I have a few questions regarding setting up a new business in the US. I would like detailed in-depth replies if possible plus pointers to where I can find some good information in this regard.
We want to open a branch/marketing/representative/sales office in the US. Ours is a new software house and we have a few products ready for the market. Uptil now we have only worked for the local Clients in Pakistan but now we want to expand our market.
What I want to know is:
What is the procedure of opening up a new set-up in the US? (Opening up a new company? Registering our present company?)
What is the cost of this whole procedure?
How much would a marketting person cost us there per annum?
Hi Wane,
Unfortunately I'm not in the U.S., so I wouldn't know the procedures, but your question is a useful one, so the best I can do is bump your thread!
You need to register your Brand / Name / Taxes & return status / offshore parent company details. Including banking info.
with a clearence from INS. This setup is not so complicated and can be completed in 2 days depending on the state you'r in. $500 approx or less would be the cost.
Hard to say what you want the Marketing person to do for you.
Admin work - you need an admin person with 35,000 usd a year
For Marketing and Promotion with Business admin,,think $ 50-60,000 usd a year.
Office / Suit $ 1500 a month ( 1 year lease ) approx
All figuers are approx and may have unforseen veriations.
Good luck !
fully loaded costs for a real marketing person will be significantly more than $60K/year. I mean it depends what level person you want. and if this is one person is he a one man show doing sales presentations, contract negotiations, drawing up legal agreements, business development, trade shows etc etc?
A seasoned business development person in a mid size software house is usually in 6 figures, with incentives, bonuses, Travel, lodging and entertainment budget plus benefits, you are easily looking at a quarter million a year. and that is a conservative estimate. It can be higher depending on how often he is going to make sales presentations.
attending one trade show , travel, registration, booth rental etc is approximately $10-12K. How many trade shows will he be going to.
Office suites, again depending on what your market positioning is could be much higher. For a small office consisitng of a reception area, an office, a meeting room in chicago downtown you are looking at multiples of 1500.
The marketing person need not be 6 figures out of pocket. You can arrange commission percentages based on sales. To actually market (as Fraudia said) you would need dish out some mulla for trade shows and such. Maybe advertise in some industry magazines (e.g. Windows .net magazine).
Another possiblity could be to partner with some shop already setup and get your foot in the door.
but the total cost to the company still needs to be factored in. you can get someone for a lower base and a commission basis after that, but even if the guy sells nothing, you have to budget for travel & expenses. for conferences you have to pay in advance, and the office lease would also be a concern, unless the guy works out of his home and uses one of those shared corporate facilities where you can book for use as needed, but that woould still have a
lastly, marketing, sales and business development although used together are different functions, can one person do it, sure, but to do it well the person would have to be fairly seasoned.
Agreed, but sometimes it helps to keep expenses in perspective, like up-front vs. activity dependent variables.
On going admin costs are a concern with startups. That's why I suggested partnering with an existing company or sharing space. Ofcourse working out of home is always an option.