Case Study: International Expansion

International Expansion of Health & Nutrition Company

Isagenix is a health and nutrition company that markets its products through a network of independent associates. The company was established in 2002 in the United States, and quickly added Puerto Rico and Canada to its reach.

Summary

In 2005, Isagenix was ready for international expansion, and a PATCA consultant was retained to analyze the firm’s readiness to do business internationally. We were simultaneously charged with management of the Canadian Product Regulatory Compliance Project.

PATCA Consultant Role & Value

There are significant complexities to expansion of a network marketing model internationally. Organizational communities remain successful when ‘home office’ imperatives and lessons from past successes are effectively balanced with adaptation to new cultural norms. The Consultant’s Integrative Strategy approach united these (often conflicting) priorities, providing insights into potential for success and capacity for growth. Our full analysis was completed and presented to the Board of Directors and Senior Management Teams in 2006. The decision was made to correct any deficiencies and to ensure each department was able to support international expansion. In May 2006 the initial markets were selected and by September the projects were initiated.

For nine distinct markets, the PATCA Consultant led projects focused on corporate structure, tax planning, risk analysis, systems development, finance, logistics, manufacturing, product and regulatory approvals, establishment of infrastructure, staff acquisition and training, sales and marketing materials and the formal launch of the market. Due to the complexity of these diverse projects, the project plans for each new market were divided into six phases: Market Analysis & Selection, Market Entry (Corporate), Market Requirements, Internal Documentation, Start Up & Grand Opening, and Post Launch Business Plan.

Concurrent with international expansion, a technology project was initiated to create a new sales, ordering and reporting environment and support system for the Isagenix Field Associates. The PATCA Consultant’s role in this began when the new system was launched and it was necessary to create buy-in from field leaders and their teams.

The PATCA Consultant designed and delivered (over a period of six weeks) a series of daily live webinars, to train associates on the system, and answer their questions directly.

Our Results

The PATCA Consultant delivered road maps for international expansion to 35 markets around the world. Hong Kong was the first market to be opened in March 2007. This was followed by the opening of Australia and New Zealand in October 2007 and then Taiwan in June 2008. Rollout to five additional markets was well underway and handed over in June 2009 to the corporate team to complete.

The registration submissions for all Canadian products were remitted on time.

The new technology system launch was ultimately a huge success, and provided the field team with a world class, state of the art system.