GLOBAL BUSINESS TREND
Best International Market Entry Practices 2025
What are the best business development approaches for success?
I am a strong advocate of global business.
It presents significant opportunities, and I am passionate about seeing our South Korean brands succeed overseas.
Local Business Partner Selection
Expanding internationally offers numerous benefits, including access to new markets, customers, workforce, and an improved reputation.
As Wharton Magazine noted, “…expansion provides diversification and additional revenue; it also exposes one to different methods of doing business.”
Frankly, my experience is that an international company looking at market entry for Asia-Pacific countries like South Korea, Singapore, the Philippines, or Vietnam should recognize the potential upfront investment required to enter a new market. Best practices require a company to invest time and resources in “Discovery” and hire a qualified expert or firm to assist in the local market. The same goes for a South Korean company looking to enter Western markets like the US, the UK, and the EU.
It is also common for local entrepreneurs to approach global brands with the hope of securing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to bring a popular brand to their market. However, these entrepreneurs may not currently have the necessary resources and means to operate the brand. They intend to get the MOU and then pitch the deal to local business partners. Sadly, over the years, we’ve seen even seasoned international companies realize too late that their well-intentioned partner was less than qualified. The deal, then, stalled or ended.
Qualifying a local partner can be a challenge, as it requires deeper insights into the local market and identifying key players.
As a benchmark based on recent projects, the cost to secure a partnership is easily a minimum of US $20,000- $50,000 in support, potential international travel, and upfront legal fees. Of course, there are additional costs after an agreement is signed.
There are methods to offset these development costs, which include joint ventures and licensing. Also, a best practice is to ensure that you are working with a market entry firm who can 1) effectively screen for highly qualified potential partners, 2) secure high-level meetings with decision-makers, and 3) the target company has the required capital, resources, and experience to operate the brand successfully.
Going it alone
In contrast, I have seen firms entering overseas markets who prefer to take a different, more reserved approach and go it alone using only with their internal staffing. Sadly, the success rate for an international firm entering a new overseas market is poor—or more costly than expected, even with the support of highly dedicated government agencies for local market entry.
To elaborate more, some businesses want to focus on finding a solid, committed overseas partner or client with little investment and need to pay upfront fees to engage a local expert in a market entry-all compensation is contingent upon first finding a potential partner.
This rarely (code word—never!) works. More to the point, a highly qualified market entry firm with a track record of getting results will rarely shoulder the risk of funding a client's upfront development costs. Instead, an experienced firm will partner with businesses that expect success and are willing to compensate for its services.
Also, although a company going it alone may have websites, products, and company information (often needing editing), it may lack a detailed, localized, savvy Go-to-Market Plan—often a high-content 10+ page plan — and a competitive market analysis. These expectations are not optional.
And finally, for highly recognized U.S. or global brands, there is less of a barrier in setting up meetings because of an international desire for top brands. For less-known brands entering an overseas market, there is considerably more effort. I often rely on my professional credentials to start a dialogue with a potential partner rather than the brand itself, which may be relatively unknown outside South Korea and East Asia.
All said, I am a strong advocate of global business. I see a great opportunity and am passionate about seeing South Korean brands succeed overseas. However, as I have shared, this requires an upfront investment in time and resources and securing local expertise. My advice, too, is to follow best practices for market entry.
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