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INB Team
September 11, 2025
Launching a new market is always a challenge. There is no magic “Start” button. There’s only a strategy, clear steps, unexpected moments, and a team that keeps everything under control or at least tries.
Every country has its own rules of the game: cultural specifics, taboo topics and sometimes even legal risks. However, INB.bio has a clear system and experience that make it possible to turn a “blank spot” on the map into a full-fledged market with its own production, native call centers, delivery and marketing.
How we make this happen in practice is shared by CMO Vera and COO Danya.
Imagine you need to launch advertising in a country you’ve never been to. Where do you start? That’s right – with gathering information.
“Breaking into a new market always starts with what we call ‘homework.’ We dive deep into research to understand every detail: demographics, population size, and income levels and not justt official salaries but also under the table earnings for a true sense of purchasing power. Internet coverage is critical too, especially in regions like Africa where access can be uneven, and we carefully study religious and cultural preferences to shape messaging that resonates.
We then pinpoint high-potential cities, analyze how customers discover products, and examine competitor strategies and demand patterns. This level of preparation isn’t optional, it’s essential homework before testing any market we aim to enter.”
The first step is always as straightforward and analytical as possible like tables, numbers, and statistics. But that’s where it’s easy to get trapped. On paper, everything can look perfect, while the reality tells a different story.
That’s why we never rely solely on data from open sources. We complement it with real-world insights, the focus group results and direct feedback from people in the GEO we’re targeting — to either confirm or challenge what we’ve uncovered. This approach gives us a much broader and more accurate picture.
For example, in Rwanda, numbers stubbornly showed that the main audience for joint products was people aged 50+. Sounds logical, right? But when we checked social media, we found only about 900,000 active users, the vast majority of them young. That’s when it became clear we had to work not only with older people.
We had to quickly adapt the strategy: new creatives, new messaging, new approach. We expanded the audience to include young people and athletes who not only bought the product for themselves but also responded well to the “take care of your parents” message.
After the first research stage, the next logical step is competitor analysis.
“We have two types of competitors. The first is local manufacturers, who sell their good offline in local shops and pharmacies. They usually have very limited online coverage. We look at what products they sell, what messages they use, how they behave online – if they have any presence at all.
And the second type is our direct competitors. These are the same advertisers and affiliate platforms working in this GEO. We do a snapshot: what offers they have, their approval rate, what payouts they provide, and so on,” Vera explains.
This way the team immediately sees the full picture: who is already in the market, which products are popular, which messages resonated with the audience and which didn’t. In essence, it’s a free experience you can use for your own launch.
To avoid unpleasant surprises, there’s another important exercise– PESTLE analysis. It’s a kind of insurance against common mistakes that are often made out of ignorance.
“We conduct a special analysis called PESTLE – Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental, Legal. Missing even one of these factors can drastically affect results.
In Arabic countries, for example, you can’t show a woman in advertising with an open neckline or even bare arms. That can lead not only to brand reputation but also to real legal problems.
The political context is just as important: protests, elections, or changes in state structure directly affect test results in this GEO and the prospects for scaling,” Vera explains.
PESTLE is our checklist of “red flags.” It saves us from situations where a single detail could ruin the entire production in a GEO.
We’re often asked: “Why reinvent the wheel? If you’ve made a great campaign for Tunisia, just launch the same one in Côte d’Ivoire.” Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way.
“You can’t just launch content in an Arab country without adapting it first. It’s not only about low conversion — it can backfire completely. It’s like running communist ads in a democratic country: people will reject it, and you risk a PR disaster and a brand crisis.
That’s why the number one rule is: do your homework before you do any marketing,” Vera says.
It’s better to spend time studying a country’s culture and history in advance than to rebuild your reputation from scratch and pay fines for an ill-judged phrase in advertising.
Once research is done, it’s time for creativity. But even here everything follows a clear system.
“Based on research and focus groups we create landing pages, which is essentially a template. It includes creatives: videos, GIFs, carousels, or banners. Plus, a pre-landing with a story and a landing page that sells the product.
The process is quite simple: first content, then design, then coding. We have a huge library, and in addition, our creative team is always ready to make custom materials for valued partners – also based on research and constant testing to improve results,” Vera says.
And of course, nothing should ever be chosen just “on a hunch”. While it’s tempting, and we’ve been there too, jumping ahead without a solid foundation almost always backfires.
“We create a range of creatives and run A/B tests, showing slightly different landing pages to see which one resonates best with users. Sometimes it’s about the headline, other times it’s the story or imagery, depending on what drives engagement.
Since we work entirely online, we can analyze every detail of user behavior. Heatmaps help us see exactly what content draws attention, what people click on, and what they scroll past. This data-driven approach ensures we focus on what matters and remove what isn’t working.
We test ourselves with our media buyers, plus we launch tests with partners,” she adds.
Can you predict in advance what will “take off”? Definitely not. There’s no magic here – only testing, analytics, and more testing.
Alongside marketing, the operations department is also working hard. And it always starts with the legal structure.
“Over the years we’ve created a clear checklist of actions that covers the entire process of opening a new GEO – from building the legal structure to the first sales.
We always start with setting up the legal foundation in the country. That’s the basis. Registering a company, finding a trusted representative, registering products, certification – we launch all of that from day one, without delay. This gives us confidence that everything will work smoothly later.
Without the right legal structure, scaling isn’t a strategy – it’s a lottery,” says COO Dania.
Launching a market “remotely” without physical presence is impossible. You need someone on the ground to keep their finger on the pulse and control the process. But finding such a person isn’t easy.
“When we select someone, we don’t start with the CV, but with the personality. We care about soft skills: the ability to build trust, be flexible and not get lost in chaos. Because only with such people can you not just open a GEO but turn it into a success story.
Hard skills matter, international experience, knowledge of the local market, management, and economics all play a role. But if there’s no chemistry, nothing will work. Trusting someone from a distance is only possible when your values align,” Dania explains.
“The most common delay comes from regulations, because we work strictly officially and never bypass them.
That means we register products, set up a company, and go through certification. And yes, sometimes it takes longer than we’d like. But in the long run, this approach always wins,” Dania says.
There’s another important factor to consider — licenses.
“We build this process from the moment we create the legal structure. We know exactly what, where, and when to submit. But every country has its own rules. Somewhere it takes 3–4 weeks, somewhere a few months. We immediately prepare a full package of documents, translations, certificates, lab analyses, and bring in local legal teams. Everything official, transparent, clean.
If you want to succeed long-term in any country, play by its rules — and play to win.”
Essentially, it’s staying ahead of the game: better to spend time upfront and have “clean” documents than later explain to partners and clients why the product is “not entirely legal.”
You’re thousands of kilometers away, and the local team is on the ground. How do you keep processes under control?
“It’s simple: system > control. Everyone has clear KPIs, responsibilities, and critical points to keep focus. There’s no need to stand over anyone – everyone knows what and when to do so the country follows the plan.
Add regular calls, clear reporting, team autonomy – and everything works. Personal presence isn’t necessary when there’s a structure keeping everything in place.
Chaos starts where there are no clear roles and expectations. We fixed that,” Dania explains.
So the whole “magic” is in transparent processes: clear KPIs, reporting, roles. Nobody chases anyone, but everyone knows what to do.
Another challenge that no launch can do without is the call center. “Opening a call center” sounds like a months-long task: find a space, hire people, train them, install equipment, set everything up. But Dania and his team have repeatedly proven it’s possible to do this in just a few weeks. By the way, you can read more about call center operations in an interview with Irina, our Head of Quality Control Department.
“If we’re starting from scratch, even without an office, we launch a full-fledged call center in three weeks. That’s our working norm, confirmed in practice across various GEOs.
The secret is simple – a clear checklist and focus on the right things. First of all – recruitment. We immediately build a funnel that quickly shows whether the candidate is the right fit. And this applies to everyone: both managers and operators.”
But finding candidates is only half the job, which is why:
“Our headquarters has a strong training department – a team that adapts newcomers, quickly brings them into the process, and guides them to results. That’s what really saves time and boosts quality from day one,” says the head of the operations department.
Once the core processes run like clockwork, the question arises: “Is it time to scale?” Many companies decide intuitively: “Looks fine, let’s increase budgets.” But INB.bio doesn’t rely on gut feeling alone.
“We have our own system. There are three key indicators (I won’t disclose them, but those who know will understand 😉), and those are the first things we look at.
Then we analyze the whole structure: how stable supply is, how logistics are working, whether we met delivery deadlines, how our courier network is set up, how recruitment and training are organized.
If all blocks are in place then we have a green light. We scale confidently because we know the system will hold.
Scaling isn’t about being ‘ready.’ It’s about proving you can already handle it,” Dania emphasizes.
Every launch has its surprises, and those are the ones you remember most. For Dania, one such case was in one of our GEOs Benin.
“To get a license, you had to pass a commission. The problem? It almost never convened.”
We had to act unconventionally. We literally searched for commission members around the city, met them informally, invited them to dinners, and explained the importance of the launch. And in the end it worked: the commission met, the license was granted, the market launched.
That story proved a simple truth: where there are no stable processes, you must build relationships. And do it quickly, flexibly, and without panic.
Launching a new GEO is always more than just analytics. It’s a story about people who aren’t afraid to take on tough challenges, about a team that can act systematically and still remain flexible. It’s about enduring the marathon of regulations and bureaucracy while also finding the right words when everything depends on a dinner with local officials.
We’ve seen it firsthand: success isn’t built on improvisation or luck. It’s born from persistence, discipline, and the will to play by the rules, even when that path is harder and longer. But that’s exactly what builds a brand people trust.
Every country has its challenges, barriers, and rules. And that’s the beauty of launches: each time you learn from scratch, each time you discover a different reality. And if you have a reliable team by your side, any market can be turned into a success story.
