Going Local: You can't do it all on your own, especially in a new country.
by Laurel Delaney, Entrepreneur
 
Creating a presence in one or more international markets requires a team of local service providers. They are your point people who can facilitate global trade, whatever... more >>

You Do What?  Going global: International finance vet helps firms expand

Are you wondering what the compliance issues are in Belgium when it comes to issuing stock options to employees of your technology company?

Larry Harding can probably walk you through it, and hopefully steer you clear of a huge tax liability in the process.

The former vice president of international finance for Ciena Corp. launched High Street Partners in Annapolis in 2003. The idea was to bring his experience helping companies... more >>

Useful Tips for Operating Overseas
Having a solid game plan is paramount to doing business in foreign countries.
By Tosin Mfon

Looking to sell abroad? Do your homework, first. Having a sustainable plan seems obvious enough, but many small businesses often get caught up in the excitement of new profits overseas and fail to plan for long-term growth.

Small business managers should first ask themselves: Why exactly are we going abroad? Tax reasons? To diversify the revenue base? To be closer to clients? Getting a handle on the objectives will make it easier to develop an effective strategy.

“You’ve... more >>

TIME TO TEST FOREIGN WATERS
by Rachel Solomon

May 16, 2008 - While EFashion Solution's lone, remote warehouse facility in Secaucus, N.J., is far from cosmopolitan, the e-commerce provider — which builds web sites and ships merchandise for fashion apparel brands — is quite the worldly small business. Shipping to more than 4,000 cities in 200 different countries, the company has built an international infrastructure to reach "basically any city that's got a paved road," says CEO Edward P. Foy, Jr. And... more >>

Please click the links below to hear a wide-ranging discussion of the challenges of doing business overseas, some practical advice for undertaking expansion, and some macro insight on how global politics affects business. Two part interview with Larry Harding of High Street Partners by Beverly Cornell for Global Business Perspectives.

Part I
http://globalbusinessperspectives.com/blog/2008/04/09/podcast-22-interview-with-larry-harding-from-high-street-partners/

Part II
http://globalbusinessperspectives.com/blog/2008/04/16/podcast-23-part-ii-of-interview-with-larry-harding-from-high-street-partners/

Small Firms Hire Guides As They Head Abroad: Tax, Labor Laws Hold Snags Galore; Dealing in Rupees
By PHRED DVORAK
November 5, 2007; Page B3

Click the title above to access the article.

Is Now the Time to Expand to Global Markets?
by Denise O'Berry, AllBusiness

April 14, 2008
HSP offers tips on international expansion. Please click the logo at left to access the article.

"Go East, Young Man! (that is, the Middle East)" by Geoff Williams
Posted on Walletpop.com, an AOL owned site, on March 12, 2008

"Go west, young man," urged newspaperman Horace Greeley in an 1851 newspaper editorial, and, well, if you're a history buff, you know the rest. Families, individuals and even shopkeepers packed their belongings into a wagon train, moseyed past the Mississippi River and pretty soon were shooting it out with Jesse James and Clint Eastwood. Well, something like that. I watch a lot of westerns.

Anyway, today, it probably seems like all the new frontiers providing possibilities and mystique... more >>

In the past month, HSP has been picking up media steam.  Please see the articles and blogs below.





Tips for Small Businesses Looking Abroad
By Matthew Bandyk
Posted February 22, 2008

The game of international trade is not just for big multinational corporations. Small businesses are increasingly outsourcing administrative and other tasks to other countries, while the knowledge work is done back in the States. They're also getting more involved in directly... more >>

"Foreign Intelligence" by Kate O'Sullivan explores some of the particular challenges faced by the finance team when operating overseas, with an especial focus on corruption in foreign markets.  Please click here to access the article, which includes coverage of HSP's services and clients.

Smaller and Younger Companies Get Overseas Presence
by Anita Campbell December 7, 2007 

High Street Partners was founded 3 years ago to help companies deal with the challenges and frustrations of doing business overseas.

We’ve written previously about the growing trend of the micro-multinational. That trend is about companies that are very small and very young, yet have a global presence almost from the get-go.

Today, many of these micro-multinationals... more >>

From Smart CEO's new i3 feature: iNDIVIDUALS, iDEAS, iNFORMATION on Growth 

"What Advice Do You Have to CEOs of Growing Companies Who Are Looking to Expand?"

When looking to expand overseas, don't feel like you need to recreate the wheel. There is a vast network of people who have done this before who have maybe made the mistakes you're making, who can provide helpful insight.  I tend to believe that almost every business has to have some sort of global strategy because if you don't, your competitors do.  It is a little more expensive and frustrating at times.  It... more >>

High Street scores helping U.S. companies into India
In three years, Maryland firm chalks up 90 customers

BY CHRIS NELSON 

Globalization made it possible for businesses to market their products and services and form partnerships around the world, but it didn’t eliminate the challenges and frustrations that companies must deal with when expanding internationally.

Enter High Street Partners Inc. – an... more >>

As New England area high tech companies deal with VAT (value-added tax) problems in the United Kingdom and continental Europe, the movie Groundhog Day often comes to mind. Just as Bill Murray's character, Phil Connors, found himself repeating the same experiences day-in and day-out, companies, whether first-timers or well established entities, fall into the same avoidable traps. These include an assumption that VAT works just like sales tax in the United States (it doesn't), a belief that VAT doesn't apply to non-European businesses (it does), or a failure to acknowledge that VAT is an inescapable part of doing business in Europe. Sometimes, it is all of the above.

The 27 European... more >>

In an issue devoted to global operations, Private Equity Manager headlines an article profiling three US private equity firms seeking to add value through Asian expansion.  Larry Harding discusses the entity structures, support processes and ongoing operational requirements typically involved.

This article is currently available to subscribers only.  For more information, please visit www.privateequitymanager.com.

CFO Magazine coverage of the challenges smaller companies face when “going global” highlights HSP’s assistance to Isilon Systems, Digital Focus and Ellacoya Networks. Please click here to access the article.

Eastport consultant guides businesses expanding overseas

Larry Harding of Annapolis remembers the night he was being entertained in Tokyo by a company's managing director and some junior staff members.

The director poured a cup of sake for Mr. Harding and raised his own cup in a toast to the American. Carried away by the moment, Mr. Harding, founder and president of Eastport-based High Street Partners, turned and poured some sake into the cup of a staff member.

The younger staffer nearly fainted.

"Oh, Mr. Harding," the man exclaimed. "You shouldn't... more >>

Former RSA exec sues over Singapore tax flap by Alexander Soule

Download: Boston Business Journal 12/9/05 re Singapore taxes & HSP
62.6K application/pdf

Ten Compass Points to Track When Taking Business Global - by L. Harding

Download: MHT article pdf
71.7K application/pdf

By Craig Douglas, Journal Staff

Download: BBJ: High Street Opens Overseas Avenues
158.5K application/pdf

Globalization Adds to Our Prosperity

To the Editor:

Fearful European voters are certainly voicing their anxiety about globalization ("The French disconnection," editorial, June 1).

Yet fear should not be allowed to override sensible economic policy, either in Europe or the United States.

The globalization of business is not a theory but an established fact: Commerce now moves across borders at the touch of a computer button. Western nations continue to prosper because of - not in spite of - the free flow of goods, services, capital and ideas.
more >>

Download: Before you go: Prepare operations for offshore gig
1.27MB application/pdf

CFO Magazine coverage of how overworked CFOs are turning to interim finance managers for help features Larry Harding’s assistance to Sapient Corporation.  Please click here to access The Ephemeral Finance Executive by Don Durfee on the CFO.com website.