Helping hand for going global with your business

Want to start up a pub in Porto, a newsagent in Nicosia, a restaurant in Rotterdam or a boutique clothing store in Brussels? Where do you start?

By Brooke DuBois

Startup Overseas, the online resource for people starting or expanding a business abroad, is pleased to announce that it has just enlisted the help of four more of the world’s leading business experts, to help you take over the world! Specialising in doing business in Portugal, Cyprus, The Netherlands and Belgium respectively, these experts are sitting at their computers right now, awaiting your queries with bated breath. Starting, expanding, or moving a business or service overseas poses a unique set of challenges to business people.

It can be quite difficult to find local agents and/or distributors, licensing laws and requirements can be quite different to those at home, and there may also be cultural and language barriers to overcome. Time, money and frustration can be saved by utilising the services of a local point person or mentor for your business, who ‘speaks the language’, as it were.

Startup Overseas currently offers information and advice about doing business in 55 countries across the globe, and it is pleased to welcome Claudia de Oliveira Azevedo (Portugal), Andreas Xenophontos (Cyprus), Ilan Kalo (The Netherlands), and Steven De Schrijver (Belgium) as the latest additions to Startup Overseas’ ‘Ask the Experts’ panel. They can answer any questions on starting up businesses in their particular country of expertise, via the Startup Overseas website. Claudia de Oliveira Azevedo from Portugal-based business Accounting Advantage Lda has a management degree and vast experience in accountancy and finances. She assists clients with the starting up and developing of businesses in Portugal, advising on fiscal and financial matters as well as human resources.

Accounting Advantage Lda can help with opening bank accounts, VAT and Social Security registration, accountancy, licenses and legal support, virtual office, and websites and corporate images for businesses starting up in Portugal. Andreas Xenophontos, from A. A. Xenophontos & Associates Ltd, studied Economics and Business Administration in Canada. Andreas qualified as a Chartered Accountant with the Institute of Chartered Accountants, England & Wales, whilst training with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Nicosia. Andreas has worked in Cyprus for many years, obtaining valuable experience in accounting, auditing, tax, company formation and advisory services, after which he set up his own accountancy firm, which assists foreign companies and entrepreneurs set up and manage their business in Cyprus. Ilan Kalo of Klik Agencies has been assisting foreign companies and entrepreneurs with entering and setting up business within the Netherlands for many years. Klik Agencies assists business people from Britain and other countries set up and conduct business in the Netherlands, offering a full range of advice and services from company formation to identifying suitable office space, and local management of companies in the Netherlands, without the need for additional staff. Steven De Schrijver of Belgium-based law firm Lorenz, has been working in Belgian business law for 20 years, specialising in assisting foreign businesses setup and do business in Belgium.

Steven’s practice concentrates on company formation, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, corporate restructuring and finance, business formation, venture capital and complex commercial agreementsLorenz helps clients create effective business models, draft management agreements and design reward mechanisms (eg. employee participation schemes).