Moving to the Gulf Coast of Florida - Part 4
This is probably a typical excerpt from an initial conversation between a would-be E2 visa applicant and a visa expert:
Applicant: “Do I really have to spend xxxxxx on a business? Can’t I just make a goodwill gesture and buy a small franchise for a nominal fee and see how it goes? I have savings so can support myself once I arrive.”
Visa Specialist: “No you cannot, the Embassy wants to see a firm commitment and wants to see a full business plan on how you’re going to grow and provide more employment.”
So when being faced with having to spend near on $100,000+ as part of the visa package you need to choose how to spend your money wisely. There is no other way forward. As much as you may wish to try and work around the system, the plain fact of the matter is the US Government demands a substantial investment in order to review and approve your application.
The best way to tackle how to make the decision on what to buy is to consider the following questions:
* What are my current skills and what am I good at?
* What do I enjoy doing?
* What is my realistic budget for purchase
* What kind of worker am I?
Sounds simple enough and by being brutally honest with yourself on what you can achieve and what you want for the future, it should guide you in the right direction for making a sound business purchase. It’s all very well fantasizing about owning a bustling coffee shop but if you’ve never worked in a food supply environment except for making sandwiches for Auntie Joan’s 80th birthday bash, it’s probably not a good idea to purchase this type of business as you have no real experience to help you succeed. You may enjoy holding dinner parties for friends and family, but doing it 6 or 7 days a week is an entirely different thing. Whenever you talk to anyone who runs their own business they’ll tell you the same thing; you work 7 days a week and you never switch off. This is especially true of investors on E2 visa status as you have very strict monetary and employment targets to adhere to which means you can never take your foot of the gas. Remember, failure to reach the pre-set goals will probably mean revocation of your visa at the renewal stage.
Faced with this kind of pressure, you really need as much of an advantage as possible. Not only do you have hard targets to hit, you’ll be battling local red tape, cultural differences on how business is done, managing employees and adjusting to life in a different country. The last thing you need is a brand new business you’ve never had any experience of before which leaves you scratching your head on how best to run it and grow it.
We decided to stick with what we knew and had done, as part of our research, a lot of reviewing of the local marketplace. We planned to live in a vacation area. We were attracted to this area by 2 things; family had lived there for many years so we knew the area well. Also, a few years ago in the process of falling in love with the place, we had purchased a vacation home as a base for our visits. We’d been successfully renting it out for a few years now; so much so that we were sending enquiries we could not fill to neighbors. By running our own vacation home we had been given an insight into what it takes to run a successful vacation business and what good property management looks like. We had had our own fair share of nightmares owning the home, being thousands of miles away, leaving the home in the hands of others, only to find the job not being done in a professional and conscientious manner. If no one in the area we planned to settle was doing a decent job, why couldn’t we?
So our decision was made. We knew enough about this type of business that we were not going into it totally blind. We knew where the market was currently in terms of local competition and we had a clear idea on what kind of service needed to be provided to ensure we stood out from the rest.
The next part was relatively easy. We were put in contact with a recommended business broker who worked in the area we wanted to be. We told them what type of business we wanted and how much we were prepared to spend. They had a business on the books that was suitable and the deal was written, contingent on us securing an E2 visa. Therefore, the purchase of the business could be legitimately included in the visa application but the monies would not transfer to the seller until we had been formally approved by the Embassy. This is an excellent safeguard to the buyer and something we would recommend writing into the contract of purchase for your selected business.
Something to consider when setting your budget; don’t spend all your savings on the business purchase. You are definitely going to need a cushion of monies for at least the first 2 years to help support you. You may find you need to purchase vehicles, put a substantial security deposit on a property, do a heavy marketing campaign to promote your ownership. This all requires money and lots of it. The local bank is not going to lend you anything to start off with unless you have a substantial asset to use as collateral, such as a property with equity. You are a foreign national and an unknown quantity. You’ll need to be in business for probably 2 years plus and posted 2 business tax returns before you can get any financial help in the form of credit. So a reserve fund to help you when those unforeseen expenses land on you is vital.
We now had a business purchase in our sights and a plan on how we were going to run it. In our next installment we’ll tell you what else was required to complete the E2 application.
IC endorses Keely Smith of Gulf Coast Real Estate who is a partner in Florida vacation homes to rent and Florida pages, visit us and discover why there is no other place like Florida!
Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - Moving to the Gulf Coast of Florida - Part 4