Charting new territories: 4 key strategies for business expansion

In an increasingly globalized economy, companies are constantly exploring new markets to drive growth and enhance their competitive edge. The World Trade Organization estimates that world merchandise trade growth totaled 2.7% in 2024 and forecasts it to grow to 3.0% in 2025, highlighting the immense potential for market expansion for businesses.

Southeast Asia (SEA)’s robust startup ecosystem is closely eyeing expansion—many are expanding to the Middle East, some even further to Latin America. In Indonesia alone, several startups are spreading their wings within and beyond Southeast Asia. Additionally, over the last five years, there has been a 23% increase in Singapore companies entering the US market.

Many global companies are also setting foot in SEA, as the region is proven to be a land full of opportunities with its digital economy GMV, revenue, and profit have all been growing in the double digits, according to the e-Conomy SEA 2024 report.

Yet, expanding your business footprint is no walk in the park. How are these startups navigating the uncharted waters beyond SEA? And what are some of the considerations for global players before entering SEA?

At the recent East Ventures Summit 2024 panel titled “Expanding beyond your home market”, two founders from our ecosystem discussed the key strategies for market expansion within and beyond Southeast Asia: Melvin Chee, Co-Founder and CEO of RPG Commerce, and Kevin Zhang, Founder and CEO of Inteluck.

Here are the four strategies from the panel to help founders with business expansion:

1. Prioritizing localization

Melvin says his company emphasizes localization heavily when it comes to regional business expansion. Today, the firm has 38 retail locations spread across its home market, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, and the Middle East, which will increase to 50 by the end of this year. 40% of these stores are omnichannel, and the rest are digital.

RPG Commerce has small local teams established in these locations, most recently in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. These teams are heavily focused on localization strategy, including marketing, call-to-actions, customer service, logistics, and many others, as understanding the current market is pivotal for a consumer company. 

This approach allows businesses to tailor their products and services to meet specific market demands and cultural preferences, enhancing customer engagement and loyalty.

2. Leveraging data-driven insights

Data plays a pivotal role in determining the right time and place for your business expansion. In just a couple of years, Inteluck managed to enter the Thailand market after starting operations in the Philippines. This was made possible as Inteluck has gathered various experiences from handling different customers from one industry to another, learning different ways of documentation, requirements, timings, and more.

Kevin also revealed how he relied on the feedback from existing customers—which are global FMCG brands—to identify opportunities in new regions. This data-driven approach helps mitigate risks associated with entering unfamiliar markets.

3. Building strong relationships with stakeholders

While it was tough for business expansion during the COVID-19 pandemic, Melvin has navigated different approaches after the pandemic subdued.

“When it comes to managing thousands of SKUs, it was just really tough for us. I think today, after COVID-19, we approach our expansion very differently,” said Melvin. “As a consumer business, we always believe that the density should be focused country by country rather than multi-country at the same time. Doing a retail business means it involves a lot of human relationships. We spent a lot of time dealing with mall owners and the leasing teams.”

Melvin also revealed that it took them almost a year to secure a location in Dubai. The overall end-to-end process, on the other hand, took about two years to even launch in the market, get through the mall network, and eventually secure a retail space.

Investing your time on the ground in building relationships and getting the best locations becomes key in the consumer business, which also includes your distribution channels.

Being on the ground with the competitors can also have its merits. Monitoring a more established company may give you signals and an understanding of the market direction before charging head-on.

4. Maximizing precision for operational efficiency

For Kevin, Inteluck’s first business expansion was timed precisely to “maximize value by time,” he said. “Before we enter [a new] market, we have to do full-day research, connecting every single thing and putting the time in our daily work. We have calculated our resources, and experience, and we believe we are making the right decisions by then.”

When faced with an ever-changing environment, adaptability is also the key to scaling operations efficiently. 

“I think the most important is, you should always focus on the foundation, that is your stakeholders, operations, and business. No matter how the environment changes as long as you keep providing value to your customers and vendors, people, and organization, I think that will be the best thing for you.”

How investors take part in founders’ expansion journey

As an investor, East Ventures has long supported founders’ aspirations to enter new markets after winning their home market, such as startups like RPG Commerce, Inteluck, and many others like Xendit to the Philippines, Malaysia, and Thailand, Sociolla to Vietnam, Traveloka to Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, and more, Tech in Asia to Indonesia, Carro to Indonesia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and more, and Fore Coffee to Singapore.

Melvin shared his story, “[East Ventures] has been very helpful on the board, especially opening doors for us in retail and Singapore. They were there to sit us down and walk us through every part of this journey.”

Similarly, Kevin also echoed this, “From the Seed stage, East Ventures gave us most of their support team, introduced us to different resources or connections, and helped us grow. Meanwhile, as we move to the Growth stage, we will have monthly meetings to look at and align on every single financial number. I think that is great, as the company continues to grow, the focus also changes.”

Expanding into new markets for business expansion presents both opportunities and challenges. By taking notes on the key findings above, companies can chart new territories with a firm stance. As demonstrated by RPG Commerce and Inteluck, these strategies not only facilitate growth but also foster resilience in an ever-evolving global landscape.

Learn the full insights by watching the full panel below.