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Limiting Liabilities for your Global Business with Internet Lawyer Richard Chapo

March 28, 2018 By Josh Summers

No matter what kind of business you have overseas, it’s safe to say that a large portion of it is based in the internet. How solid is your company’s internet protection legally? It’s always a good time to make sure you are protected from lawsuits and have a solid exit strategy in place for your website. Whether you’re just getting started, or you’ve been in your business for a while, it’s time to start considering your liability and taking steps toward the best legal strategies for your company.

Episode Links

  • SoCal Internet Lawyer 
  • Episode Sponsor: Traveling Mailbox 

The SoCal Internet Lawyer

Richard Chapo has been in the industry for over 25 years, specifically consulting business owners on their internet policies and practices. He maintains and advises his clients over the course of their business, and has seen many situations that many never imagined they would encounter. With the rapidly increasing changes in the global internet, seeking legal expertise is imperative. The various issues Richard has encountered with digital non-compliance, liabilities, and exit strategies, have proved detrimental or life saving depending on whether or not his clients were prepared.

The knowledge you will glean from Richard, even just in this interview, will prove to be so valuable! Here are just a few of the topics that we discussed:

  • How to develop the right Privacy Policy for your company
  • Terms and Conditions – contracting appropriately with your users
  • At what point you should begin developing an exit strategy and why that matters
  • The effects that a divided global web will mean for your company
  • How to identify and build upon your assets
  • Appropriately dealing with cross-border transactions and the various laws of each country

    I hope you’ve enjoyed listening, and make sure to leave a review of The Expat Entrepreneur:

    • Leave a review on iTunes
    • Leave a review on Stitcher
    • Leave a review on Google Play
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    Building Community Impacting Resorts with Michael Schubert

    March 21, 2018 By Josh Summers

    Can you imagine building a luxury resort in a small fishing village, yet incorporating values where community, leadership and service are redefined? Today, I talk with Michael Schubert, cofounder of Telunas Resorts and certified speaker, trainer and coach with the John Maxwell Team, to hear more about his fascinating journey as an expat entrepreneur in Indonesia.

    Episode Links

    • Telunas Beach Resorts 
    • Telunas Private Islands 

    Luxury Resort Business & Community Impact

    Mike Schubert and his friends may have stumbled upon the idea of buying remote islands in Indonesia, but the route they took to make it happen was everything but random. The intentionality of values and community business mottos has turned employees into leaders, consumers into volunteers, and businessmen into agents of change.

    Michael and his business partners learned how to change the way they asked questions to locals. Yes or no questions got things done, but definitely not in the most beneficial way. A simple transformation in the way they asked made a world of difference in finding the answers that helped the most.

    This was such an inspiring interview with Michael! I’m so excited to share with you all that we discussed. Since Michael co-founded these luxury resorts over 15 years ago, he draws from a significant amount of history and valuable lessons learned. These are just some of the things we talked about in our fascinating discussion:

    • Why he and his business partners took the slow road to set up their resorts
    • The surprising amount of capital it took despite their best calculations
    • How they struggled to hit the bottom line in order to maintain their their values
    • The process of turning local fishing villagers into five star resort employees
    • The shocking amount of volunteer hours they get from consumers
    • The ways they have expanded, and the opportunities to continue to improve

    I hope you’ve enjoyed listening, and make sure to leave a review of The Expat Entrepreneur:

    • Leave a review on iTunes
    • Leave a review on Stitcher
    • Leave a review on Google Play
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    8 Habits of a Successful Expat Entrepreneur with Josh Summers

    March 14, 2018 By Josh Summers

    There are an abundance of lists about the kinds of habits an entrepreneur needs in order to reach success. In fact, there are probably too many. I’m not here to tell you that my habits are the best or that these are the habits you need to adopt as an expat entrepreneur.

    Instead, I want to talk to you about how my habits align with my core philosophy. No matter what kind of expat business you are running, your daily habits determine your long-term results. But more than that, habits that are correctly aligned with your core philosophy will determine your best outcome.

    Episode Links

    • This week’s sponsor: Traveling Mailbox
      • Receive 2 Months Free: traveling mailbox.com/eepodcast 

     

    Habits of Highly Successful Expat EntrepreneursWe’re human, so our habits are a constant work in progress. Our philosophy, however, needs to remain solid. When we fluctuate with the ebbs and flows of life, it’s our core philosophy that keeps us striving in those habits for the outcome we know it will create.

    The ones I’ll present to you today are what I have developed and worked through according to my own core principles.

    These encompass not only my role as an expat entrepreneur, but as a father, friend, colleague, and husband. All areas of life intersect, so creating habits that align with your core life principles is key.

    8 Habits of a Successful Expat Entrepreneur:

    1. They read constantly: How are you making room to see things through others eyes?
    2. They are daily students of the culture: Are you making sure to keep up with local market trends, language and customs?
    3. They interact with the culture: Are you simply doing your job as an expat, or are you intentional about your interactions with locals?
    4. They surround themselves with a support network: Do you have a group of people that challenge and spur you on to the best version of you?
    5. They are intentional with their time and maintain strict boundaries: What areas of your life need  to maintain separateness so that they can operate at their best in the right placement?
    6. They express gratitude daily: As an expat, how do you express gratitude for the culture and day to day life in which you live?
    7. They articulate their “why” and they review it often: If others ask you about your why, do you know how to answer?
    8. They plan for rest: Even when it seems counterintuitive, how do you rest and rejuvenate yourself?

    Do you have different habits with which to express your underlying values? I’d love to hear what you do and why these habits work best for you. Leave your comments below!

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    YouTube as a Full-Time Expat Business with Trevor James

    March 7, 2018 By Josh Summers

    What does it take to be successful on YouTube? How many subscribers do you need and how many years would it require? Studies show that over 95% of YouTubers never make enough money to rise above the poverty line, but today’s guest Trevor James (aka “The Food Ranger”) has managed to make YouTube a full-time expat business. With over a million subscribers and 184 million views under his belt, he’s making a comfortable living being a full-time expat YouTuber.

    Episode Links

    • The Food Ranger YouTube Channel
    • The Food Ranger on Facebook
    • The Food Ranger on Instagram
    • Check out Trevor’s videos from Xinjiang on this Xinjiang Videos Playlist
    • This is the video where he eats the insect salad
    • Episode Sponsor: ExpressVPN (get 3 months free using the link

    Food that Takes You Places – The Food Ranger

    Trevor James caught the travel bug right after high school and knew his life would be different than most. He quickly moved to China to be a teacher, while regularly working on the content for his YouTube channel. In less than a few years, Trevor was able to leave leave his career to pursue the expat entrepreneur lifestyle full time.

    The Food Ranger is a YouTube channel with 1.4 million subscribers and 1 video a week, highlighting the experience of trying local street foods from around the world. Many aspiring YouTubers have attempted to gain subscribers just like Trevor, but the genuine excitement and adventure in each of Trevor’s videos stands out above the rest. That has earned him the successful traveling business he now operates.

    I can’t wait to share with you all that Trevor and I discussed this week. The following are a few of the aspects of his business we learned about:

    • How he chose a YouTube channel as his primary platform for business
    • What helped him create a name and a presence and what ultimately led to him leaving his career and back-up plan
    • Why he has still never hired any other employees (besides his wife!)
    • How he generates content for the places he’s never been and finds the best local foods
    • The ways he plans to expand and grow his content and reach

    Thanks for listening, and make sure to leave a review of The Expat Entrepreneur:

    • Leave a review on iTunes
    • Leave a review on Stitcher
    • Leave a review on Google Play
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    Joys & Challenges of Location Based Expat Businesses | Jordan Porter of Chengdu Food Tours

    February 28, 2018 By Josh Summers

    Developing a business idea from personal passion is ideal. Maintaining that passion-driven business model is a whole different story. Jordan Porter of Chengdu Food Tours has sought to build and maintain a business model which helps consumers experience the food they taste by knowing the story behind it.

    Jordan’s tours focus on Chinese culture, history, and each personal story, in order to keep his tour unique. “Without the food,” says Jordan, “you have nothing. But once you find the food, you’re only halfway there.” Jordan’s customers walk away with a better understanding not only of the Chengdu culture and food, but of it’s people.

    Episode Links

    • Visit Jordan Porter’s business website: Chendu Food Tours
    • Listen to Jordan’s more food-focused interview with Chengdu Living
    • Episode Sponsor: Traveling Mailbox  (get 2 months free using this link)

    Jordan Porter of Chengdu Food Tours on The Expat Entrepreneur Podcast

    Local Cuisine with Chengdu Food Tours

    Chengdu sits in a region of China with vast amounts of food options, eight of which are considered the “major food cuisines of China.” When Jordan moved to Chengdu, he realized that food touring would be a great way to expand on his passion for Chinese culture.

    Chengdu Food Tours is a local, 4 hour tour, which highlights food markets and food making processes. What makes it special, though, are the stories of the men and women that make each of these dishes. The tour ends at a restaurant where tourists get to taste all they learned.

    I’m excited to share with you all that Jordan and I discussed in our interview this week. Jordan talked about 6 specific aspects about the development and growth of his business:

    • What makes his tour unique and desirable among others in that region
    • Marketing strategies give him a name and a presence in Chengdu
    • Turning points in his career
    • Why mentorship really matters as an entrepreneur
    • Experience design over food touring
    • Opportunities for online expansion

    Make sure to leave a review of The Expat Entrepreneur:

    • iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-expat-entrepreneur/id1338664543?mt=2
    • Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/josh-summers-2/the-expat-entrepreneur?refid=stpr
    • Google Play: https://play.google.com/music/listen?u=0#/ps/Iej6pyghil43g3b3cy2pny22caa

    Finally, if you want to learn more about another expat entrepreneur doing an entirely different food business in Chengdu, listen to our podcast with Igor Vronkin of Good Good Mexican Food.

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    How to Limit Taxes for Expat Businesses with Stewart Patton

    February 21, 2018 By Josh Summers

    These past couple weeks I’ve been getting all the 1099s in the mail and adding up how much I’ve had to pay in taxes for 2017. It’s that time of year again and while I’ve heard plenty of stories about people opening up companies in Hong Kong, Singapore, the Bahamas, etc. in order to limit their tax liability, I’ve never quite understood it and something about it feels illegal.

    That’s why I was excited to spend time with Stewart Patton, a US tax attorney who specializes in US taxes for expats. In fact, he lives as an expat entrepreneur himself in the country of Belize with his wife and kids.

    Episode Links

    • Visit Stewart Patton’s site: USTax.bz
    • Episode Sponsor: ExpressVPN

    Stewart Patton on the Expat Entrepreneur Podcast

    I had attended one of Stewart Patton’s webinars and although I’ve taken full advantage of the foreign earned income tax credit, I was quite intrigued by the structure he uses to limit self-employment tax while overseas. In short, he’s using an IBC (International Business Company) with a Wyoming LLC – something he explains more of in the interview.

    Within this chat, I ask Stewart questions such as:

    • When it comes to taxes as an expat entrepreneur, there are many “experts” online and theories about what should be done. How do we know who to trust and what should we be looking for?
    • How does the 2017 US tax reform change things for expat entrepreneurs?
    • If we already have a company established in another country, is there still benefit to forming an international business?
    • Does money that flows into my US bank account count as “foreign earned income”?
    • What is the next step that we can take as expat entrepreneurs to figure out our specific tax situation?

    Make sure to leave a review of The Expat Entrepreneur:

    • iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-expat-entrepreneur/id1338664543?mt=2
    • Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/josh-summers-2/the-expat-entrepreneur?refid=stpr
    • Google Play: https://play.google.com/music/listen?u=0#/ps/Iej6pyghil43g3b3cy2pny22caa
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    8 Challenges Every Expat Entrepreneur Has to Face

    February 7, 2018 By Josh Summers

    What are the most common challenges that expat entrepreneurs have to face as they do business overseas?

    Josh sitting on the beach in Thailand with his sonWhen most people think of expat entrepreneurs, they picture those digital nomads sitting on a beach, drinking a margarita while typing away on their laptop. While those people certainly exist, most of us expat entrepreneurs have a 9-5 schedule in an office just like the rest of the world.

    The challenges we face, though, don’t look nearly the same as our home-country counterparts.

    Whether you’re looking to start a business overseas and you want to know what to expect, or you’re an expat already doing business in another country and you just need to know that you’re not alone in these challenges…this is something that’s important to hear.

    As I record this podcast, I’m literally sitting on a beach in Thailand. This isn’t normal for me (I’m usually in western China) but hey, I’ve got to take advantage of it while I can, right? 🙂

    Anyway, here are my top 8 challenges that I’ve faced personally as well as those that I’ve heard others express as I’ve interviewed them these past few months:

    1. Visas: How can we remain a legal resident of our host country?
    2. Business Bureaucracy: How can we maintain a legal business entity?
    3. Language Barrier: How much do we learn of the local language?
    4. Dealing with Cultural Differences: How should we treat our employees? What do they expect of us as employers? What is the cultural etiquette in our host culture?
    5. Caring for your Family: How do we ensure that our kids are getting a quality education? Do our wives have a healthy support network to lean on while we’re traveling?
    6. Double Taxation: How do I work to limit my exposure to double taxation (mostly for US citizens working abroad).
    7. Moving Money into/out of our Host Country
    8. Exit Strategy: We can’t stay here forever…so how do we plan to exit?

    Do you think there are more challenges that us expat entrepreneurs face that haven’t been listed here? I encourage you to please leave a comment below to share it with us.

    Thanks!

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    Expats Serving Mexican Food in China

    January 31, 2018 By Josh Summers

    What does it take to open a restaurant in the middle of China? How do you test to see if Chinese people would even like Mexican food? And even more importantly, how do you train and retain local employees as an expat entrepreneur?

    These are the kinds of questions I ask Igor Vronkin, an American expat entrepreneur who has established a successful Mexican food restaurant in the middle of Chengdu, China.

    Episode Links

    • A Map of the Good Good restaurant: Google Maps
    • Check out this review of Good Good on Chengdu Living

    Good Good restaurant in Chengdu, ChinaThe restaurant “Good Good” was started a couple years ago by two Americans in Chengdu, China. Initially, it was done on the back of a three-wheeled motorcycle driving around serving tacos. Now, they have two very nice-looking store fronts in the city.

    I’ve always had an interest in opening a restaurant or coffee shop but have been pushed away by the fact that it would anchor me down to one location for a long period of time. So with that in mind, I asked Igor a number of questions about his business including:

    • Do they cater more to the expat customer or the Chinese (local) customer?
    • How did they set up both their WFOE (Wholly Foreign Owned Entity) and their Joint Venture?
    • How do they hire and retain local employees?
    • What role does food delivery play in their business?

    Igor was gracious to share without reservation and I think you’ll enjoy hearing from his experience. Oh, and if you’re ever in Chengdu, give their restaurant a try. I’m sure you’ll love it like I did!

    *Photo courtesy Chengdu Living

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    Sharing Your Story with Expat Journalist Brent Crane

    January 23, 2018 By Josh Summers

    Today we are talking with Brent Crane, an expat journalist who has written for Outside magazine, The New York Times, the New Yorker, Guardian and many other publications. Much of his reporting is done while traveling the world and he shares his struggles and tips on what it takes to pitch and share your story well.

    Brent Crane on The Expat Entrepreneur

    You may not think that a traveling journalist relates to what you’re doing, but consider this: we all have a story that we need to tell with our businesses. We often think that “marketing” is the key to getting more sales, but marketing is merely pushing a specific story.

    If that story isn’t any good…it doesn’t matter how much marketing you do. You’re going to fall flat on your face.

    That’s where I’ve been very interested to learn from people like Brent who spend their whole careers crafting stories that appeal to readers. What is it that makes a good story? How do you pitch that story? How do you work with others (i.e. editors) to edit the story?

    If you have chance, tweet a message to Brent to let him know what you thought of his interview. I’m sure he’d love it!

    Episode Links

    • Connect with Brent Crane on Twitter
    • Brent Crane’s Poop Tea article on Vice
    • Brent Crane’s Xinjiang article from 2014

    Also, I would greatly appreciate a minute of your time to leave a review of The Expat Entrepreneur on iTunes, Stitcher or Google Play – wherever you listen to this podcast.

    Thanks and have a wonderful week!

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    Translating Passion to Business with Jeremiah Jenne

    January 23, 2018 By Josh Summers

    Episode Links

    • Beijing by Foot – Jeremiah’s Beijing business
    • Radii China – Jeremiah contributes a weekly column here.

    Jeremiah Jenne from Beijing by FootMy guest today on The Expat Entrepreneur is Jeremiah Jenne, a writer and historian who is currently living and running a business in the Chinese capital of Beijing.

    In this episode, Jeremiah talks about what first drew him to China and how he has been able to turn his passion for Chinese history and culture into a business. For those of you who aren’t “businessmen”, Jeremiah’s story will encourage you to continue pursuing your passion and maybe, just maybe, you’ll find a business opportunity waiting.

    Also, don’t forget to take a moment to leave a review on iTunes! It makes a huge difference on the reach of this podcast and the work that I do to produce it. Thank you in advance!

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