing rapid expansion in far away exotic locales is the goal, as growing wealth and influence is cultivated through the coveted prize of international success.

Unfortunately, for most of us, those visions remain merely a dream. Because the reality is: there are a lot of barriers to overcome to make international growth work—from the products your brand offers to cultural, financial, regulatory hurdles—just to name a few.

Overcoming cultural barriers

• There's an opportunity for changing pace if a brand has something that tastes good, is a good value, convenient, and appropriately adapted to the local taste without losing the original concept.
• Investors and customers are usually excited to be growing in another country or another culture with a 'western' brand, but that doesn't hold true everywhere.
• Areas of the world that remain challenging include Russia and China, and some parts of the Middle East where there can be anti-American feelings.
• Threats such as terrorism, malaria, and food supply safety must also be taken into account.

A franchisor's first barrier could even trickle down to the product they offer. For example, chicken is one of the bigger things people eat in almost every country, which can be an advantage for some brands.

• However, in other cultures, brands may have an uphill battle to climb even on a product like chicken.
• In Saudi Arabia, Wing Zone had to adjust its menu to add more tandoor type flavors and were initially very successful with that and even with their burgers.
• Brands must work to educate customers on new tastes and flavors.

Regulatory challenges

Regulatory laws can also present a challenge and can vary widely from country to country. For example, when Wing Zone prepared to open its first restaurant in Malabo, off the West coast of Africa, the brand ran into trouble getting its famous wing flavors through the customs process.

• Everything has to be individually labeled in the local language, with specific expiration dates on each individual package.
• This can be a challenge for brands that import products from other countries.

Cultural differences can also present challenges for customers. In Malabo, queuing up in a line remains a foreign concept to many people, so even the process of ordering became a challenge for Wing Zone.

Expansion strategies

Brands must still decide when the time is right to expand outside of U.S. borders without sacrificing brand consistency or putting operations at risk.

• There is no magic number to going international, but you have to be mentally ready and in the right place as a brand.
• Companies that are successful generally have at least 75-100 units and have gone through the growing pains successful franchisors must go through domestically.
• They have the right people, and they also have a team that understands international development.

Rolling the dice on international development can pay big dividends in the long run.

• In every country you open in, it's a brand new deal and new challenge.
• It's like opening a brand new concept each time.
• But, it's worth it to tackle those challenges head on.
• Many of the companies that go international, long term within 10 years, or less, their revenue shifts to become even larger from international than from domestic.
• Look at the big soft drink companies. 80 percent of their revenue now comes from outside the U.S.