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Let’s continue discovering the options of starting a business overseas. This post is dedicated to Hong Kong and the great opportunities for entrepreneurs it can offer. Although it is a Chinese special administrative region, it has a completely different law system. This aspect has numerous benefits for international business people.
1. Why Choose Hong Kong?
– The third easiest country to start a business according to the World Bank Survey.
– A straightforward tax system that is perfect if you plan to generate income outside Hong Kong. If not, your company will have to pay 16.5% tax on any profit you generate within the city borders.
– Attractive requirements for the registered capital (10,000 HKD).
– Opens new opportunities to the entrepreneurs willing to do business worldwide. Opening a company in Hong Kong enables you to open a multi-currency business bank account.
– There is no need for you to live in Hong Kong to operate your business. There are agencies that are glad to offer you the services of a secretary and provide a registered office address for a reasonable fee.
Everything You Need to Know
The Paper Work
There is a lot of paperwork ahead of you and since you may not be aware of some of the twisted laws and rules, you can make multiple mistakes and take the wrong decisions. There are sites for entrepreneurs wishing to start a business in Hong Kong: the Hong Kong business registration website, Invest Hong Kong, the government’s free consultation center, etc. The problem is that all the information you will find is a bit confusing and you will need some time to get your head around it. Especially if you have never done anything similar before.
Besides, there are numerous aspects such as the option of opening a Sole Trader Company is no longer available although some agencies (not the trustworthy ones) you can find on the web are still eager to offer you this possibility. Due to the possible complications during the process, a common practice among the international entrepreneurs is to use the services of one of the numerous agencies. They can fill out all the blanks and prepare the necessary documents for you. The main question is how to choose a reliable agency among hundreds of them.
Choosing the Right Agency to Help You
After spending a couple of hours browsing the web, you’ve limited your search to five candidates. Now what? Now you can do a preliminary check to find out if they fit the basic requirements of a good service:
– if there are a lot of grammar and verbal errors in the English text on the website, it may be a bad sign;
– if the age of the agency is no more than a few months, it can be an alarming point for you;
– a physical address and a telephone number are the two things a professional service will have;
– in case you are not redirected to a protected page when asked to pay with a credit card, the consequences might be disappointing;
– add a word “scam” or “fraud” to the name of each agency and google it to check if there were cases of dishonesty in the past;
– if there is no other payment choice except the Western Union, you are probably dealing with a scammer as in this case there is no way to track the transaction;
– there should be a specific cost for each service the agency provides and it’s a good idea to ask them to send you that list.
Documents You’ll Need
The process of getting a registration certificate of your new company will take about two hours. It is made online with E-registration and the agency you’ve chosen will take care of it. These are the documents you will need to provide the agency with:
– a copy of your passport;
– a copy of an official document stating your residence status;
– a filled out questionnaire you will get from the agency.
Note that mail forwarding from America is free in case you’ll need to send over something to Hong Kong.
Building Your Network
If you decide to move to Hong Kong and work from there at some point, you will be glad to know that it is rather easy to network there. the business community has a tight schedule filled with numerous networking events. You will be able to meet other entrepreneurs, get insights from them and discuss the difficulties your company faces. Such platforms as Eventbrite and Meetup can help you look for the upcoming events and attend them. Due to the fact that English is an official language here, there should be no problems in communication. If at some point you will decide to start learning Cantonese, these videos might come in hand.
2. Business Tips
Starting an e-commerce business in Hong Kong is a smart decision as it will cost you a lot less than anywhere else. The taxation policy is more than attractive with no taxes for profits coming outside the territory of the city. And if you would like to target the audience in Hong Kong, it will be useful to have some useful data on your hands to reach prospective clients.
Popular search engines: Yahoo and Google, with the former being on the top of the list. It means that you will have to make an equal emphasis on both of them developing an effective SEO strategy.
Users: there are about 4.8 million active internet users in Hong Kong you can try to reach with your business offers. As to the type of advertising you use, consider video ads and social media campaigns (Facebook in particular). You are very lucky if your company is mainly B2B as a bigger part of social media users are professionals working in offices. Make sure your website meets the requirements of the mobile internet and your pages will not take an eternity to load. With mobile marketing, you can reach over 10 million users.
If you want to communicate your company’s message to the target audience in the most comprehensive way, we offer you to use Chinese translation services. Translateshark.com has experienced personnel to find the appropriate words for your specific purpose.