Guide to moving your office overseas

Moving your office overseas is a risky business that can go either way. If you do your research properly and create a good business plan, moving your business to another country can be good for the increase and further development. On the other hand, there are a lot of bad examples of companies that moved internationally in the search for salvation that ended up in a dustbin. Therefore, if you are thinking about taking this step, make sure that you do your research and calculations right before you do so. In this article, Transparent International NYC will try to explain the preparation that you will have to go through and the moving process itself. Here is what to consider, and how to organize your move if you decide to do it.

Do thorough research before moving your office overseas

The first step that every company that considers moving to another country has to do is research. You have to have to identify the benefits of moving your office abroad and all the possible downsides. So first, ask yourself why are you doing this? Are you moving because of the bigger market? Will the product or service that you are offering have more potential clients in the country you are considering? What about laws and regulations? What about your employees? Will they be able to move as well or you will need to hire domestic workers? Is that country more liberal when it comes to doing your type of business? Will you have any special treatment or benefits as a foreign investor? Is the country you are moving to politically stable and safe? Finally, how much will the whole operation cost?

Moving companies overseas can be a costly process. So much that sometimes it may take months until you get the money you invested in relocating your business back. These are, of course, only the most basic questions that you need to ask yourself before you take this any further. And the whole analysis that you will have to do goes much deeper than this.

Hire a professional business analyst

Naturally, not every business owner is capable of doing this type of research properly and accurately. If you can do it, great! But are you absolutely positive that the research you will conduct will give you clear and strong evidence concerning your overseas relocation? If you never did this before, and you have absolutely no experience with international business analysis, we urge you not to rely on your results. Maybe you will do everything correctly, but as we mentioned above, there are many examples of bad decision making when it comes to moving your business overseas.

If you are thinking about moving to France from USA, for example, hire a professional business analyst that specializes in the French market and business environment. Naturally, if you are thinking about moving to Germany hire an analyst that specializes in investing in Germany. The bottom line is, to hire reliable professionals that know about these things and rely only on their indicators. Of course, no one can guarantee that they will give you a 100% good analysis, but it is the best and safest thing that you can do.

How will you move your business?

If the decision about moving your office overseas is made, you still have to think about organizing your relocation. Naturally, there are many ways to do this. You can decide to literally pack your office furniture and equipment, put it on a ship, and transport it to your destination. You can move only the most important and expensive items. Or you can start from scratch, renting or buying a space and getting new office furniture and equipment.

Of course, which option you will choose depends on many factors. But most importantly the price of the move, the price of furniture and equipment in France, for example, and possible complications regarding transporting your items overseas. So back to the drawing board again.

Factors that you should consider before moving your office aborad

Since you already have everything you need to start a business, the first thing you should do is to figure out how much shipping your items overseas will cost. Be aware though, that overseas shipping companies can vary drastically.  Depending on the route they are using to get to your destination. So, make sure that you get moving quotes from at least several reliable sources to get the real picture of how much will this cost. Next, use the internet to find out furniture and equipment prices to compare with your moving costs. Easy right?

Unfortunately, you are not done yet.  Maybe you will see that moving your entire office is cheaper than equipping your office in your new country. But bear in mind that moving your office overseas is a pretty complicated and time-consuming process. Maybe you will decide to pay for convenience. If you are talking about a few hundred dollars difference, leaving your office equipment maybe is not such a bad idea after all.

Find a reliable shipping company

If you decide that moving your entire office is a good choice, finding a reliable international shipping company is the only way to go. Find shippers that are specialized for your desired location and get a full-moving service. International door-to-door delivery service should pack your items and equipment, handle the complicated import/export paperwork, ship them to your destination, and unpack everything after delivery. That way all you have to do is handle important documents and paperwork that you need for your business.

Prepare for hard work

Moving your office overseas requires a lot of research and planning. Unfortunately, even the best professional research cannot give you guaranteed results. So basically, you are stepping into an unknown that, with some luck and a lot of hard work, hopefully, you will be able to turn to your favor.