Global expansion often starts quietly, sometimes with nothing more than a message from a customer thousands of miles away.

A late-night order, a TikTok comment asking about shipping or an inbox full of questions in new languages can be the first signs that a business is outgrowing its home market. Nearly half of entrepreneurs make their first international sale within six months, proving that demand often arrives long before a formal strategy.

This was true for Yana Smaglo. After fleeing Ukraine and settling in the UK in 2022, she expected modest progress. But one local interview changed everything. Within four months, her brand Nenya had 150 wholesale partners across three continents.

“I wasn’t thinking about global business. I thought about the UK. But then my first clients were from the US, and they actually built my business,” she says.

Other founders share similar stories. BK Beauty shipped to 65 countries in its first week. Orders poured into personalised products brand Beysis from the US, UK, EU and Singapore, even while everything shipped from Sydney. Skullcandy expanded from the US to Canada, the EU and the UK within weeks of launching its site. Demand showed them where to grow.

Sometimes expansion comes from hitting limits close to home. World of Books reached saturation in the UK, pushing the company to acquire a US competitor. “The US is such a key market for us,” says director of product David Magee. The move gave the business room to scale and compete globally.

Growth is rarely straightforward. Shipping, trust and regulations remain the biggest obstacles. “The uncertainty is the greatest challenge because you don't want to make hard and fast decisions given the constantly shifting landscape,” says Ariana Hendry from Beysis. But instead of retreating, her team refocused on the EU, diversifying the markets that were working.

What makes global growth possible today is the infrastructure that supports it. “Shopify has always been good about laying the train tracks ahead of us right when we're ready to take that next push,” says Paul from BK Beauty. World of Books and Skullcandy share similar experiences, launching faster and adapting quicker than ever before.

The world is ready for businesses that can follow customer demand wherever it appears. The real question is whether founders are prepared to act when those signals arrive