Ben Fox, co-founder and CEO of global B2B marketing and PR agency, Fox Agency, has led the agency’s growth from its UK roots into an international business with an established presence in the US. Drawing on that experience, he shares six lessons for leaders thinking about international growth.
For many founders, expanding internationally feels like the natural next step. It can be exciting, and it often signals that your business has reached a new stage of maturity. But building a successful presence in a new market isn’t simply a case of taking what worked at home and expecting it to deliver the same results elsewhere. As we’ve grown our business across the UK and US, a few lessons have consistently stood out. Here are six lessons I’d pass on to anyone considering international expansion.
1. Don’t assume your playbook will work everywhere
It’s tempting to think, “We’ve cracked it at home, so we’ll just repeat the process.” In reality, it rarely works like that. Yes, there’s a shared language between the UK and US, but the similarities only go so far.
Business culture is different, relationship-building happens differently, and communications tend to be more direct. Compared with the UK, the US market is also significantly larger, but so is the scale of competition and the number of choices available to buyers.
You don’t need to reinvent your business, but you do need to be willing to adapt it. The companies that succeed are usually the ones that listen first and assume less.
2. Only expand when there’s real demand
International expansion is a huge investment of time, money, and leadership focus. It shouldn’t happen simply because it feels like the next milestone.
For us, expanding internationally made sense because there was genuine customer demand. For instance, 40% of our revenue was already coming from the US before we established a presence there. We weren’t trying to manufacture an opportunity that didn’t exist, we were responding to one that was already there.
If customers are already pulling you into a market, you’ve got something to build on. If they aren’t, it’s worth asking whether you’re expanding for the right reasons. Being busy opening a new office doesn’t automatically mean you’re growing in a sustainable way.
3. Hire people who know the market
One of the best decisions you can make is hiring people who understand the local business landscape.
You can teach someone your services, your processes and your culture. It’s much harder to teach years of local market knowledge, established networks and an instinct for how business gets done.
Local hires will also challenge your assumptions, and that’s exactly what you want. They can spot opportunities, flag potential mistakes and help you avoid approaching the market through a home-market lens.
4. Build relationships before you need them
The best business relationships aren’t built when you’re asking for something. Spend time getting to know people before you’re hiring, pitching or looking for introductions. Those conversations often become your strongest network later on, and they’re much more valuable when they’re genuine rather than transactional. Whether it’s clients, partners or other founders, relationships have a habit of paying off in ways you don’t expect. The more established your network is before you need it, the easier the market becomes to navigate.
5. Keep your culture, but don’t force it
Your company culture is one of the reasons clients and employees choose to work with you, so it’s worth protecting. That said, trying to recreate your UK office exactly as it is overseas isn’t realistic. Nor should it be. Every new office develops its own personality. That’s a good thing. As you bring in talented local people, your culture will naturally evolve and become stronger because of those different perspectives. The important thing is staying true to your values while giving teams the flexibility to make them work in their own market.
6. Everything will take longer (and will cost far more) than you think
This is probably the lesson I’d underline most. Building brand recognition takes longer than you expect. Even as your presence grows, establishing long-term credibility in a new market takes time, and it almost certainly costs more than your original spreadsheet suggested.
That’s not a sign you’ve made the wrong decision, it’s simply the reality of growing a business in a market where you’re building reputation alongside opportunity. Go in with realistic expectations, leave yourself more time than you think you’ll need and build a financial buffer wherever possible. International expansion can be one of the best investments you make, but it’s very rarely a quick win.
Ben Fox, co-founder and CEO of global B2B marketing and PR agency, Fox Agency, has led the agency’s growth from its UK roots into an international business with an established presence in the US. Drawing on that experience, he shares six lessons for leaders thinking about international growth.
For many founders, expanding internationally feels like the natural next step. It can be exciting, and it often signals that your business has reached a new stage of maturity. But building a successful presence in a new market isn’t simply a case of taking what worked at home and expecting it to deliver the same results elsewhere. As we’ve grown our business across the UK and US, a few lessons have consistently stood out. Here are six lessons I’d pass on to anyone considering international expansion.
