LONDON -- Kreston Global’s newest interpreneur report reveals that small and medium businesses across the world are bullish about their own global operations and are prepared to harness disruption to drive commercial growth at home and abroad. This comes despite macroeconomic concerns around geopolitical disruption, slowing global GDP, and a gradual decline in international collaboration which are dampening commercial outlooks for many public companies and giving rise to ‘deglobalization’ concerns.

Now in its second iteration, the Kreston interpreneur report is based on a survey across 14 different countries of 1,400 ‘interpreneurs’ or business leaders of organizations with revenue up to £300 million (approx. $372 million) who had successfully expanded their business into international markets. The research explores small-to-medium business global mobility trends, and the strategies business leaders are using to navigate the commercial pressures of global entrepreneurship today.

While interpreneurs acknowledge the challenging macro-economic headwinds facing global expansion, it is clear that the reward outweighs the risk. Almost all respondents (96%) agree that global expansion has been of benefit to their business, citing commercial growth across increased sales and revenue (53%) and profitability (46%) as the top benefits.

Evaluating their own international expansion journey, more than half of survey respondents said their business’ primary motivation was to secure market growth opportunities (52%), followed by a desire to gain a competitive advantage by establishing a foothold in new regions before rivals (36%). The biggest challenges faced were adapting logistics and supply chain issues (41%), finding the right local partners (39%) and managing economic volatility (38%).

Looking ahead, 87% of respondents said they expect an increase in the number of businesses expanding overseas in the next 12 months. The most popular destinations respondents said their business would consider expanding into are Western Europe (52%) and North America (48%). When evaluating what makes a country or region most attractive for international expansion, respondents cited favorable economic prospects (43%), favorable trade agreements (41%), and availability of skills and talent (41%).