Expanding your franchise the concept internationally is a challenging decision. It can offer extraordinary growth opportunities beyond your current home market. However, doing so prematurely can put unnecessary stress on your system as you try to replicate your US operations for a different cultural demographic while also managing expansion and internal support.

Before expanding to new ones international marketsmake sure your business concept is fully developed, all intellectual property is registered and trademarked, marketing materials and manuals are translated, and you have a local team available in your target markets to help with launch and troubleshooting.

Inexperienced franchisors should avoid rushing into international expansion without conducting thorough research and laying the right groundwork. International units can be more challenging than domestic units due to travel distances, language barriers and cultural differences. It is essential to ensure that your products or services are needed or wanted in your international target market.

So if it's so challenging, why not just stick with growing domestic units and skip the international headaches? For one, the ability to introduce your products or services to new, untapped markets may be important increase in incomeespecially if you are running out of territories to develop domestically. Another plus is that many foreign consumer markets are eager for American concepts. Best of all, American franchises are usually seen as sound investments because of the proven systems and training they offer.

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Successful franchising is always dependent on the use of expert advice and assistance, but nowhere is this more important than expanding into international markets. You should engage with franchisors and legal experts who specialize in international franchising and have knowledge of the countries you are targeting. They'll have a network of peers with intimate knowledge of the laws, regulations, and political and business climates of the markets you're exploring. Before investing in an international program, these experts can help you narrow down the countries or regions where your concept will work.

Some other key considerations for international franchise expansion include:

• The very important political and economic stability of the target region.
• Country Franchise Regulations or Laws. Most countries have some form of business regulations to protect their citizens, but only a handful have specific franchise registration requirements that must be met.
• Assess the relative ease or complexity of bringing products into the country. You will need to set up proper logistics for certain proprietary items to get them there. Or, if you plan to buy products locally, you'll need local connections to help create a reliable local supply chain.
• How royalties and ad fund fees will be transferred to the US in an efficient manner. Remember, you'll also be dealing with an exchange rate, transfer fees and local banking regulations.
• Being able to find the right partners who are financially equipped to expand your concept beyond one unit. Several different legal structures can be used, from directly granting a franchise to an individual or group to creating a separate entity through a Master Franchise Agreement for each country, where your master franchisee grants the rights to individual franchises and supports those exclusive local units.

  Once again, this is where your trusted advisors can advise you on the best structure for your concept and location. Getting to know your partners is essential. You need to be comfortable with them as people and knowledgeable about other partners and the businesses they may own. Both parties must follow transparency laws that require disclosure of all entities with which they are affiliated, their owners and the people who make the decisions. You need to know where the money is being invested in your concept.

Side note: It also goes without saying that the same due diligence and expert support is needed when a concept comes from another country or region in the US as it is for US-based concepts going abroad. International franchisors will also need to find trusted local franchise advisors and attorneys to help them transition from a national or regional concept to an international concept as they enter the US market.

Where to expand first?

Canada has long been the first choice for international expansion of many US franchisors because of its proximity and because English is the first language for much of the country. But don't be fooled into thinking that Canadian culture and business environment are no different from the US. Similarly, Mexico is often the first port of call for US franchisors looking to expand into Latin America because of its geographic proximity, but linguistic and cultural differences also abound. .

For example, let's say you're expanding your concept to Latin America; not only does the Spanish in that region vary from place to place, but it's also important to keep in mind that Spanish isn't the only language spoken in the region. In fact, only in South America, the number of Spanish speakers exceeds that of the Portuguese by only a few million people.

Another example is that a franchisor looking to expand into the European Union cannot assume that a one-size-fits-all approach 27 member countries. In fact, the region has 24 official languagesand each country has its own culture and governing rules.

So as part of planning for international expansion, when preparing your documents and training materials, don't rely on your high school foreign language skills or Google Translate. Even the latest in AI is unlikely to be completely reliable in this case. This is when leveraging current human resources in whatever market you are expanding into is critical. They will know the regional vocabulary and idioms used so you don't include embarrassing mistakes in your materials. Taking the extra step to do so is also a sign of respect; it shows that you are culturally sensitive and professional.

Related: Tips and strategies for navigating cultural differences in international business

It's a small world

With advances in technology, including video conferencing, messaging apps, AI communication tools and more, the world is getting smaller and the ability to bring services to people across your borders is, in many ways, easier than never. There is financial as well as personal satisfaction in bringing your business to another culture, but it comes with an all-around investment of time and resources to get it right. International development is not something you can get involved in; it is a serious commitment.

Of course, as we've always been told, nothing worthwhile comes without effort. This hard work must be supported by a team of experts, both internal and external to the franchisor organization, who can effectively implement a well-thought-out international game plan.