Scalable Brand logoSCALABLE BRANDCross-border growth strategyExpansion Review
The first step

One company. One expansion question.

A fixed-scope review of a material international-growth decision, before more capital, management attention or operating complexity goes into it.

Format
Duration
2 to 3 weeks
Fee
Fixed and agreed upfront, from €9,500
Role
Narrows one decision and names the evidence that settles it. It works alongside commercial diligence and does not replace it.
Inputs
Public evidence, a limited management data pack, and interviews where available
Output
A written review and a decision discussion
When to use it

The ambition is clear. The right configuration is not.

The review covers a new market, deeper investment in an existing one, a new channel, a franchise or partner model, or any other material cross-border growth decision.

Before a deal
International growth is in the investment case and needs underwriting.
The first 100 days
The deal has closed, and the growth plan needs an order and an owner.
A market or channel approval
The board is asked to fund a new country, retail or a franchise model.
A launch behind plan
A market is live, and revenue or margin trails the business case.
A change of model
DTC to retail, owned to franchise, organic growth to acquisition.
No senior owner
The initiative cuts across functions and sits with the CEO by default.
A mid-hold review or exit preparation
The growth thesis needs re-testing, or evidence for the next owner.
How it runs

The same six steps, on your decision.

Steps one to five run on public evidence. Step six names the few internal numbers that settle the question, and uses your data pack where you provide one.

The approach in full
01
Proven success
What has the company achieved beyond what the market gave it?
02
Winning system
What combination of product, brand, channel, pricing and operations produced the result?
03
Growth move
What changes besides the country?
04
New competitive system
What determines winning there?
05
Portability and capability gap
What travels, what localises, what must be rebuilt, and what stops mattering?
06
Economics and decision
Does it create value soon enough, and what evidence would prove or kill the thesis?
What you receive

The Expansion Review memo.

A concise written decision document in eight parts. Every part separates what is observed, what is inferred and what is still unknown.

1
Growth-move timeline
What each owner and management phase has already changed, and with what observable result.
2
Winning-system hypothesis
What appears to create value today.
3
Company-created vs market-enabled map
Which parts of the success the company controls.
4
Portability and capability map
What travels, localises, breaks or must be rebuilt.
5
Growth-configuration comparison
The credible alternatives worth comparing.
6
Economic tests
The few contribution, cash, working-capital or CapEx measures that prove or kill the thesis.
7
Sequencing view
What should happen first, and what should wait.
8
Recommendation
Scale, test, adapt, defer or stop, with a 90-day proof point where appropriate.

See one before you commission one. A sample memo, written on a public company using public information only, is available on request.

Ask for the sample memo
What I need from you

A limited data pack and a few hours of your time.

The review starts from public evidence, so these can arrive in the first week. Where an item does not exist, the memo names it as a gap.

01
P&L by market and by channel for the last 24 months
02
Customer acquisition and repeat data by market
03
The growth plan or board paper for the move under review
04
The organisation chart and reporting lines for the international business
05
Two or three interviews: the CEO, the CFO and the owner of the move
A valid outcome

“Do not proceed yet” is a valid answer.

The review exists to improve the capital-allocation decision. It carries no brief to justify expansion.

After the review

There is no requirement to continue.

Some reviews end with a clear management decision. Others continue into the full Expansion Thesis, or into configuration and economics, the operating model, or embedded leadership.

The four engagements
Questions

Before you ask.

Is this only for PE-backed companies?
No. The same question applies to founder-led, privately held and growth-backed companies. Investor-backed situations are one important use, because the growth thesis, the capital allocation and the ownership clock are explicit.
Do you need internal company data?
Not to begin. Public evidence identifies the main hypotheses and the missing information. A management data pack makes the economic conclusion stronger. Where the answer depends on internal CAC, margin or market-level P&L, the memo says so.
Is this a market-entry report?
No. The review starts with what the company has proved and reconstructs how it wins today. Only then does it ask what transfers, what the destination rewards and which configuration is economically attractive.
Is the work confidential?
Yes. Reviews are covered by a confidentiality agreement and are never published. The research library uses public information only.
Who is it not for?
Companies still searching for product-market fit at home, buyers who need a general market-research report or a local sales agency, and transformation programmes that need a large consulting team.
What does it cost?
The fee is fixed and agreed before the work starts, from €9,500. It depends on the scope of the decision and the level of data access.

One company. One expansion question.

Start with a fixed-scope Expansion Review and get a written answer on whether to scale, test, adapt, defer or stop, before the next euro of capital goes in.

Request an expansion review