In 1945, the English writer Nancy Mitford wrote: "Abroad is unutterably bloody and foreigners are fiends." To the modern mind, this sounds absurdly prejudiced and politically incorrect, but to those business operators who have taken their brands aboard in recent years, her statement might still have a ring of truth.
The changing political and economic backdrop in Eastern Europe, the former USSR, the Indian subcontinent and China has meant that opportunities for global expansion have never been better. In China, for example, commonly identified as the world's fastest growing economy and the place where every business would like to be, it is said that the emerging middle class is as big as the entire population of the USA, and the eating-out market is worth 57b per year. This cannot be sniffed at.
But Mitford is also right - abroad can be bloody for the unprepared. It is essential that any operator thinking of moving into an overseas market does so with eyes wide open. As our feature on emerging markets suggests (see page 20), the key to success is to involve local investors, local businessmen and the local community, but all of this can still be fraught with pitfalls.
The right strategy and a willingness to accept cultural differences, however, means that the potential of emerging markets is there for the taking. The world is waiting as never before, and there has never been a better time for UK restaurant groups to look at expanding beyond their own back doorsteps. Go for it, but go for it cautiously.
Forbes Mutch
Editor-in-chief
forbes.mutch@rbi.co.uk