Cross Borders & Break Down Barriers
World leaders are going local. Business leaders have another option.
As leaders and markets contract, is aiming bigger and going global still viable?
Several key world leaders are set to rule for the next four years - this contraction may well be the status quo we’re working within.
Yet for some leaders, entrepreneurs, and businesses, there’s a pull to go beyond this new normal.
Florentine diplomat and author Niccolò Machiavelli captured this sentiment:
“I’m not interested in preserving the status quo; I want to overthrow it.”
And for good reason. Because while political and economic barriers rise, other shifts are reshaping global business opportunities.
What Shifts?
For decades, global or multi-market business success was reserved for the biggest players - those with deep pockets, established networks, and the infrastructure to scale across borders. Breaking into new markets required years of groundwork, a physical presence, vast investment, and insider connections.
That’s no longer the case.
Today, leaders, entrepreneurs, and businesses can go further, faster, without the resources and connections that were once required.
Business moves fast and freely through optical fibres and deep-sea cables. Money, data, intelligence, talent, and deals cross borders, breaking down barriers that once demanded physical movement and control.
While borders tighten and barriers are reinforced through tariffs and trade restrictions, business continues to move globally. And it can for you too.
Why Now?
1. The Tools Exist: Expanding globally once meant navigating complex banking systems, setting up accounts in multiple countries, and dealing with high transaction costs. Today, digital financial infrastructure is removing these barriers, making cross-border trade and operations more seamless than ever.
Australian fintech startup Airwallex built a global payments infrastructure that allows businesses of all sizes to trade seamlessly across currencies and markets. What once required a banking relationship in every country is now handled digitally.
With Airwallex, companies can open foreign currency accounts, receive payments in multiple currencies, and hold, convert, and spend funds without needing a physical presence in each market. Its infrastructure enables businesses to manage global cash flow, pay suppliers, and access local bank details in different countries - all without traditional banking barriers.
By removing friction in cross-border transactions, global payments infrastructure gives businesses a financial edge, making it easier to operate, scale, and expand globally.
2. Talent Crosses Borders: The need for highly skilled talent isn’t confined by geography. As industries face growing skill gaps, businesses that tap into global talent pools gain a competitive advantage. Remote work and digital platforms have made it possible to access expertise from anywhere, reshaping how companies build and scale teams.
Founded in Nigeria, Andela started by training and connecting African software developers with global companies, filling talent shortages in the tech industry. Over time, it evolved into a global talent marketplace, providing businesses with vetted engineers from around the world.
Today, Andela enables companies to access top-tier remote talent, removing geographic barriers to hiring. As remote work becomes the norm, businesses that embrace borderless talent pools gain a competitive edge - closing skill gaps, reducing costs, and accelerating growth.
3. Demand Breaks Down Barriers: The way consumers access products and services is changing. Digital-first businesses are breaking traditional market constraints, bypassing outdated models, and expanding rapidly without the need for a physical footprint.
India’s Zerodha disrupted traditional brokerage firms by scaling an online-first, tech-driven model. Unlike legacy financial institutions that relied on physical branches, paperwork, and high brokerage fees, Zerodha introduced a low-cost, digital-first platform that simplified stock trading for retail investors.
By leveraging technology and automation, Zerodha removed traditional barriers to entry, making investing more accessible and affordable for millions in India. It became the country’s largest retail stockbroker without a single physical branch - demonstrating how demand for more efficient, user-friendly financial services can reshape industries.
Zerodha’s success highlights a broader shift: local dominance in a digital-first industry can translate into scalable global strategies. Businesses that meet rising demand with borderless, tech-driven solutions are well-positioned to expand into new markets, even in traditionally regulated sectors like finance.
4. The Barriers are Shifting: While governments tighten trade restrictions, businesses that offer intangible products - such as software, licensing, and expertise - face fewer constraints. Unlike physical goods, which are subject to tariffs, supply chain disruptions, and regulatory hurdles, intangible assets can scale across borders with minimal friction.
British semiconductor and software design company ARM Holdings demonstrates this shift. Rather than manufacturing chips, ARM licenses its intellectual property to tech companies worldwide, allowing them to integrate ARM’s designs into their own hardware. This licensing model has built a billion-dollar business while bypassing the logistical and geopolitical challenges of physical production.
Meanwhile, historian Heather Cox Richardson proves that knowledge and insight can scale globally without traditional barriers. Through her Letters from an American Substack, Cox Richardson generates around US$1 million per month from subscribers worldwide - monetising expertise without physical constraints.
As trade barriers rise, businesses built on intangible assets - whether intellectual property, digital platforms, or knowledge-based services - are finding new ways to grow beyond borders.
5. Needs Remain Unmet: While markets contract, demand for novel solutions to long-standing problems persists. Businesses that identify unmet needs - whether in healthcare, finance, or sustainability - can scale beyond borders, reaching underserved populations and unlocking new growth opportunities.
Ghana’s mPharma saw a critical gap in Africa’s pharmaceutical supply chain. Many communities struggled with limited access to essential medicines due to inefficiencies, high costs, and fragmented distribution networks. By leveraging technology and data-driven logistics, mPharma streamlined pharmaceutical distribution, ensuring reliable and affordable access to medications. Its model quickly scaled beyond Ghana, expanding into multiple African countries where similar challenges existed.
Similarly, Mexico’s Kueski recognised that millions in Latin America lacked access to traditional banking and credit. Using AI-driven credit assessments, Kueski built a digital lending platform that serves underbanked populations, providing microloans and financial inclusion where traditional banks had failed. By identifying an unmet need and leveraging technology, Kueski scaled rapidly, offering a financial lifeline to millions.
While physical borders tighten, real-world needs remain. Businesses that focus on solving pressing problems at scale can break through limitations, driving both impact and commercial success beyond their home markets.
While Leaders Go Local, Businesses Can Go Global
World leaders are going local. Indicators are that they will stay that way for their terms in power - tightening borders, prioritising domestic industries, and reinforcing nationalist policies. Political cycles favour short-term protectionism.
Yet, leaders, entrepreneurs, and businesses operate beyond election cycles.
The smartest aren’t waiting for better conditions. They continue to adapt, innovate, and move where opportunities exist. They build relationships, leverage leverage assets, insights, and networks, and seek positive-sum wins.
While governments build walls, those in business who refuse to settle for the status quo build bridges.
Smarter Business Success: Learn, Leverage, Leapfrog
Success in global markets - whether achieving market-beating results or becoming the dominant player, driving worldwide win-wins - comes down to moving smarter. Here’s how:
Learn:
The best leaders understand global shifts before they impact their industries. They track trends, geopolitical changes, demographic shifts, and emerging technologies to anticipate what’s next.
Leverage:
They use what they already have - talent, expertise, partnerships - to expand without heavy investment. Companies that leverage networks, data, and intellectual property grow faster and with less risk.
Leapfrog:
Rather than competing on outdated terms, businesses that rethink their models can bypass traditional barriers and gain global traction quickly. Rather than waiting for for slow-moving systems to change, businesses that leapfrog build new models that work around them. Instead of following legacy industry structures, they harness technology, networks, and new business models to scale faster, reach underserved markets, or disrupt incumbents.
Today, Tomorrow, Towards 2030
Crossing borders and breaking down barriers goes against the trend of contraction - today, tomorrow, and towards 2030.
When we see the bigger picture - including what moves fast and freely across the world - we can play a bigger game.
What opportunities do you see beyond borders that others might be missing?
Looking to Expand Beyond Borders?
Business Strategy Update: I run one-day workshops to help businesses map out a high-level intangible-based strategy to de-risk and diversify. These sessions enable businesses to expand what they do best, deliver it to global or multi-markets, and position themselves to earn foreign revenue.
Going Global connects leaders, entrepreneurs, and businesses with the insights, strategies, and networks to scale smarter and succeed internationally. Explore what’s possible when you cross borders and break down barriers.
If this could add value to your business, let’s connect.
