Management
Business Relocation in 2017: How to Move Your Company Overseas
The world is shrinking.
The internet of things is bringing everyone closer and corporations around the world are taking up roots in countries well beyond their domestic borders.
Business relocation is on trend in 2017. Moving a company’s trade and base of operations makes a whole lot of sense for many business owners. Open up new avenues of sales, acquire better quality or cheaper resources and expand into new, up-and-coming markets.
The benefits are tempting, but a question remains: How do you move your company overseas?
Immediately, it sounds like a migraine waiting to happen. Relocating an individual overseas is known to be stressful enough, but an entire brand? Nobody is suggesting the process will be easy, yet it is not only doable, but also doesn’t have to be a nightmare. You just have to follow the right path.
The key to successful business relocation? Divide and conquer. Move through the stages of relocation one step at a time. So, let’s start from the beginning:
Establish Your Goals
Step one on the road to smooth business relocation is to establish why exactly you are moving. What is your goal?
You’ll need to have a clear concept of what exactly is driving you to move overseas, in order to move to the right place and succeed in a new international market. Moving for the sake of moving isn’t going to be good for business. Common reasons for business relocation are:
- Cheaper operating costs
- Improved local and national infrastructure
- Potential for talent acquisition
- Better resource access
- Growing/more established markets
- Stronger investment and networking opportunities
- Better supply chains
Know your goals and you’ll be able to move forward with your international business move.
Find Your Location
Once you know your goals, it’s time to think about location. Don’t make the mistake of picking your desired country first. It might be prettier, but is it actually going to be good for business?
Using your goals as a guide, research where you’ll be able to best achieve those goals. For example, if you are a Fintech firm looking to expand operations and gain more investments, there are a number of cities around the world which are primed for such opportunities. Likewise, there are plenty of countries where certain, hard-to-find talent are present in much greater numbers. Italy, for example, is known for its abundance of architects. Poland is famous for its rosters of software developers and those companies looking for highly qualified engineers need only cast their eyes towards India.
Don’t just pick a location that just sounds nice or exotic; find the location that is perfect for your circumstances and goals.
Get Appropriate Permissions
Before you do anything else as part of your business relocation, you need to establish your right to move your business and work in your chosen nation. Many countries welcome businesses that offer opportunities for local employment and tax gains, which means it can be easier to acquire permission than an individual heading out looking for work.
That doesn’t mean the process will be simple, though.
Acquiring permission to operate a business within a foreign nation will take time, evidence of profitability and a lot of paperwork. It will also differ country by country, which may also impact your decision of where exactly to relocate your business to.
It is recommended that you do your research and get advice from an expert in this area. Those best to talk to are immigration boards, embassies and brands that have made similar moves.
Plan Your Relocation
Smooth business relocation requires one thing if nothing else, a meticulously laid out plan. No stone can be left unturned, no item without its proper place. The best-laid plans do two things:
- They ensure everyone in the business knows what is going on
- They reduce the chance of problems occurring
How do you make a strong business relocation plan? The first step is to assign a project manager for your move. This can be yourself, a member of HR, another manager, or a third party. Having one person overseeing a plan means they have ultimate control, which ensures all bases are covered and communication can remain clear.
The relocation manager is responsible for planning all elements of the move. Plans should include everything from timelines and admin tasks, to employee and family relocation, potential problems and pitfalls, budgets and more.
What is included in a plan will depend on your goals, business and chosen location, so don’t ever follow a generic template for your plans. Make sure they are designed around your unique business relocation.
Hire Corporate Relocators
As we’ve already discussed, while relocating a business is possible, it is a major task; a task made easier when following the right processes and getting the right people involved.
The people you really need involved in your business relocation are corporate movers, specifically those that specialise in international relocation. The benefits are simple. Movers like these know exactly how to get your company from where it is to where it needs to go. They have experience in the industry and they can help support all stages of moving. They can also manage the project and take out a lot of the stress and potential for errors.
Of course, hiring a corporate relocation company is not an obligation. You can arrange visas, shipping and plan aspects yourself. However, consider it like doing your own financial management over hiring an accountant. On a small scale, you can easily do it yourself, but on a large scale, such as for a whole business, it becomes a much more difficult feat to accomplish and the potential for mistakes grows by a considerable margin.
