Owning and operating your own business is the greatest move that you can make for your long-term financial health and wellbeing, as well as helping you gain financial freedom. One thing that many people cite as a reason for starting a business is their desire to travel, and yet many business owners struggle to travel as they do not understand how they can run their business from abroad. Running a business from abroad is not just like running it at home. In fact it offers the opportunity to grow your business endeavors internationally. Here are a few key tips to help you run your business from abroad.
Build Your Network
When you are running your business from abroad, you won’t be able to call on the same people back home who you are used to relying on for your business. This means that you are going to need to grow your network to make it a truly international network. This will help you when you need contacts in a particular country, or who speak a particular language, or who are in a certain time zone. Don’t underestimate the value of an international network to draw upon for help.
Buy Property
A great way to keep your business running while you are abroad is to continue to purchase property while you are abroad. Property is a great store of value since it almost always increases in value overtime, far outpacing inflation and even usually outperforming the stock market. You should try to look for countries that are welcoming of foreign investors in their country. Mexico welcomes international investments in their country. Some countries, on the other hand, are not so welcoming of foreign investors. Pick and choose which markets you want to enter and stick to your guns.
Keep Communication Open Back Home
The major problem that a lot of business owners run into when trying to run their businesses from abroad is the time change leading to a breakdown in communication between owner and the people on the ground at the business. You need to plan for how you can keep the lines of communication open for you and your business partners and employees wherever you are so that you can be reached when needed. Perhaps this means setting aside some of your time for emails or phone calls at a somewhat inconvenient time in your international time zone. Be prepared to make a small sacrifice like that for the well-being of your business.
Running a business is one of the greatest endeavors you can take on in your lifetime. Trying to run a business from abroad, however, brings about a myriad of challenges that you must tackle. Follow these tips to ensure that you keep your business running in tip top shape from abroad.
Check out this article on what you should know before entering international real estate markets!
