Business in the USA: make sure you ask yourself these 7 essential questions before starting a business abroad.

Many people have a dream of opening or expanding their own business in the United States. Despite fear, bureaucracy and uncertainty, the country, which comprises the largest economy in the world, has one of the lowest costs of goods and inputs and companies have no corporation tax. That is why this opportunity attracts so many Brazilians.

But what can you do before starting a company in the US? Many old concepts are still being used when starting a new entrepreneurial project, but before talking about the characteristics and more bureaucratic issues, entrepreneurs need to ask themselves some basic questions when investing in this experience.

1. What drives me to start my company?

Here the initial idea is to ask yourself about your main motivation when you want to start a company. Think about things you believe in that could impact people in the future. Avoid the obvious, which is to focus on profit, and think about purposes. Jot down ideas that make your heart beat faster and analyze your motivations. An enterprise with no real purpose will have difficulty selling the products.

2. What kind of business do I intend to build?

Here you need to understand what you want and how you imagine your business to be seen in a few years. Before you open it, is essential that you think about people and companies that you admire, projecting your ideals. Think about brands, enterprises and people that you believe have built a great company and realized a well executed project. Think also about the values you appreciate from these companies, are they the same as yours? How can you put that into practice? Set it as a goal so you can also leave your legacy.

3. What is the culture that I want to push forward by opening my company?

When you analyze and think about the future of your company, you understand that building something requires more than a lot of effort, determination and that makes you become a mirror. So think about the culture you want to push forward in this process. When you train a team of employees to help develop your business, all your initial effort, character, personal dreams are transferred to them. You pass on your purpose. And sharing these questions is very important for you to shape the company’s culture and maybe that’s the reason why the company becomes known.

4. What are my values?

Thinking about values is essential when it comes to building a good business. Most companies keep the good old trio “mission, vision and values” because they understand that it is necessary to maintain this identity. Think of a list of values that you admire and believe are essential to you and from that create the values of your company according to your principles. This is an important step for people to understand who you are and who your company is.

5. What’s my vision for the future?

Your vision of the future is also aligned with your purpose and what you expect for your company. Knowing what motivates you makes it easier to visualize the horizon of your business. Think about where you want and can go with your company and visualize the goals you want to achieve with your business. Having a vision of the future when starting an entrepreneurial project is important to understand the paths you can take.

6. What impact do I want to make on the world?

An important step in building your company is to think beyond the box and understand what impact you want to promote, whether in the neighborhood, the city, the state or worldwide.

Think about the consequences you want to cause with your products and services. If you want to be inspired, analyze some businesses based on the trend of sharing economy.

7. Why am I the best person to do that?

After all these questions, it’s crucial that you ask yourself what your differential is. It’s no use knowing what you want if you don’t stand out in the market. Think about what is special about your product, analyze if you are the best person to do what you do and understand your difference between companies and people who work with the same segment. These questions will help you to better understand why you need to start a company.

Understanding the differences in entrepreneurship in the United States and Brazil makes it easier to establish companies in the North American country.

Becoming an entrepreneur in Brazil is not an easy task. You need to be determined, creative and dedicated in decision making, persistent and very optimistic to keep your business running. Once the economy is in crisis, actions need to be taken with caution and the entrepreneur has to identify opportunities to turn them into something profitable. Most Brazilians venture autonomously into Brazil, without any assistance from public agencies to become regulated companies, they get into unknown areas affected by the desire to undertake, and they do not take into account the need for specialized help from entities and associations.

In the United States, despite having a different language, the laws and rules for undertaking are a little simpler. The American country represents the largest economy in the world, providing incentives for research, entrepreneurship, technology and consumption, and is a prosperous nation for new business. It is unusual to hire a service from a local company and the company does not keep its agreement with the client, as often happens in Brazil. To understand this process of how to open your company in the United States it will be necessary to first know the differences between undertaking in the North American country and in Brazil.

– The difference in education

Education in the United States is geared toward the independence of students, focusing on actions that develop their autonomy and decision-making from a very young age, without having to wait for a retirement or other government programs. There, citizens are prepared to invest and open their own businesses, since they have a base of how the whole process works, being easier to undertake.

In Brazil, schools do not encourage citizens to have entrepreneurial sensibility or to attend events with the purpose of generating business. The first contact comes after choosing a course in the area or a degree. When it comes to entrepreneurship on Brazilian soil, many people run away and give up because they fear taking risks. It is a nation where almost everyone would rather earn some money and be employed than build their own business.

– Focus and organization

American entrepreneurs don’t leave home without a business card, they praise professionalism. They create well organized websites and projects because they need results. By networking, it is well-known that Brazilians don’t exactly operate that way. The lack of a company structure and disorder makes the Brazilian entrepreneurs fall behind the Americans.

– Marketing Strategies

Another point that affects the Brazilian entrepreneur is the low investment in technology. While Americans make a high investment in websites, e-commerce, app, Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Whatsapp, among other tools that help in the prospecting of their businesses, Brazilians use them wrongly, without much professionalism. To be successful in the US market as a good entrepreneur it is necessary to study how digital media work to capture and engage clients. If there is no focus on digital presence, possibly the entrepreneur may fail when trying to open his business in the United States.

– Business recovery

Dealing with failure is one of the crucial points in keeping the business going. In Brazil, when something doesn’t deliver the expected result, the companies close, investors vanish, clients judge and the discouragement process begins. The entrepreneur drops the idea of having a successful business because he fears a new failure. In the United States it is different, since entrepreneurs were taught from an early age that there is no failure but a start over. Many investors are even interested in putting their money into companies in which the founders have some experience of previous failures, ensuring that they do not make the same mistakes.

-Finance organization

Americans are also great buyers and highly organized with their finances. As a country with the largest consumer market in the world, they take into consideration price surveys and decisions when purchasing a product. The consumer really knows what he or she wants and they pay the fair price so everyone involved can perform their best. In addition, entrepreneurs organize their finances in spreadsheets, agendas and daily planners to understand what they have spent and where their money is going.

Therefore, before undertaking in the United States, it is necessary to understand the current market and focus on quality, organization, planning and actions that will give your company a competitive edge.

To keep small businesses on track in the market it is necessary to focus on strategies that ensure better financial results, such as the use of accounting. In the US, it’s the same. When undertaking in the country it is essential to be aware and keep accurate records and compile accounting data in one place to better analyze them, hire professionals, separate accounts and perform procedures to help expand your business in the country.

– Hire a good accounting professional

Hire an accounting professional to manage debts, expenses and purchases accurately. Through this initiative, the entrepreneur avoids making mistakes and is able to keep up with his business for longer. But you must be aware: it is necessary to look for specialized offices within the business segment in order to avoid hiring unqualified professionals who could harm the company.

– Separate personal finances from company finances

After hiring a good professional the entrepreneur should open a bank account under the name of the company, separating personal and professional finances, avoiding disastrous results. A separate bank account also makes life easier for the entrepreneur at the time of tax deposit. Nevertheless, opening a separate bank account from the personal account is not mandatory if the company is exclusively owned, but it is advisable to take this step in order to manage the financial expenses more efficiently.

– Control the cash flow

Controlling and detailing daily expenses helps the entrepreneur to understand what he has spent, where he has spent it and where this money will go. Organizing finances by categorizing expenditures helps the entrepreneur understand where most of his money is going.

By calculating expenses daily or weekly, the entrepreneur is able to budget for the following weeks. When planning how much it takes to keep a small business running, you need to devise a system of regular expenses and obligations to understand the minimum income the entrepreneur will need each month. Since income can be the most complicated to calculate, the entrepreneur can make a strict target of what he will need to earn.

– Separate receivables from loans

Entrepreneurs often need start-up capital for product purchases, marketing campaigns, and to keep the company secure during the first few months of opening. To ensure that this money will not appear in receivables and they will not lose sight of what is the entrepreneur’s and what needs to be paid, a good alternative is to separate the receivables from the borrowed funds. The clients’ billing also needs to be up to date. It is essential for the entrepreneur to insist on receiving payment of previous orders or monthly fees, before allowing them to have more materials and services. This initiative is crucial to keep the company running and avoid default.

– Create a profit and loss statement

Another alternative to keep the company in full operation is the creation of a profit and loss statement or financial income statement. This will provide relevant information to the entrepreneur about the ability of his own business to be profitable. To accomplish this process, it is necessary to compile four pieces of information: small cash transactions and activities accompanied by receipts, purchase records, information for returns and price discounts, and all sources of revenue with card and check payments.

By using these accounting strategies in the United States, the small entrepreneur will be able to keep his company running not only in the first months, but for long years. Keeping the business running healthy and stable every day helps the longevity of the company.

The financial crisis is a condition in which small and large companies go through daily. This happens because there is unpreparedness when it comes to managing the business itself, breakdowns, disorganized finances, excessive spending, among other factors that can make the entrepreneur think about closing the company. But how to go through this crisis and recover the business?

1 – Recognize the problem

Every entrepreneur, when starting a project, places all his positive expectations and does not prepare himself to deal with the failure that may occur. Being faced with what you dreamed of in a negative situation becomes quite discouraging. For this moment of fragility to be remedied, the entrepreneur must give up apologies and try to solve the problem, recognizing that the company is going through a crisis and that it is necessary to review irregular attitudes to avoid further damage to business. Humility to recognize mistakes and use them as a way of learning is the first step for the company to get out of the red.

2 – Know how to identify the current situation of the company

Understanding the current situation of your business is also an important step to get the company back up and running. The entrepreneur needs to check the cash flow and understand how the situation reached the desperate point for the company to continue. You need to be aware of all cash flow information, look for receipts and be aware of what has been spent. The entrepreneur should not be afraid to add up the debts and see the total amount he will need to pay off. At first the amounts may be frightening, but it is necessary to face the problem and go after solutions to solve this financial breakdown.

3 – Negotiate debts and be transparent with employees and suppliers

A good step to improve the financial crisis of your enterprise is to renegotiate debts with creditors. It is important to contact banks, suppliers and service companies and explain your situation. Nowadays it is uncommon for a company or institution not to accept a proposal for renegotiation. Another important factor when renegotiating debts is to pay attention to the amounts that the entrepreneur will be able to pay per month, so he won’t have to overspend once again. The entrepreneur should also make a list of the debts that are more urgent and prioritize salaries in arrears, in order not to face any labor claims. Cutting unnecessary costs is crucial for the entrepreneur to recover his business. Avoid dismissals of employees to prevent them from accumulating functions and reduce overheads like water, electricity, internet and telephone. Transparency in explaining the situation to staff is also critical. Ask for everyone’s collaboration until the situation is settled, because thanks to teamwork everything will flow better and the company will be able to get back on track.

4 – Keep personal finances apart from the company’s finances

Learn how to keep personal finances apart from the company’s finances. Bear in mind that you need to have two separate accounts and you will not be able to withdraw money from the company’s cash to improve personal losses. This will decrease profits and keep the situation at its worst. Restructure the finances, create spreadsheets to divide the expenses and implement measures to get everything better organized. Once personal finances are more organized, it will be much easier to get around the company’s crisis.

5- Control the cash flow

Be sure to control your cash flow on a daily basis. It is very important to keep an eye on everything that comes in and out so the financial stability of the company remains intact. Use developers, websites, software and management applications to record all expenditures and purchases. Under this approach, it becomes easier to understand where the entrepreneur is spending his money. The cash flow also allows the entrepreneur to make a forecast of the upcoming months, knowing what you can spend and what you need to store to avoid negating the balance.

With these practices in hand, it will be much easier to get around the financial crisis and take actions that will improve the company and keep it active for much longer. Starting over is the key to getting out of financial trouble.