The Seas Less Travelled
The Transatlantic Post | Love Letter N°35
Welcome to The Transatlantic Post an editorial on innovation and international growth. With occasional British satire. By Kajal
There were two theories on Christopher Columbus, he was a skilled navigator that embarked on an audacious exploratory mission. And the second, he was a reckless but courageous adventurer setting sail with limited technical knowledge.
Between 1492 and 1504, he led four Transatlantic voyages to the Caribbean and Americas. On August 3, 1492, Columbus and his crew set sail from Spain in three ships: the Niña, the Pinta and the Santa Maria. He had been intent on finding Asia but instead landed on the shores of the Bahamas and the so-called discovery of America.
Which theory would you pick — the skilled sailor or maverick adventurer? They are not mutually exclusive of course but I would argue that the greatest of skill without the qualities of explorers and adventurers will fall short.
Plans without courage…
Explorers and adventurers often embody traits such as curiosity, optimism, and courage. Without a measure of each, even the most robust plans are prone to failure.
I’ve come across numerous business leaders who either make the leap to expand into new markets swiftly or miss the opportunity by waiting too long. And there are people who discuss living abroad but never take action, and others who, despite rational objections, simply forge ahead (more on taking the leap below).
Like it or hate it….have you ever wondered why you can grab a Starbucks coffee in every corner of the world? From a small coffee shop opened in 1971 in Seattle, it now has 32,000 stores across 80 countries. Incidentally, courage is one of its company values “We pursue audacious ideas beyond our comfort zone”.
That audacity included going after markets most would not dare to for a Western coffee brand — Italy with its serious coffee connoisseurs? India with its frequent chai drinkers? Part of its global ambition was understanding and adpating its products to local tastes but international expansion was rooted in the courage to aim for markets which were historically hard to enter.
Another good example is Heinz — Kethchup along with Coca Cola were two of the most recognizable US brands in the early 90s but Heinz had yet to capitalise on growth in emerging markets. Then CEO Bill Johnson expanded into China, India, Indonesia, and Latin America through a series of acquisitions as well as bringing key products to market organically. Today, non-US revenues for Heinz are around 30%. 1
When businesses do venture into uncharted waters, what has struck me most is the significant role that the mindset of CEOs, and ultimately their courage, play in shaping the eventual outcomes…
Top 5 traits of CEO’s that have successfully gone global…..
After several years of collaborating with leaders on expansion efforts, there were some interesting common findings.
This week, I am very happy to announce the launch of our new Growth Hub Global website featuring a dedicated section on international growth. While I haven’t delved into the specifics of the leaders’ mindset just yet, I am actively refining ideas to offer more guidance in this area.
Although I’m usually sceptical of top 5 lists, I wanted to share a concise summary of my observations on the common traits of leaders that have successfully grown their businesses globally. The full descriptors are availabel to email subscribers (Subscribe to our newsletter here)
- They get on a plane
- Balance building global and tailoring local
- Secure buy-in from the right stakeholders early
- Move decisively by assessing the market pulse with research and data
- Focus on the upside opportunities more than the challenges
Taking the leap….which seas would you set sail on?
If you could move countries or expand your business, where would you go? I’ve focused this year’s posts on the Middle East (in particular the UAE) and India (A Glimpse Ahead to the next decade of growth in the East, Paving the Streets with Gold and Building Fortresses in the Sand | MEINA at Davos ) primarily because I have seen first-hand the energy, dynamism and sheer amount of opportunity for those willing to take a shot.
The Economist Intelligence Unit publishes liveability rankings of over 100 cities globally each year 3 while the World Bank Group indexes 190 countries on Ease of Doing business. Although rankings are not the basis of companies or an individual’s decision to move internationally, its worth noting the factors which influence how they compare and conclude rankings. Liveability, for example, incorporates 5 factors -stability, health care, culture and environment, education and infrastructure.
Source: The Economist
The most liveable cities still belong to the G7 countries but what is more interesting is the movement in country and city positions. In the 2023 Economist survey, Western European cities slipped down the rankings.
Civil unrest has hurt European stability ratings and they have not matched gains across other variables made by cities in Asia and the Middle East. I’d not blame anyone for sticking to the blue dotted cities above, I lived in New York and Zurich. But the upside and opportunity today is on the seas less travelled, those countries rising in the ranks and investing in health, education, infrastructure and more.
Wherever you choose to go, there are infinite benefits to being in a place you are unfamiliar with and it is worth keeping in mind the explorer’s mindset. Learning new cultures, challenging our own perceptions and stereotypes and understanding different realities are transformational experiences. There is also always the humour of nuances in language as I noted here in “Learning to Speak American English”.
For those of you thinking about it for yourself or your business, drop me a note, I’d be happy to share my experiences and encourage you to take the international leap.
“Adventure is worthwhile in itself.” Amelia Earhart
Sincerely, yours, Kajal
References and Further reading
1 CEO of Heinz on powering growth in emerging markets, HBR
2 How Airbnb expanded to 190 Countries by thinking Glocal, Forbes
3 The Global Liveability Index 2023, Economist Intelligence Unit
About the Transatlantic Post
An editorial on innovation and international growth. With occasional British satire. Written and edited by Kajal Sanghrajka, founder and director of Growth Hub Global Kajal has worked with more than 250 businesses to support their international growth efforts to the US, Europe and MEINA regions. Subscribe for the full newsletter by email here.
