Does market opportunity outweigh potential complexity when deciding on new markets? Our latest poll gives a surprising answer.
Size of opportunity is - perhaps unsurprisingly - the top attraction when looking to grow a business, according to our latest poll.
Asked what attracts most when looking at a new investment destination, 31% voters of the poll – housed on the TMF Group website – named both the size of the market, and the potential to use it as a base for other new markets, as the biggest reasons to invest.
Surprisingly, low levels of regulation was the least concerning element of strategy, with just 3% of voters choosing the option.
A favourable tax regime (19%) and low cost of operations (16%) were the other options on the table.
“It’s interesting to note that a complex regulatory regime doesn’t put off some investors,” says TMF Group CEO Hugo van Vredenburch.
“Certainly, our recent research with IDC suggested that we are witnessing a significant shift in business attitudes and priorities away from a conservative, often inward-looking approach to a more confident, expansionist one.
“While those companies face wide-ranging challenges, the need to understand and comply with the continually changing local regulatory and legislative landscapes is one of the biggest.”
That IDC report – which surveyed a number of senior decision makers from a range of corporations which were either planning to expand overseas or already had done so, and is available here – found that local expertise and on-the-ground service providers can play a critical role in successful territorial expansion. Help comes particularly in terms of creating the new legal entity, recruiting and training, and creating and supporting the running of day-to-day mechanics such as payroll processing and regulatory reporting. These are areas where local knowledge and experience is often vital, if not an absolute necessity.