90 Day Expat Entrepreneur

In the business world, you set up your marketing plans to serve a particular niche. Your niche is the audience you want to attract with your offering.

Currently, most services, organizations, books and websites for expats, target the expats in a certain country. This is vertical marketing - penetrating deep and wide within a fixed specified geographic (country) and demographic (expats) range. Building on this kind of success, some authors have become good at researching and writing about expats in one country, then moving on to do the same thing in another country.

There are wonderful programs offered across geographic boundaries - giving you the tools to profit from a specific skill set; e.g., photography or travel writing.

 

But, I’m still looking for “the place” on the internet for expat entrepreneurs to hang their hat, and find resources they/we can use universally or virtually.

I’m wondering, do expat entrepreneurs crawl the internet for each other, or do they reach out at the local cafe or pub? In paradise, I think it’s more of the latter.

It’s easy to come up with reasons why Not to start a business as an expat. But, have you thought about the compelling reasons why you cannot Not start your overseas business and be an entrepreneur abroad?

There are lots of reasons to consider becoming an Expat Entrepreneur. Here’s a short list to remind you how powerful you are on your own.

• Freedom
• Flexibility
• Independence
• Autonomy
• Creativity
• Adventure
• Risk Tolerance
• Financial Control
• Make More Money
• Save More Money
  

Expat Entrepreneurs are astute, ambitious, creative, savvy individuals who find a way or make a way to build their dream.

The 90 Day Expat Entrepreneur was created to help you do just that.

When we go on vacation in the States we make lots of assumptions about how things will work, regardless of what state we visit.

 

• We assume ready transportation or car rental service will be right
     outside the luggage arrival area.
• We assume traffic rules are the same in Maine, Texas and Montana.
     We expect prompt service and immaculate rooms in any hotel.
• If we go to a shop or restaurant, about the only thing we anticipate
     will be different is regional pricing. We still expect to be able to get
     exactly what we want when we want it.

 

When we vacation abroad, we make choices based on those expectations.

• We can decide to stay in a resort that will cater to every whim, or
   stay in town and experience more local color.
• We go someplace where they speak English – like when I took my
   sons to Ireland.
• We go on bigger adventures with an experience tour guide or
   translator.

But it’s a whole new set of expectations when you decide to expatriate. For example:

• Do you like this country/region year round, not just during peak 
  tourist season?
• Can you can overcome the language barrier (for Americans, there’s 
  even a language barrier moving to England)?
• Can you afford to live there with a standard of living you will be 
  comfortable with?
• Can you live on the local diet long term? Or do you need McDonald’s
  and Whole Foods?

And that list gets both longer and more refined when you decide to earn a living as an expatriate. Entrepreneurship adds another dimension to your destination choice. In order to work and thrive in this new culture, what assumptions do you have? Check on the following for example:

• Will your visa allow you to earn an income?
• Will you have to work as hard as or harder than you did back home?
• Can you earn enough to cover the cost of living in your chosen
   destination?
• Can you find experts (lawyers, accountants, computer gurus, etc.)
  when you need them?

Being an expat entrepreneur takes preparation, but if you put as much effort into it as you put into your next vacation, you’ll have a good start to expat entrepreneurship. 

I agree with the PanamaReport.com that entrepreneurs around the world experience the dilemma of time management, whether they happen to be in Panama, Singapore, Croatia or Barbados. Getting entrenched in work is the motor that allows most small businesses to succeed, but the same recipe can lead to burnout. Which is often one of the reasons, entrepreneurs look to take their business abroad or reinvent themselves when they move overseas, so as not to be consumed by work in a new environment. In Panama and most other fast-developing countries, most businesses are started from scratch, as opposed to buy-outs or franchises. This approach naturally has a tendency to breed a parent-like addiction for entrepreneurs to nuture their babies. For good time management, you need a strong staff to handle mindless activity. In Panama now, an entrepreneur’s all-out dedication is self-defeating.

That’s because, you didn’t move to Panama (Singapore, Crotia, Barbados, etc) to work yourself into a tizzy and collapse in bed at night. You didn’t move to a beautiful nation to sit behind a desk and perpetuate the 9-5 lifestyle you had back home. You came (I hope) to indulge in a better quality of living, to travel, to explore and see new things.

 

While a new business does indeed require intense supervision, good entrepreneurs know when to take a step back from their craft and enjoy time off.

 

That time off does two things:

1. It gives you perspective on why you became an expat, as well as why
   you are an entrepreneur in your new jurisdiction.
2. It shows your team your core values and that you trust them to do 
   their work, even when you are not there.

 

So in Panama, you can book yourself some designating beach days (Santa Clara, Isla Taboga, and Darien are simple day trips from Panama City) or schedule some long weekends of exploring elsewhere in Central American to regain perspective and passion for your business.

 

In Croatia, it might be a retreat in the mountains or to a lake resort.
In Singapore, it might be getting out of the city to a country villa or a short flight to Malaysia.
In Barbados, a great escape from island living is to get on a sailboat and island hop for a few days.

 

However you break the workaholic trap in paradise, as an expat entrepreneur you get to reinvent yourself, your life and your approach to business.