No regrets, say expat business owners

Expat entrepreneurs overwhelmingly believe they have achieved greater success by setting up a business abroad, despite the headache of foreign regulations and standards.

In a UK-based study for NatWest, researchers found that seven in 10 entrepreneurs who have left the country say they have achieved more, with Singapore, Hong Kong and the USA being the most business-friendly.

Seemingly related, the most positive prospects for the enterprising individuals were seen to be in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Spain appears to be the dud, given that it was picked as the gloomiest for both prospects and overall business-friendliness.

But whichever country they have relocated to, the biggest advantage of trading abroad for more than three quarters of the business sample was a faster economic growth rate.

Slightly fewer (74 per cent) identified cheaper resources as the main draw, while almost two-thirds disagreed, saying it was the tax incentives on offer. More agreement was reached over the biggest hindrance to running a business abroad; with 71 per cent saying it is getting to grips with foreign regulations and standards.

Elsewhere in the findings, twenty-two per cent of the expats considered the prospects for their business over the next three years to be ‘excellent’ or ‘very good.’ Respondents from Canada, Hong Kong and the USA emerged as the most positive.