How do you measure success?

It’s an important question to ask when making decisions that affect both your personal life and your business. I measure success by how effectively I can help you make your vision a reality while reducing your financial risks.

Many of my clients have worked with me for years. I listen carefully to learn about their hopes and concerns, and work side by side with them to develop tax strategies that help them meet their goals. Over time, I become a trusted confidant. I’m happy to say that many of my clients have become personal friends.

Should you work with me? Are you. . .

• A U.S. citizen with a business with an international presence.  You have clients all over the world; one day you on Skype with a client in London and the next day with a client in Colombia.
• A U.S. citizen who is location independent; one month your “office” is a small café in Paris, France, next month a loft in South Beach, Florida.
• A foreigner national with a business or clients in the U.S.
• A U.S. citizen expanding your U.S.-based business to an overseas location.
• A foreign national considering making a substantial investment in the United States.
• A person who juggles different times zones.  You love your world clock app.
• A person who has to deal with different set of tax and legal systems.  As if one was not enough!
• A person that knows the importance of protecting your brand worldwide.  After all, you worked so hard to create it and no one should be able to use it without your consent.
• A person that knows the importance of taking care of the legal and money part of your business, but finds this boring or tedious.

If you answered yes to one or more of the statements above, then contact me so we can set up a time to talk.

How can I help you?

There are three areas in which I can help you: tax planning, business planning and personal planning.

Business Planning

You are savvy and resourceful.  You make your success seem easy; however, if people were to take a peek under the hood of your business, they would realize that your success did not happen by serendipity.   Every decision was carefully thought out.  You have strategically planned the path to get you were you are.   Now is the time to think of the next step for your business, to plan the next phase.  Through your hard work, you built a profitable business. Now is the time to protect it and ensure that it grows in the right way.  How can I help you protect your business?

1.  By ensuring you have the right business structure.  As a global entrepreneur, you are in a unique position where not only you have to worry about the US laws and taxes, but laws of other jurisdictions as well. My goal is to ensure that you are in the right structure that minimizes your taxes worldwide while providing you with the maximum protection, whether that is an LLC, a corporation or a sole proprietorship.  The goal is to find the right structure for you.  This is not one-size-fits-all planning.
2. By ensuring your website meets regulatory rules.  While the Internet has created a doorway to a whole new population you did not have access to before, it has also created a whole new set of rules that you have to abide by.  You know those email addresses you are collecting? Well, you need tell the owner what you are doing with it.  Also, regarding the pictures and photos you have in your blog, you need to make sure you have the permission from their creators to use them.   My job is to make sure your website complies with the myriad of rules out there, which, in turns, protects your business and assets.
3. By ensuring your creations are protected.  While they may say imitation is the best form of flattery, you and I know that is not true.  You worked hard to create your product.  You spent thousands of dollars training yourself, countless sleepless nights writing the material and designing the look and months of experimenting to get it right.  So, when someone copies your idea, look or material, that does not feel like flattery – quite the contrary. You are mad and rightfully so. My goal is to be your enforcer and protector.  I will make sure your creations are protected, and if someone poaches your ideas, I will be there to let them know that is not cool.
4. By ensuring that you have the right contracts.  While everyone is making money, everyone is happy.  But at the first sign of a hiccup, people seem to suddenly have a convenient case of “amnesia.”  With the right contract, there are no doubts regarding deadlines, payment structures, confidentiality, etc.

Tax Planning

1. By ensuring that you comply with the foreign account reporting rules.  As a US citizen or resident, you have to inform the IRS of your foreign accounts.   While I understand it is insane, trust me regarding the global economy. The IRS’s reach is getting further and further. The IRS will eventual find out about your foreign account.  There is no requirement to pay taxes on the actual account funds, just the interest, and the penalties are so high that you might as well comply.
2. By ensuring that you are in compliance with past tax returns and foreign account reporting.  If you have not filed your tax return or foreign account reporting, you don’t need to stress or do the ‘stick your head in the sand’ routine. Now, there are numerous programs that the IRS has set up to let you bring yourself into compliance with minimum penalties and interest.
3. By ensuring that you pay the right amount of taxes. My goal is to assist you in making sure you don’t pay more than is legally required.  Also, since you are dealing with multiple tax jurisdictions, you are required to file more forms than what the average person may be required to file, and a little planning at the beginning goes a long way.

Personal Planning

1. By ensuring you have an exit strategy.  While you have mapped out where you want to take your business and how long you want to work in it (i.e., you have thought about a possible exit strategy), have you thought about it from a legal perspective? My mission is for you to reach those goals.  Trust me – it is never too late to plan for your retirement or your next venture.
2. By ensuring you are prepared for life’s unexpected events.  I know it is not fun to talk about your own mortality. I know I don’t like to think about it, but the reality is that we are here for a finite amount of time in this world. If you have a profitable business that is worth something, you need to think what you want to do with it if something happens to you.  And unfortunately, by being a global entrepreneur, you have to worry about more than one set of laws.

How I Work?

Every client is different. As such, every plan I develop is highly customized to suit your individual needs and objectives.

I conduct long interviews with all my new clients, asking in-depth questions about where they are now and what they hope to achieve. Since my clients are located around the world, technology has assisted me in conducting meetings via Skype and telephone conference.