Plan To Succeed - Going Direct
Setting up an Office Overseas
Setting up an overseas subsidiary may be the right move for some companies, but it is not a decision to be made without careful consideration.
One of the most important decisions management will make when it decides to expand internationally is whether or not to set up an overseas office. For many this is a no-brainer: "Of course we want to run our own show!" They know how to run their business at home, so it is simply a matter of transplanting the same model overseas. However, as is true in medicine, transplanting an organ into a foreign body can carry high risks of incompatibility and rejection. It is an operation fraught with risk and the consequences of making a mistake can be critical to the long-term survival of a company.
Let's start by looking at why it might make sense. Setting up a company-owned subsidiary, or buying an existing business, can be the right thing to do in key markets. Some of the advantages of doing this are: