The smartest market-entry moves happen long before launch.
Over the past ten years, I’ve sat across the table from regulators, attorneys, customs officials and government agencies all over the world. I’ve had conversations in Brazil, Taiwan, South Korea and countless other markets where companies were eager to expand and excited about the opportunities ahead of them. Those conversations have taught me that international expansion in direct selling is rarely just a legal challenge. It’s an operational challenge. It’s a financial challenge. It’s a cultural challenge. And—perhaps most importantly—it’s a human challenge.
Most companies spend a lot of time thinking about where they want to go next and not nearly enough time thinking about what it will actually take to succeed once they get there. When people talk about opening a new market, they tend to focus on the visible milestones. Launch events, ribbon cuttings, growing revenue. What they don’t see are the months—and sometimes years—of research, planning and preparation that happen before any of those things are possible.
Opening a market is the easy part. Determining whether you should open it in the first place is often much harder.
Understanding the Type of Market You’re Entering
At Young Living, when we evaluate a new country, one of the first questions we ask ourselves is whether we’re looking at a pull market or a push market. Understanding the difference has a significant impact on everything that follows.
A pull market is one where demand already exists. Many direct selling companies already have some visibility into these markets through NFR (Not for Resale) programs or cross-border purchasing activity. You have data. The market is already telling you something.
Because of that, pull markets often represent lower-risk opportunities. You’re not trying to convince people they want your products or your opportunity. You’re responding to existing demand rather than trying to create it from scratch.
Push markets are different. In those situations, a company decides to enter a market because it sees future potential; wants a presence in a particular region; or believes there is an opportunity to create demand over time. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that approach, but it comes with a different risk profile. The upfront investment is usually higher. Revenue is less predictable. Forecasting becomes more difficult because there are fewer indicators available to guide decision-making.
Most successful market openings contain elements of both approaches. A market is rarely one thing or the other. The key is understanding your starting point. Are you building demand or responding to it? That answer influences how much you’re willing to invest; how quickly you expect results; and how much uncertainty you’re prepared to accept.
It’s also worth recognizing that opening a market isn’t always the best answer. Sometimes a company discovers that a lighter-touch approach can accomplish many of the same objectives without the cost and complexity of establishing a full operation.
I’ve seen situations where a company already has products moving into a market through an NFR program and everything appears to be working well. Then they begin evaluating what it would take to officially open the country and discover that local regulations would require product reformulations, fewer SKUs and different compensation structures. Suddenly, the market looks very different than it did at the beginning of the conversation.
In some cases, customers could end up with fewer products and distributors could end up earning less money than they were before. Growth should improve the experience—not make it worse. That’s why expansion decisions require more than enthusiasm. They require analysis.
The Questions Most Companies Don’t Ask
At Young Living, our first phase of expansion is market assessment. This stage often takes far longer than people expect because we’re not looking for confirmation that a market is attractive. We’re trying to understand whether we can realistically succeed there.
A large population and strong demand signals are helpful, but they don’t tell the whole story. Every market comes with its own demographic realities, cultural expectations and regulatory requirements.
Market assessment is ultimately about reducing uncertainty. That means asking questions that are often less exciting than announcing a launch but far more important to long-term success.
- Do we already have customers there?
- Do we understand the competitive landscape?
- Can our products be registered?
- Will our compensation model work within local regulations?
- Are there tax implications that fundamentally change the economics of the market?
What Compliance Really Looks Like
One of the biggest misconceptions about international expansion is that compliance begins and ends with obtaining the necessary licenses. Licensing is only one piece of a much larger puzzle.
Every market has its own rules regarding corporate structure, taxation, ownership and operational requirements. Some countries require multiple shareholders. Others restrict foreign ownership. Some require local directors. Others impose specific capital requirements before a company can begin operating.
On paper, each of these requirements may seem manageable. The challenge is that they rarely exist in isolation. A decision about corporate structure can influence tax obligations. Tax obligations can affect profitability. Profitability can influence how aggressively a company invests in the market. Every decision has downstream consequences, which is why expansion requires coordination across legal, finance, operations and executive leadership.
Direct selling companies face an additional layer of complexity because compensation plans are often regulated differently from one country to the next. Certain markets place restrictions on payouts. Others require government approval before compensation plan changes can be implemented. Some approvals can take months.
Companies often imagine that they can simply take a successful business model and replicate it internationally. The reality is that every market introduces variables that require careful consideration. Success depends on understanding those variables before they become problems.
Why Products Don’t Always Travel Well
Products create another layer of complexity that companies frequently underestimate. A product that fits neatly into one regulatory category in the United States may fall into an entirely different category elsewhere. That change can trigger additional registration requirements, new documentation needs and, in some cases, product reformulation.
Packaging introduces similar challenges. Localization is about much more than translating words into another language. Countries have different labeling requirements, disclosure standards and consumer protection rules. In some cases, companies can use supplemental labels during the early stages of growth. In others, dedicated packaging becomes necessary.
These details may seem small, but collectively they influence launch timelines, operational costs and customer experience. The more preparation that occurs upfront, the fewer surprises emerge later.
Building an Ecosystem for Growth
Once a market moves beyond research and planning, the focus shifts toward building the infrastructure that will support long-term growth.
That process involves much more than hiring employees and finding office space. It requires identifying logistics providers, legal advisors, accounting partners, tax experts and operational vendors that understand the local environment. These partners often provide insights that companies simply can’t obtain from headquarters.
I remember opening operations in Colombia and realizing how different local payment behavior was from what we were accustomed to in the United States. We naturally assumed people would pay in ways that felt familiar to us. Instead, local consumers often relied on entirely different payment methods and purchasing habits. Without local expertise, those differences can create friction that slows adoption and frustrates customers.
Experiences like that reinforce the importance of hiring local talent. Local leaders understand consumer expectations, cultural norms and operational realities in ways that outside organizations never fully can. They help companies identify blind spots, adapt processes and build stronger relationships within the market. No amount of research can completely replace the perspective of someone who lives and works there every day.
What Happens after Launch
Most people think the launch is the finish line, but the real work begins after the market opens. Once operations begin, the company takes on a new set of responsibilities. Compliance requirements don’t disappear. They increase. Data privacy obligations must be monitored. Product claims require oversight. Regulatory changes need to be tracked. Customer expectations continue to evolve.
At the same time, market realities often reveal opportunities and challenges that weren’t visible during the planning phase. Companies may discover that import costs are higher than expected. They may identify opportunities for local manufacturing. They may need to adjust pricing, logistics or operational processes as the market matures. That’s normal. International expansion is not a single event. It’s an ongoing process of learning, adapting and improving.
When I think about the markets that succeed over the long term, three factors consistently stand out.
- Alignment. Legal, finance, IT, operations, marketing and field development all need to understand the priorities and support the same objectives.
- Due diligence. Details matter and overlooking them often creates problems later.
- Local talent. The people closest to the market frequently provide the insights that make success possible.
Ultimately, successful expansion isn’t defined by how quickly a company opens a country. It’s defined by whether that market is still thriving years later. The organizations that grow successfully across borders are rarely the ones chasing the most launches. They’re the ones willing to do the work long before anyone gets an invite to the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Three Questions to Ask Before Opening Any Market
1. Are we responding to demand or trying to create it?
Understanding whether a market is pull-driven or push-driven shapes investment, forecasting and risk.
2. Can our products and compensation plan work within local regulations?
What succeeds in one country may require significant adaptation in another.
3. Do we have the right local partners and talent?
Local expertise often reveals challenges—and opportunities—that research alone cannot uncover.
JACKIE MOLLING, Executive Vice President, International Legal Affairs, Young Living, brings more than 20 years of direct selling industry experience to her work supporting global organizations with international legal strategy. Her expertise spans market expansion, regulatory compliance and operational scalability across diverse and emerging markets. Jackie has been instrumental in growing Young Living’s international footprint, guiding successful market entries across Taiwan, the Philippines, South Korea, South Africa, Colombia, Costa Rica, China, Russia, Thailand and Brazil.
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