Four Major Errors Foreign Companies Make While Attempting an Investment in the U.S. Market

Feb. 13, 2013 - PRLog -- Orlando, Florida - Feb. 13, 2013 - A company called Invest-American L.L.C. has begun to market its services to international companies and investors desiring to establish themselves in the United States.  

Among the founding members is Bob Koch, founder and president of Fugleberg and Koch Architects in Orlando.  In the 1970's, Koch was recruited by both the State Department and the Department of Commerce to assist in establishing trade relations throughout the Caribbean.  Since then he has remained one of South Florida's key players in assisting international companies to locate in the United States.  At a recent seminar he made the following comments dealing with mistakes foreign investors attempting to enter the U. S. market are prone to make.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_MW09j3-ZQ



He noted there appears to be a systemic dysfunction in understanding the daunting challenges foreign investors face when planning an investment strategy.  This comes in four distinct parts:

First, there is a basic lack of understanding of the culture, the laws and tax structures in the U.S. when compared to what is occurring in their own country.

Second, this lack of understanding can and will impede the growth of their business interests and often times leads to an unsuccessful outcome. Consequently, the investors need to surround themselves with competent and knowledgeable persons who understand both sides of the equation (including their own country's culture and laws) to help bridge the gap.  This requires aligning oneself with the appropriate parties, a process that, up until now, has been very difficult to achieve.

Third, while coming with good intentions and a determination to make their investment viable, in many cases they do not stop and fully articulate their mission, procedures and timelines that need to be answered in evaluating the geopolitical differences within the United States, and the status of infrastructure, logistics, raw materials, labor availability, and technical and managerial assistance that will be required.  The failure to carefully make this initial step often leads to frustration, unexpected or unanticipated costs increases, and ultimately a pull back from the objective because it appears unobtainable.

Finally, in order to meet their goals and objectives, they fail to pre-define those essential objectives through self-evaluation and intensive collaboration with those who can help them.

This is not an isolated situation, as another founding member of the INVA Board learned last year.  Ron Phipps, former President of the National Association of Realtors, heard an address made by a potential Taiwanese investor during a conference of the Asian American Association of Realtors held in New York in early 2012.  During that talk, the speaker lamented that, in spite of his prodigious efforts, he was unable to figure out how to establish a manufacturing facility in the U.S.A. because the issues were "so very complex", and, after five years of trying he would not be moving forward.  He scolded the group for not having the foresight to provide such a service.

This event became the catalyst prompting the creation of INV America and the corporate name Invest-American L.L.C. - http://www.invest-american.com.

Founding Board Members, in addition to Koch and Phipps, include a bevy of high profile members in business and industry, including Gordon McDermott, President of New Jersey based Auracom Corporation, a company dealing in cultural and translation services; George Harvey, Jr., a prominent Realtor from Telluride, Colorado; Wayne Carroll, an investor with Washington, D.C. based Jason Corporation; Barry Beitler, a leading commercial broker in Los Angeles and a specialist in EB-5 investments; Ken Libby, a prominent Realtor from Stowe, Vermont; Maria Babaev, a Luxury Home Realtor located on Long Island and a native of Russia and a specialist in Eastern European culture; and Carl Bosse, president of Associated Realty of the Americas, a high end referral network with residential and commercial affiliates throughout North America.

The group has three significant advantages that make its positioning unique.

First, playing off a "Road Map" designed by Bob Koch, the company has created a one day seminar, which provides, without charge, to well-qualified investors/companies, an explanation, in great detail and clarity, of what is needed - besides products, interest, money or a willing team - to successfully invest in the U.S.A.

Second, using the resources provided through Associated Realty of the Americas, a referral group of hand selected, well-qualified members strategically located throughout the USA, the firm has highly qualified "boots on the ground" in almost every conceivable location throughout the country. Consequently, local issues and nuances, which can become agents of disaster for unknowing investors, are much better understood.  And, as the client moves forward, having trusted local specialists in the real estate field, can result in enormous time and cost savings to the project.

Third, the organization has made a great deal of effort to team up with affiliates it can recommend to clients, who really fill in the gaps of knowledge and expertise needed in a successful venture.  These are not merely attorneys or accountants; they are true specialists in wide-ranging fields from robotics to timber investment, from title insurance to Indian gaming.  They are readily available to be used by the investor to sort out the most difficult of issues.

For more information on this company, please contact Carl A. Bosse, President of Associated Realty of the Americas, at carl@areamericas.com, or phone him at 1-520-625-9207, or write him at P.O. Box 2109, Green Valley, Arizona 85622.