[Suits]

(05-16-2018 11:02 PM)Shoubuliao Wrote:  

I get that you're registering your business in another country and not investing any meaningful amount of money in Asia, but why do you want to do business there in the first place? It sounds like you don't like dealing with Asians period. Even if your clients are mainly expats living in the region, you still have to deal with the backward ass BS of the countries you're operating in. And cash payments and under the table work is not scalable, as you've alluded to. So...why Asia?

Like most things involving earn an income, people tend to go where their skills are needed. My current clients and the clients of the products I'm developing are largely local Asian business people, so Asia is a large target market for me.

I am interested in diversifying to target North America and possible other regions over the next few years, but I haven't explored this as of yet and having lived the better half of my adult life in Asia (mainly China and Japan), my current knowledge and skillsets are specifically well suited for local needs.

I'm not going to intentionally discourage anyone from pursuing Asian economies, as there is money to be earn here.

However, I will actively go out of my way to discourage anyone from thinking (1) that it will be easy to do so here, (2) that running a legal business here without being backed by investors that provide upwards of a million dollars in seed capable makes much sense and (3) that you're really prepared to navigate a local environment as someone who hasn't spent much time here.

As I noted above, I'm more familiar with business opportunities in Asia than I am with business opportunities in North America (or Africa, South America or Australia for that matter), so that actually means that for me, it's easier to pursue opportunities related to the terrain that I am familiar with.

Likewise, if you've spent less than 2 years living somewhere specific and don't speak the local language, you are putting yourself at a disadvantage trying to move to a new country where you are an outsider and trying to build a business.

If part of the motivation is that you don't see any opportunities where you already have experience, then you'd best give up on the idea of trying to put a shingle somewhere else, because the opportunities aren't going to be superior for you there either.

Since becoming an adult, I've spent less than 2 years of my life in the one country where I'm a citizen, so me going there now to look for opportunities would be a step back, even with the added advantage of not being a visible minority.