Brandon Dawson, Co-Founder, Chairman, CEO & Managing Partner of Cardone Ventures.
Global expansion isn’t just about opening an office in another country; it’s a way to create exponential value and build systems that transcend borders. When I sold my last company for a large profit, it wasn’t just luck—it was the result of mastering scalable systems and understanding how to expand strategically.
Today, my present company has helped numerous businesses scale by implementing these same principles in global markets. Here’s what I tell our high-performing clients about mastering global expansion.
1. Market intelligence is your weapon.
I’ve seen too many businesses fail internationally because they relied on surface-level research. You need to go deeper.
When your business expands globally, analyze not just where a given market is now but also where it’s going to be in three to five years. Look at metrics that really matter, such as EBITDA potential, market saturation points and scalability factors. Focus on identifying markets where you can create exponential rather than incremental growth. Here are a few metrics I recommend paying close attention to:
• Revenue per employee across markets
• Customer acquisition cost to lifetime value ratios
• Operational efficiency at each scale point
• Culture alignment scores
• Market penetration velocity
2. Strategy must be execution-ready.
Here’s a truth bomb: A strategy without execution capability is just a dream. When making any strategic decision, ask yourself these three questions first:
• Can we scale this?
• Does it align with our core value creation model?
• Can we maintain operational excellence at scale?
3. Build a strong team.
In my experience, your global expansion is only as good as your weakest leader. When hiring leaders for your company, don’t focus on impressive resumes. Instead, look for leaders who can execute with precision, scale systems effectively, maintain culture while adapting locally, and drive results without constant oversight.
4. Gain local market dominance through adaptation.
When we scaled my previous company across multiple countries, we discovered something crucial: Success comes from being culturally fluent, not just culturally aware. This means understanding the deep psychological drivers of your market. Look for what I call “cultural leverage points”: aspects of local culture that can actually accelerate your growth rather than just accommodate it.
For example, when entering the United Arab Emirates market, we leveraged the cultural emphasis on personal relationships and trust-building by restructuring our sales process around long-term relationship development rather than quick transactions. This led to a large increase in customer lifetime value compared to our standard approach. In South Korea, we tapped into the “ppalli-ppalli” (quickly-quickly) culture by optimizing our service delivery for speed and efficiency, which became a major competitive advantage.
To identify these cultural leverage points in your target market, follow these steps:
1. Study how local market leaders conduct business, particularly those who’ve successfully adapted foreign business models.
2. Identify which cultural values drive purchasing decisions in your industry.
3. Look for alignment between these cultural values and your company’s core strengths.
The key is to find where your unique capabilities intersect with local cultural preferences, then amplify that connection through your operations and marketing.
5. Create cultural alignment at scale.
What I’ve learned, and what many people miss, about cultural alignment is that it’s not about adapting your culture to new markets—it’s about creating a culture so strong that it transcends borders while remaining locally relevant. To build this type of transcendent culture, focus on these core practices:
1. Establish “universal principles, local expression.” Define three to four nonnegotiable cultural pillars that resonate across all markets. For us, these are ownership mindset, customer obsession and innovative thinking. Then allow your local teams to express these pillars in culturally authentic ways. For example, in Japan, our “ownership mindset” manifests through meticulous attention to detail, while in Brazil, it shows up as creative problem-solving.
2. Create a “cultural ambassador” program. Select high-performing local leaders who deeply understand both your company’s core values and their local market. These ambassadors should meet quarterly to share successful cultural integration strategies and help ensure alignment across regions.
3. Implement a “global” feedback system. For instance, you could use monthly culture surveys that track both global alignment and local satisfaction. This data has helped my company identify where we need to strengthen our core culture versus where we need to allow more local adaptation.
Remember: Having a strong global culture means maintaining consistent principles while celebrating local interpretations. When done right, cultural differences can become a source of strength rather than a barrier to growth.
The Bottom Line
Global expansion isn’t for the faint of heart; it’s for businesses ready to think bigger and execute flawlessly. In my experience, the biggest risk in global expansion isn’t moving too fast—it’s moving too slow with poor execution. The market rewards speed and punishes hesitation.
If you’re ready to take your business global, stop focusing on incremental growth and start thinking about exponential scaling. That’s how you create real value in today’s market.
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