Meet Sebastian
The adventure begins at Baker Street, London. This is a street famous around the world for mysteries. For everyone knows who Baker Street’s most famous resident was – if only in the pages of detective fiction – none other than Mr. Sherlock Holmes. So here is as good a place as any to start out on an adventure, in this case, the adventure of moving one’s business from Europe to the US.
On this episode of Move Your Business To The United States, Kevin talks to Sebastian about helping entrepreneurs move to the US, and what his own experience living there for the last 10 years has been like.
Moving a business to the United States is a really major move. But is easily doable with help. Sebastian explains the importance of creating a presence with your business and building your client basis before you move over there yourself.
It takes true grit to move to the United States but with ongoing liaisons that help you along the entire process, it is very achievable.
“The US is a massive market, it’s one country, one currency, one language. We don’t have that in Europe, in the United States it’s a lot easier to scale a business than it is in Europe.”
-Sebastian Sauerborn
Time Stamps:
2:16 - About Sebastian and how he and his firm helps businesses expand to America.
3:46 - The kinds of businesses that Sebastian works with.
4:45 - The turnkey solutions that help entrepreneurs move to the US within 4 weeks.
7:57 - The use of trusted partners.
9:23 - The biggest lifestyle shock of moving from Europe to the United States.
11:05 - What’s the biggest shock working and trading in the United States.
12:09 - The different mindset they have in America.
13:30 - What is the move across doesn’t work?
15:30 - How many businesses Sebastian has helped move across to the US.
17:47 - The qualities you need to make it in the United States.
20:08 - The first step to moving to America.
Resources:
Connect with Kevin Turley: Website
Connect with Sebastian Sauerborn: LinkedIn
Episode Transcript
Episode 1: Meet Sebastian
So here I am -Baker Street- the start of the adventure, this podcast is about going to America, about leaving the old world and heading to the new. So what am I doing in London? Well, like all the best adventures it has to start somewhere and I’m here at Baker Street, I’m going to a very nice hotel five minute walk from here and I’m going to meet a man; a man who says that he can help me in the practical ways and in other ways to make the dream come true of moving to the United States.
You’re listening to move your business to the United States with me, your host Kevin Turley.
So, it’s a beautiful sunny day here in London it’s early morning it’s 10 past 9, the streets are full of people wandering about on their business, there’s taxis, there are buses, there’s the usual variety of life which London offers, but my mind is thinking about America.
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Sebastian: Well, I would say, I mean, I’ve been helping businesses expanding to the United States since 2008…
That’s Sebastian Sauerborn CEO of Mount Bonnell Advisors
Great can I have a flat white please, and a grapefruit juice?
Kevin: So, Sebastian, it’s really nice to meet you.
Sebastian: Kevin really nice to meet you.
Kevin: Now Sebastian, I’ve got a problem and I think you can help me with it. I would like to move a business to the United States…
Sebastian: Excellent, very good.
Kevin: Now, I’m told you’re an expert in that department…
Sebastian: Thank you!
Kevin: Is that right?
Sebastian: Well, I hope so.
Kevin: So, tell me a bit about yourself.
Sebastian: So, we have been helping European businesses to expand to the United States since 2008, that came about because I’m a part of a firm of Chartered Accountants in London which I set up in 2006. And that firm helps a lot of international clients, for example German clients, to expand to the United Kingdom.
So, naturally, these clients then when they want to take their business to the US, they come to us and asked us if you could help them, so in 2008, we opened an office in Miami and Florida and I moved there with my family, and since then, we have been doing this business and helping clients expand their business there. Well, first in Miami, later in Austin.
Kevin: So, you’ve got plenty of experience in this.
Sebastian: I hope so yeah, I’ve done it. Definitely yeah.
Kevin: One of the things about moving a business to the United States -well forget about moving a business- one of the things about emigrating to another country is that it looks like a really major move okay?
Sebastian: I agree.
Kevin: It’s even more major when you’re talking about moving continents, and there’s a huge amount of water between us and the United States. So, what I’m looking for really, Sebastian, is bite-sized chunks, okay? I’m looking for us to break down what it is, and how to do it. Do you think you can help me with that?
Sebastian: Definitely! Yeah.
Kevin: Okay, so let’s start at the beginning, first of all, tell me what sort of businesses you work with?
Sebastian: Well, typically, the businesses we work with, are businesses that are established already in Europe, normally, for example: The UK, Germany, Ireland, Spain they are led by entrepreneurs and these entrepreneurs then want to take their business to United States. Typically, I would say these are businesses in sales from anywhere between five hundred thousand to five million dollars or euros on average.
Kevin: Okay, so you’re looking for people that are serious players here.
Sebastian: I think yeah, we’re looking for entrepreneurs who are successful already who have established themselves who can see that they generate that sort of income in the United States. I wouldn’t say, its not very small entrepreneurs and it’s also not the very big ones either.
Kevin: Okay, so how do you make this dream come true? What’s your company’s part in this?
Sebastian: What Mount Bonnell Advisors really do, is we provide -I would say- turnkey solutions for entrepreneurs who want to expand their business in the United States. Many entrepreneurs have the problem that when they go about this venture; that they have to do with lawyers, with tax people, with banks, lots of different parties and it’s complicated and it’s tiring.
So, we provide a turnkey solution and can help someone to get ready with the business in the United States within four weeks…
Kevin: Really four weeks?!
Sebastian: That’s all it takes you know, and then they have a US entity set up with a bank account at a major US bank with the US board member, a nice business address or virtual office.
Kevin: So, it sounds to me like… I mean four weeks sounds very quick first of all okay? I mean dreams can come true but maybe not that quick okay? [laughter]
But it sounds to me like what you’re saying is that it’s almost like you’ve got to create a presence in the United States to backhand the move from Europe.
Sebastian: Yes, that’s correct so for us always the first step is and that what most clients want too, they first want to have a presence in the United States they want to have a business there.
They want to actually be able to make money in the United States, they want to be able to invoice clients, they want to generate sales, and once they see that their business is successful in the United States, many clients would then consider moving there. Some don’t want to move, they would rather staying in Europe, but a good part of our clients definitely want to live in United States and move their potential with their families if they have one.
For we are a diverse nation and there are perhaps as many concepts of what America is as there are people among us, I’m John Wayne as the people we are active and often noisy we are industrious, oftentimes to the Battlement of ourselves and our friends, we relax as hard as we work. We are proud some of our national spirit shows up in the monuments we erect, the large ones and the small ones, it rings through the music which animates us
[Music]
*Kevin: Okay I’m dreaming of America now, Sebastian has really intrigued me about the possibility of moving my business to the United States, but it’s more than a business choice; it’s a lifestyle choice and I’m thinking about my family, my loved ones, immigration involved, accommodation, schools, health care, I’m wondering is this something Sebastian can help me with?*
Sebastian: Yeah, we definitely help with all those aspects, obviously no business could cover all of those, so what we have is, we have trusted partners there are specialists in these areas; US attorneys, tax advisors, estate agents, and they reintroduce them to our clients and we are always there to guide our clients throughout the whole process and as somewhat that single point of contact but then have trusted advisors and specialists within the United States who can help with all those aspects of the move.
Kevin: So, Mount Bonnell Advisors is an end-to-end service in terms of the shift; but it’s an ongoing consultation liaison with whatever you need in the United States.
Sebastian: Definitely, yeah.
Kevin: Now you’re established London and the United States…
Sebastian: That’s correct.
Kevin: So, this is something that you’ve done.
Sebastian: Yeah, oh yeah, I mean as I said before, I moved myself to United States in 2008, and I’ve spent most of the last ten years in the United States with my family, I’ve lived there, I’ve lived in Miami, I lived in Texas and yeah, set up businesses there, so yeah, I’ve definitely done that.
Kevin: Okay, answer me this, I’m going to give you two questions, in terms of business… Well, actually let’s go with the other way, in terms of lifestyle what was the biggest shock going from Europe the United States?
Sebastian: Well, I mean for anyone who is moving to the United States from Europe, the first thing that they will find out is that you cannot survive without a car.
I mean if you’re in a city like London you don’t need a car, you can totally survive you know by walking, taking the bike, using public transport. None of this is available in the United States, except the places maybe like New York or San Francisco, in a lot of places, you definitely need a car, without a car, you can’t survive, so that’s a big change you know. Americans drive everywhere, they drive shopping, they go to restaurants, the cities are very spread out.
I mean it’s typically the next supermarket could be ten miles away, so, that’s a very… the distance -especially in Texas – distances and how spread out everything is, you definitely have to get used to it, you cannot wal,k you can’t rely on public transport, you can’t take a bike.
Kevin: In some ways though, coming from a city as crowded as London that might actually be a very attractive quality.
Sebastian: Yeah, I know, I mean especially if you look at property sizes you know and in Texas even of average homes, they’re a lot bigger and then here real estate is a lot more affordable, than it’s for example in London so families can have bigger homes, bigger properties at a lower cost.
Kevin: And presumably bigger garages for all the cars you have to have.
Sebastian: Yeah [ Laughter]
Kevin: Okay, so that’s in terms of lifestyle, that’s interesting, but in terms of business. Now, you’re a businessman, you’ve offices in Europe, across Europe, including London, your offices in the United States, you see different things in different countries, different jurisdictions, what’s the…, what was the biggest shock in terms of business working and trading in the United States?
Sebastian: I would call it actually a positive shock; a positive shock in that sense that the US is a massive market -huge- I mean 330 million people live there, and it’s very big.
It’s one country, one currency, one language, we just don’t have that in Europe. If you want to do business on that scale in Europe, you have to deal with ten different countries, ten different languages, it’s very complicated time-consuming, expensive.
In the United States, you can just go there and then can with very little effort compared to what you have to do in Europe approach this massive market. This is actually easier -a lot easier- to scale a business, than it is in Europe I would say.
I am surprised how easy it is in the United States if you have a good product if you have a good service to be successful there.
Kevin: I mean that that’s interesting in terms of regulation, but you also think there’s a mindset in the United States different from Europe?
Sebastian: Very I think in the United States, everybody’s really friendly towards entrepreneurs, it’s a great achievement when you set up a business and entrepreneurs are highly respected, often I think that’s lacking in Europe and entrepreneur’s capitalism in that sense has a bad reputation.
We think of only Foods and Horses you know when we think of business men.
Hi, you’re listening to move your business to the United States just a quick word from our sponsors Mount Bonnell Advisors the people there have been advising clients are moving stateside for years for all your needs both business and practical head over to mtbonnell.com to find out more thanks for listening
[Music]
Kevin: When this process of discerning whether to move or not, there’s that 3 am thought when you wake up thinking “am I doing the right thing here? because I move my business, I move my family 3000-4000 miles across the ocean to America what if it doesn’t work?!” You know let’s be blunt here Sebastian, this is a big move what if it just doesn’t work out? What do I do then?
Sebastian: Exactly, so it’s a common problem right, a lot of start-ups don’t work out, so this is why we suggest this phased approach; we first advise our clients to set up a presence there, set up a business there, see how it goes.
And only if they see that the business is generating sales, is making profits, and there is a good prognosis for the business going forward as a going concern.
We would then actually advise them to consider moving there with the family, so that the situation can be minimalized, or the risk can be minimalized that the business isn’t working out, and they have to return and be more traumatized than moving there in the first place.
Kevin: So, in some ways, I mean what you’re suggesting is that the ups and downs of business life do not cease the minute you get off the plane in Austin Texas or wherever it happens to be.
But that the type of group that you’re dealing with the entrepreneurial mindset are people that are used to challenges used to the ups and downs of business, and what you’re saying is that Mount Bonnell Advisors and the team that you have over there can assist in overcoming those challenges…
Sebastian: Yeah, and we can help to minimize risk and you know we have of course been having entrepreneurs to move the United States for ten years, so we have some track record of knowing what works and what doesn’t work, you know in that regard.
So, normally, we would advise to put a lot of energy in setting up the business first, but take it slow on the move there -on the actual move there- of yourself, of the family, applying for the visa and all these things are also very complicated.
So, it’s best to start with the business and then you know, approach everything else afterwards.
Kevin: Now, you’ve got ten years’ worth of doing this, moving people over to the states and starting their businesses, and approximately in that time, roughly how many businesses have you transited from Europe to the United States?
Sebastian: I’d say about a hundred.
Kevin: Hundred, and can you give us an example, just one case study if you like of somebody… roughly what sort of business they were in? Maybe which country they were in? And how it all worked out?
Sebastian: Yes, I was just talking to one of our clients yesterday, and this is a client who is in the online dating world.
So they run an online dating service in Europe, and they first expanded to Australia and they had expanded to multiple European countries originally from Germany, then they went to France, Italy and so and so forth.
But realized that it’s really cumbersome and complicated process because of multiple languages, legal situations, so and so forth, until they decided to expand to the US and suddenly, they had this massive market, 330 million people there, a big population, a big unified market, one currency, one culture.
And they have been tremendously successful there ever since they set up shop in the United States several years ago and have been very successfully expanding the business there and the owner I think, one or two years ago, moved over there himself with his family.
Kevin: And he moved the family over?! I mean you’ve obviously met him while he’s over there. Are the family happy? Wife, kids, everybody’s settled in? Schools, swimming pools?
Sebastian: They’re all happy, I think you know obviously, they have their people who are deeply rooted in Europe who never want to move but if you’re bit adventurous and if you’re a bit of a risk taker in a sense and open to new things, then you know, you can have a fantastic life in the States and you love it and your wife loves that, and your children love it because there’s a lot to do in United States and it’s a great lifestyle.
Kevin: Well, that leads me to one other thing I just wanted to ask Sebastian, because there are many entrepreneurs – they’re not growing on trees- but there’s a lot of them about, and you meet a lot of entrepreneurs and people come for their first consultation with you and they’re discussing it.
Is there a quality in somebody that you see that that makes you think this is this is a person who’s going to make it in the United States? Is there some sort of secret sauce x-factor that you think this person is going to go and have a great new life in the United States?
Sebastian: In my opinion, I guess one of the biggest qualities -not the only one- but one of the biggest qualities in entrepreneurs is grit; because it takes a lot of time to set up a business, it takes a lot of time to see it succeed, and it takes a lot of time and setbacks and difficulties.
So you know you have to stick, you have to stick to it you know…
Kevin: It’s so like what you’re saying is, I mean to use the Western analogy, it takes true grit to move to the United States.
Sebastian: Yeah, exactly!
Kevin: But it takes true grit as well in a European context or United States to set up a business in the first place.
So, in some ways, entrepreneurs from what you’re saying seem to be in the best position or the best type of person to emigrate, because they like challenge and they’re risk takers
Sebastian: I totally agree, I mean entrepreneurs individuals normally who are able to improvise, so when something doesn’t go according to plan they can improvise, they can serve in a positive mood.
I think most entrepreneurs are optimistic, so these are the qualities you need to move to a new country and to a totally different culture to be frank, because there will be setbacks and difficulties maybe your kids won’t get along with their friends in school, you know, your wife doesn’t find the right gym at the beginning.
So, there will be there will be difficulties and it’s important to stay positive and stay in there and then things will get better.
Kevin: So, you’re absolutely right Sebastian; the type of person who is going to be interested in this is going to be an entrepreneur who have an entrepreneurial mindset, but it’s still a big challenge.
Now, from what you’re saying to me, it sounds like you’re breaking that down for me into bits that I understand.
And one of the things that I’m hoping you’re going to help me with, in this, in this podcast is breaking down aspects of the move from the big picture sort of immigration visas and such like to the small pictures for example; how do I close a house down in Europe and move it to the United States? How do I get the cat over there, the dog? You know, whatever it is the family horse or whatever it is.
So what’s the first step? What’s the first thing to do?
Sebastian: The first thing you should do is arrange a chat with me and go to our website, book a consultation or give us a call and then we’ll take from there.
Kevin: And the website is?
Sebastian: The website is mtbonnell.com.
Kevin: Okay and people can get in touch with you via that.
Sebastian: Yeah, sure.
Kevin: That’s great, okay, so the whole point of this podcast is to look at the process of moving from Europe the United States.
Now the first thing on my mind when I was coming here this morning was -the first thing- I want to ask you about was legalities, and that terrible four-letter word “visa” [laughter}
How do we go about that?
Sebastian: I think you are absolutely right, you know a visa is definitely a massive challenge and an important consideration to make, so what I’m going to do is, I’m going to introduce you to an immigration attorney who is here in London as an US immigration attorney in London who has helped me to get my visa several times, so I know that he’s good. So, let’s go off to meet Orlando.
Kevin: Sounds good, let’s go, great let’s go.
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- You’ve been listening to ‘Move your business to United States’ with me, Kevin Turley . A huge thanks to my producer Emmett Glynn who produced this podcast for Mount Bonnell Media.To find out more, go to MountBonnell.com and remember: Dream big, Dream America!*
