Playbook / Lessons / Expand: new markets

Pilot your model in a second territory before you scale

Campisi reports on a founder who, on mentors' advice, piloted her business outside her home territory by opening a first out-of-state location to see whether her core systems work elsewhere. The founder says systemic issues surface quickly when you expand to different territories, and that fixing them before franchising means franchisees are not doing that R&D. The article lists service offering, pricing, back-end systems and software as things to test.

“Piloting in a new market shows whether a brand truly has the infrastructure to scale.”— Victoria Campisi, Pilot Markets: How to Validate Your Franchise Model, Jul 2026

Do this

Choose one nearby town outside your current area for a pilot and list the service offering, pricing and systems you will check against your home location's results.

More in this pack

• Prove demand abroad before you staff an overseas office
• Stay in your first location for the first few years
• Recruit local partners like customers with a filtered list and outreach
• Expand into a client niche close to the one you already serve

Get your plan

All steps · Trust · Pricing