Scaling social enterprises internationally is recognised as a fruitful pathway for the sustainability of the organisation and the potential to grow in impact.
However experience shows that overstretching and expanding beyond the organisation’s capabilities can lead to fragility.
So how do social enterprises grow across borders? What are the challenges and pitfalls to avoid? And how have successful social enterprises achieved international growth?
Drawing on insights from the Reckitt Catalyst cohort, we lay out pathways to international expansion for social impact organisations.
Sizing for capacity
Innovators that have participated in the Reckitt Catalyst have grown their footprint across communities and borders, but to do so have taken a stage approach to growth. This starts first within the organisation, through identifying the needs and capacity requirements to be ready to scale. For smaller organisations, this is not only about having the right stock or infrastructure in place, but also accounting for the human demand on team-members and leadership.
To address this, innovators including Zara Isa Modibbo, Managing Partner, Débbo Africa, have deployed a hub and spoke model, with the original location or main site servicing as a base, with then satellite locations in target geographies with the potential to scale once the demand is there. This can also occur within one national jurisdiction, with languages, regulatory requirements and demand profiles varying from state to state or province to province, as Adeola Alli, founder of OneHealth Nigeria highlights. Setting up the process for domestic expansion can then provide a playbook for international growth in future.
Others have deployed digital first models in new markets, to reduce the cost of establishing new physical infrastructure and conduct market testing before committing fully to an additional location.
Partnerships on the path to growth
Overcoming the daunting task of growing into a new market can be achieved through identifying and collaborating with like-minded organisations in the target geography, as Sylvia Kengere, Regional Expansion Lead at Sanivation highlights. In some cases, this can be necessitated due to local ownership requirements, but even when this does not apply it can be an effective strategy to leverage local knowledge and smooth the path to integration.
But just as with a partner in life, finding the right partner in business comes with a period of dating, and getting to know one another, before the full commitment. This ensures the values of the two organisations align, the financials of the partnership stack up and there’s a clear understanding of what the future holds, not just the current state of affairs.
Importance of government
Crossing borders will inevitably require engaging with local governments and bureaucratic systems, some of which may be unfamiliar to an organisation. For innovators who have made the leap, this can involve timing expansion to align with election cycles, to avoid key decision-makers not being distracted with other priorities. In other cases, this has also meant assessing the government procurement landscape, particularly when the service is subsidised or has a direct interface with public bodies, including utilities.
Foresight in four
Putting these into practice, what are the mantras by which social innovators grow across borders. Here’s four.
- It’s ok to cut your losses if things aren’t going to plan. Your harshest critic will only be yourself.
- Find the similarities across organisations and draw on these for partnerships.
- The solution is rarely the problem – alignment is.
- Go deep over going broad. Find the right niche and dive into that rather than spreading too thin.
