A few days ago, I had the opportunity to share a virtual space with Rodrigo Labbé from Jooycar, Jens Thobo-Carlsen from Betterfly, and María Sol González from ComparaOnline. InsurteChile's invitation was to share the main challenges for expanding our industry beyond the Chilean borders.  

I want to highlight some of the points we touched on in the webinar "The Dos and Don'ts of regional expansion.” One thing that all four representatives agreed on is that it is not a good idea to leave the business in one country. On the contrary, real growth goes beyond borders, and as you grow, it is essential to be fast and achieve an excellent competitive position.

Another relevant fact of the webinar was that the pandemic and the consequent need to work remotely made it possible to reach other cultures and corners of the world. This way of working has become the new normal.

Another striking point is the importance of the U.S. and Brazilian markets since, despite the different cultures and languages (which impose additional difficulties), both countries are an excellent springboard to strengthen a company that seeks to grow and break out of its limits.

The "Dos"

If a company wishes to expand regionally, it is essential to take into account the following points:

• Internal and external transparency.
• Love for change.
• Consider the language and the way of communicating.
• A good HR department.
• Attack countries such as Brazil and the United States.
• Avoid getting stuck locally, but instead, look outside the borders.
• Seek alliances.
• Allow to make mistakes and learn from experiences.
• To have a good product and cutting-edge technology.

The Don’ts

• Attacking easily accessible countries just because it looks easy.
• Train ourselves properly before launching into the market so that we will avoid unnecessary loss of money.
• Avoid "copy-paste" (we must be unique and different).
• Do not hire companies that help us to open the market; they rarely work.
• Go step by step; great things are built with good foundations.

I want to thank InsurteChile for generating such important spaces for our industry and Rodrigo Labbé from Jooycar, Jens Thobo-Carlsen from Betterfly, and María Sol González from ComparaOnline for sharing their experiences. 

Being patient, not being afraid to make mistakes, and doing things differently will always be the key to growing our business. 

In the following link you can access the recording of this webinar organized by InsurteChile, click here to see the webinar's video.