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Hey there - it's Brian 👋

So you’re thinking about expanding?

But you’re afraid of what you don’t know?

And struggling to decide if it’s a good idea?

I got you.

I get these questions a lot. Should I add on… New country? New product/service? New customer?

So in today’s issue, you’ll hear:
• Use the 5 proven steps to decide to enter a new market (used by the world’s largest companies)
• Story of how a $1B tech company decided to launch into a new product
• Learn what to do when you see the 4 indicators that you’re in a high-risk decision

Stay to the end for resources to get you through your high-risk decisions.

Let’s make your business an outlier: 👇

It’s 2019.

A $10B+ company reaches asks for help with a big decision:
“Should we sell Network Assurance products?”

Basically, it’s tech that helps people have less crashes for phone and internet.

But that’s not important.

What is important - is that they think they can make a lot of money from it:
• It’s a growing fast
• Their customers need it
• Have a lot of related talent & tech from what they build today

But moving into a new market is always scary.

At their size, they still risk millions (tech, hiring, marketing etc).

You never know how it’ll work out. It’s stressful anytime you make critical decisions:

So you need a proven framework to help guide you through the process (spoiler: I’ll give you the 5 steps we use with our clients).

The tech company was worried they’d be surprised by something they hadn’t thought of.

So they called us to get a 2nd opinion. We can’t think of everything (cough*anyone expect COVID?*cough). But we help them think through the major pieces.

We’ve seen this problem hundreds of times.

We took the vague, complex decision process and put it into these simple steps for them:

5 proven steps to decide to expand (used by the world’s largest companies)

First: confirm if expanding the business makes strategic sense.

Does it make more sense to focus extra money and attention at this new offer? Or focus it on expanding your current business?

Once you’ve confirmed it makes strategic sense to expand, here’s the 5 steps:

1 | What are your potential customer needs?
• Pains? Frustrations? Desires? Needs?
• What do they need that competitors aren’t solving today?

2 | What does the new market look like (trends)?
• How fast is it growing?
• What’s causing the industry to grow faster? Slow it down?
• What are the risks?

3 | What are competitors doing?
• Who are the big players?
• How do they serve customers?
• What are their advantages? Disadvantages?

4 | What would your business need in the future (to expand)?
• Tech
• People
• Processes

5 | What does your business look like today?
Compare what your business looks like today, to what you need in the future. This helps you know how much you need to invest.
• What tech do you have?
• Customers?
• Channels?

So what did we tell them?

We went through this process to help the client decide to get into the Network Assurance business.

Here’s what we told them:

• Which parts of the industry is growing (& which to focus)
• What customers need (to give it to them)
• How to enter (while creating a competitive advantage)
• Risks involved (& ways to de-risk)

They decided to invest.

Are you thinking about how to expand your business?

It’s a scary process. There’s a lot to think about.

I get it.

But the 5 steps we just laid out are broad enough to help you understand the major pieces:
• Does it makes sense financially?
• Do you need to invest a lot?
• Is it a growing opportunity?
• What are the risks?
• What’s your theory on how you’ll win?

Grasp these and the pros, cons, and risks becomes clear.

The decision becomes much easier.

If you have any questions, hit reply, and I’ll help you think through it.

I read every email.

Vote at the end to let me know what topic you want the most help with and I’ll write you the next issue to solve it.

Boom! That’s it.

See you next Thursday 👋

Brian
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🧔🏻‍♂️ Get to know Brian

Valencia has the most beautiful architecture I’ve ever seen.

I don’t have the photography skills to show you anywhere near what I’m seeing but here’s my attempt:

As I type this I’m eyeing my Osprey bag that needs to get packed for my flight tomorrow. I’m heading back to Boston for the first time in 8 months!

Wild.

Off to my last dinner with Grammar Hippy!

Chat soon.

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