So, you've been growing your business regionally and now you're thinking about expanding into the United States or maybe you're an entrepreneur who is not a citizen or resident of the United States and you want to start a business in the United States.
You understand that you can gain several advantages by expanding your business outside your region. Benefits such as:
- Increasing your sales and profits
- Gaining additional market share
- Taking advantage of the global economy
- Minimizing the impact of seasonal fluctuations on your business
- Extending the reach of your market
- Reducing your dependence on your regional market
- Increasing your knowledge of your foreign competition
Before you expand you ask the very basic question of why expand into the United States and what does the US economy have to offer me?
Everyone knows about the wealth of the United States and the vibrant economy. The USA has a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) approximately forty-percent higher than most western European countries and Japan, as well as having one of the highest levels of disposable income for the consumer. Other advantages to expanding and incorporating your business in the United States include a business friendly regulatory environment, one of the best infrastructures in the world and an educated labor pool to meet all your business requirements.
The United States celebrates the entrepreneur and has created a business environment that favors small business owners, whether they are US citizens or investors outside the United States. Small businesses, which are defined by the Small Business Administration as having fewer than 500 employees, represent 99.7 percent of all employers. They have generated 60 to 80 percent of the new jobs in the United States over the past year and account for more than 50 percent of non-farm GDP.
The government promotes free trade and deregulation of businesses allowing owners to compete based on the merits and value of the product and services they offer. It also allows owners the ability to adjust the size of their work force easily with few ramifications. If a business has to lay-off workers it can do so without several months of advance notice. This is unlike a number of other countries which require several months advance notice to lay-off workers. In addition the US allows profits and capital gains to be repatriated to almost every country, subject only to taxation.
A key to expanding and reaching your customers is ease of accessibility to the market. Can you get your goods or services to your end user and if so what is the cost of delivering your products or services. Because the infrastructure within the United States is so outstanding a business should never have a problem with distributing the goods or products to customers in the United States.
There is not a place or customer within the United States that you cannot reach either via phone, internet or roadway. The United States has 268 million land line telephone users, over 194 million mobile phone users, and over 203 million internet users. There are over 14,000 airports with 5,000 of those airports having paved runways. If you do not want to have your product delivered by air or you do not need to fly to a destination you can drive or take a train. There are over 6,407 kilometers of roadway with 74,000 of them highways and 227,000 kilometers of railway.
Every business owner knows that they must rely on their employees to help implement and execute their business plan if they are to be successful. The United States work force, whether it is laborers or skilled employees are experienced and well educated.
The likelihood to comprehend, implement and successfully execute a business plan is much higher with an educated work force than with a non-educated work force. Additionally, if the business requires a technically skilled employee, you can draw on a well educated and skilled pool of individuals from any sector, whether it is research, technology, healthcare, retail, manufacturing or construction.
Finally, launching and incorporating your business in the United States, although it has never been easier, is still a daunting task. A key factor in determining your success is finding key local resources and using the right tools to help you implement, execute and manage your business plan and communicate the performance and progress of your business. A trusted local resource, such as a local CPA firm, combined with right tools will allow you to manage and monitor your business remotely.
Now is the time to take advantage of the US economy and expand your business and launch your new corporation in the United States.
