Business Relocation Guide: How to Move Your Company Overseas

If you are thinking about relocating a business overseas, it is useful to know almost two-thirds of workers would move for the right role. This fact helps companies engaged in business relocation as they will not need to rehire many of their employees. Although, what does an organization need to consider when they plan to move elsewhere, especially abroad?

Below we lay out many of the major considerations you will need to make before you move overseas. They should act as a checklist of things that you need to do moving forward. So, read on and start planning.

Communicate With Your Staff

One of your first steps in company relocation should be contacting your staff early in the process. Doing this allows you to start negotiations to bring them with you if necessary.

Another thing that this prevents is negative reviews on company rating websites. You can have the assurances that you will leave on better terms with ex-employees having given them the best options available to them.

It is usually also a good idea to ensure that one person is in charge of the whole process. This individual can then take responsibility should the process need a decision and can push for the move to happen faster. They also act as a point of contact for the whole company, meaning that there is one single source of truth instead of many.

Find Where to Move

An important part of moving your business operations is trying to work out where to move. 

You are likely to move your business to achieve a specific goal. If that is the case, you will need to research where the best place will be to achieve these goals.

For example, if you have a shop front, then you will need to look for the place where you will get the most footfalls from your target audience. Although, if you run a factory, you will need to find a place that has good access to methods of supply.

Hire a Lawyer or Moving Consultant

When you move a company overseas, you might come across many issues that you did not expect. For example, are you aware of all the immigration laws in this other country? How do such laws interact with the employees that you are bringing with you?

To help you answer these and handle any situations that might come up, you should work with a dedicated lawyer. They will be able to put in the time to process any paperwork or bureaucracy that happens, allowing you to focus on your company instead.

There is every chance that a lawyer skilled in company relocation would also be able to go through things you might not expect with you. For example, the laws and regulations of a new country may have some “gotchas” that you did not expect. You can then handle them moving forward, allowing you to prepare fully.

Why Do You Want to Move?

The first thing that you should do is consider your reasons for moving. If you plan to expand your business abroad, you should plan for why that is an important factor in the future of your company.

There are plenty of goals that you might have. You should consider these and document them. Such goals should be the meter stick that you use to determine if the move was a success or not.

Any goals that you have should be SMART. The following are some examples of areas where you could create goals:

• Expanding the market
• Growing supply chains
• Networking expansion
• Cheaper access to supply
• Closer to useful infrastructure
• Cheaper operations
• A larger talent pool

This list is not exhaustive, as you may have objectives that exist outside of these examples. 

When you are in retrospect after the move, look at the objectives that you set and measure how well you did. You can then see how successful your expansion was.

Talk to Relocation Services

When you plan to move, the whole process is a massive undertaking. One way that you can help yourself is by working with a professional relocation service. Such services are also called “corporate movers.”

These organizations specialize in uplifting a company, or part of a company, from one location and moving it to another. They can often give you good estimates of both the cost and the time it would take to perform this action.

On top of this, many corporate movers can plan the entire move themselves. As it is unlikely that you have the experience to do this yourself, it would be good to get them on board, even if only in a consultancy role.

Language and Culture Barriers

You should ensure that people on your team speak the local language of wherever you move to. It would also be a good idea to have a percentage of people on staff who are from the local area. They can help you break through cultural barriers and ensure that you do not make mistakes.

Knowing the local customs is important before you even hire your first employee. It might be that locals expect bonuses during certain times of the year, or plan for holidays or vacations in a different way than you expect. These should reflect in their contract.

Foreign Marketing

When working with new business markets, you should make sure that you are on good terms with them. You will need to engage with foreign marketing firms to ensure that people in the local area are aware of you and want to work with you.

A local marketing firm in your new area will have a good handle on local customs. This means that they will avoid making any form of faux pas in marketing.

Learn More About Business Relocation

Now that you know so much more about business relocation, you can start planning in earnest. If you want to know more, our specialists are ready to talk to you about what we can do to help you through the process.

All you need to do is get in contact and our experts will be there to guide your journey. So get on the phone and talk to us today.