Strategic Decisions in Market Expansion: Navigating Business Opportunity for PT. ABC to Expand to Asean Markets

This study investigates strategic decisions for Hukumonline, Indonesia's leading legal-tech company, to expand into Southeast Asian (ASEAN) markets through its regional platform, PT ABC. The research addresses three core questions: What business opportunities exist in ASEAN for Hukumonline? Which countries offer the most favorable conditions for entry? What entry mode strategy is most appropriate? Using a qualitative approach, the study integrates PESTEL analysis for macro-environmental assessment, Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) for country prioritization, Porter's Five Forces for industry competitiveness, and VRIO analysis for internal resource evaluation. Data collection involved semi-structured interviews with 15 industry experts, legal professionals, and executives, complemented by secondary data from industry reports and government publications. DEMATEL weighting identifies technology readiness and legal certainty as critical success factors, while sociocultural adaptation emerges as a key enabler. AHP results rank Singapore as the top priority market (composite score 0.324), followed by Malaysia (0.261) and Thailand (0.198). PESTEL analysis reveals favorable regulatory environments in Singapore and Malaysia, while Porter's Five Forces indicates moderate competitive intensity with significant barriers to entry. VRIO analysis confirms Hukumonline's competitive advantages in proprietary legal databases, technological platform capabilities, and brand equity. The findings recommend a phased hybrid entry strategy: initial cross-border SaaS deployment for market testing and customer acquisition, medium-term strategic alliances with local law firms for enhanced credibility and local expertise, and long-term establishment of a regional hub in Singapore for coordinated ASEAN operations. This research contributes a structured decision-making framework for legal-tech internationalization and offers practical guidance for leveraging intangible assets in heterogeneous markets while managing regulatory, cultural, and competitive challenges.