Expat entrepreneur hubs for start-up success

Expat entrepreneurs are taking over many destinations formerly popular with professionals relocated by their home country companies.

There’s a massive difference between company reassignments and going it alone as an expat entrepreneur. Arriving in a new country with nothing but a suitcase and a marketable idea takes determination, courage and flexibility as well as the ability to ‘sell’ the idea to potential backers. In spite of all this, few entrepreneurs would waste even one minute’s envy on those who have almost everything provided by their company back in the home country.

Worldwide expat entrepreneurship has irrevocably changed the expatriate scene, coincidental as it is with the rise of tech as a sector and its use in almost every commercial enterprise worldwide. Several centuries ago, the start of the Industrial Revolution changed the face of the planet for ever, with the tech revolution now doing exactly the same, but faster! For entrepreneurs, as with industrialists in years long past, some countries are easier than others as regards getting financial support and backing.

Japan’s traditionally risk-averse culture formed the bedrock for its world-changing innovations, with its present-day youthful entrepreneurs taking full advantage of start-up funds, incubators and networking between like-minded people. Tokyo’s sizeable expat community has access to international opportunities as well as to the country’s unique culture, social etiquette and business norms. Learning the difficult language is essential, but opens doors to the hidden layers of business in Japan.

Two formerly popular entrepreneurial destinations, the UK and the USA, may not be the best places for start-ups right now, as both are undergoing political instability and upheaval and both are cracking down on immigration, no matter whether it’s bringing innovation and new ideas or not. Trump and Brexit are both unpredictable, with the American Dream as well as Great Britain both at risk for the foreseeable future. However, Silicon Valley is still up and running and mentors are still looking for the latest in tech sensations, but taking a chance in the UK as an expat entrepreneur is perhaps not the best idea right now.

Switzerland has long been known as the habitat of the ultra-wealthy for its low taxes and relative financial privacy. It’s also home to a robust financial sector and is nurturing blockchain investments as the latest way to make money. As a result, the country is now a hub for blockchain-based and cryptocurrency start-ups, and is incorporating the new technology into its traditional financial sector. Swiss universities are in it up to their highly educated necks, using the Swiss talent of intellectual curiosity to research blockchain and its possible effects on the financial world.