This was a presentation at Tangible Ireland in NYC on May 3, 2012. The topic was "If you can make it here, you can..." so this presentation is a non-lawyer\'s guide to different ways to set up a US business as a non-resident.

1. Going for the Green
How Irish Entrepreneurs can Access the US
Market d
M k t and Still B I i h
Be Irish

2. Introducing our Characters
Situation A Situation B
Power-Assisted D t Di i Y th
P A i t d Data-Diving Youths Satish Kumar, th F hi
S ti h K the Fashion
Inc. [P.A.D.D.Y. Inc] entrepreneur (“Satish Fashion”)
 SME  Individual entrepreneur
 More than two years old  No desire for Green Card
 One or more founders ready to go  Wants to create a startup in New
to the US to expand the business York

3. Start at the Beginning
• Where are you now, and what is your
objective?
– Existing business? [Visa type]
– Marketing by
M k i b web or i person? [E i type]
b in ? [Entity ]
– Want to get green card or go home? [Visa type]
– Startup or small/medium enterprise? [Visa type]
– Have some accumulated capital available?

4. P.A.D.D.Y. Inc Step 1 (still in Ireland)
1. Set goals (what is the company really trying to
accomplish?) [
p ) [Cost: EUR 0.00]]
2. Test the idea with a landing page from
www.unbounce.com – use www.elance.com to find
someone to help with this, or a local web shop in
this
Ireland. [Cost: >EUR 500.00]
3. IF the test landing page gets a positive response, then it
is i
i time come to the states and speak with prospective
h d k ih i
customers. Leverage connections with Enterprise
Ireland, IIBN, IBN, IBO, etc to set up meetings [
, , , , p g [Cost:
>EUR 2,500 per person]
4. Revise goals; prepare business brief determining what
will be sold where to whom, for how much, the
whom much
anticipated revenue and the anticipated costs.

5. P.A.D.D.Y. Inc. Stage 2
Steps 1 & 2 can be done by email, then 3 & 4 can be done with
a short trip using the Visa-Waiver program:
1. Sign up with accounting service with international
experience. If they know what they are doing, it will cost
more than for a local client, but don t cut corners here.
don’t
Your accounting is different, and complicated. Cheap now
will be expensive later.
2. Incorporate,
2 Incorporate and put as many set-up costs into the
set up
corporation as you can, along with IP.
3. Get a federal tax number, then open a local bank account
with a bank offering easy to use online banking.
Budget: Incorporation and tax #: EUR 1,000 to 3,000
Accounting: EUR 2,500 to 5,000
ccou g: U ,500 o

6. P.A.D.D.Y. Inc. Stage 3
1. Participate in business networking groups, get in front
of potential customers, and listen to their needs.
p ,
Revise the product/service offering to reflect the
lessons learned; update the website and marketing
materials.
materials
2. Prepare formal business plan, for L-1 visa application
3. Hire staff if needed
4. Get
4 G out there and sell, sell, sell
h d ll ll ll
5. Your L visa is initially good for one year; to renew you
need to demonstrate value added for your company.
y p y
Do your set up and admin work while under visa-
waiver, then sales and productive work under L-1. This
way,
way you should be on your way to multiple renewals.
renewals

7. The Pot of Gold
• With a tested product line, and with feet on
the ground, P.A.D.D.Y. Inc is in a position to
rotate its managers into the US to get
exposure to the market and its customers.
• Using the L-1, those who want to stay in the
US are eligible to apply for a green card;
those who don’t can travel back and forth
without limitation and later just stay home
• Th l
The longer th managers stay i th US th
the t in the US, the
more the “North American effect” will sink in
(for better or for worse)
worse).

8. Satish Fashion, guaranteed
• Satish is an Irish entrepreneur with an idea.
He could continue to work in Dublin but feels
that he needs to be in a fashion area to be
truly successful or even to be taken
successful,
seriously, so wants to go to New York
• He has no existing company so he saves up
company,
his money to come to the US on an E-2
investor visa. For his category, USD 50,000 in
capital should be sufficient.

9. Satish Fashion Guaranteed
• Satish sets up a new Delaware corporation
with the name “Satish Fashion Guaranteed
Satish
Inc” with minimum capitalization, and
registers to do business in New York.
• He gets his tax number, opens his bank
account, then is in a position to get a office
lease on the least amount of space he get by
on. He then prepares a business plan that will
satisfy the immigration authorities and applies
for the E-2 visa. Having documented
EVERYTHING, from his costs to his
anticipated revenues, he is likely to succeed.

10. Satish Fashion
• Satish now spends his day in product
development and client interviews, and his
evenings going to entrepreneurial events,
especially those where entrepreneurs pitch
their ideas. These events provide invaluable
feedback for creating valuable companies:
generally potential investors are there and will
tell entrepreneurs where they need to
p y
improve.

11. And in Conclusion
• There’s more than one way to skin a cat, or
even to come to America to start a business
• A bit of advance planning cuts the cost and
risks dramatically
• Be open to new ideas, network a lot and have
fun!
f !
Questions?

12. Thank you for listening!
John Gordon
USA Corporate Services
j
john.gordon@usa-corporate.com
g @
Mobile: +1 518 857 3544
19 W 34th Street Suite 1021
New York, NY 10001
www.usa-corporate.com