Can I start a business abroad while I'm still employed?

Often yes, but it depends on your residence permit and your employment contract. Some work permits are tied to one employer and don't allow self-employment, so check with the local immigration authority before you take on a paying client.

Do I need to register a business before my first client?

In many countries you need to be registered before you send your first invoice, although some allow small amounts of freelance income without it. Registering as a sole trader is usually quick and cheap, and you can change the structure later if the business grows.

Should I sell to locals or to other internationals?

Start with the group you can reach most easily and talk to in your strongest language. Many expats begin with other internationals or clients online, then widen their market once the offer is proven.

Starting a Business Abroad: First Steps for Expats

The first time I tried to register my business in Denmark, I had three browser tabs open in Danish, a translation app in a fourth, and a growing suspicion that I’d missed a form somewhere. I’d lived in Copenhagen for years by then. I worked in English every day, I understood how tax worked as an employee, and I still felt like I’d just arrived.

Starting a business abroad does that. You’re an experienced professional in one part of your life and a beginner in another, and the two don’t always sit comfortably together. Most of the internationals I work with have built a career in a country that isn’t their first, often in a language that isn’t their first either. They’re very good at figuring things out. What slows them down is usually the order: knowing which things to figure out first.

These are the steps I’d take, roughly in this order.

1. Check what your residence permit allows

If you live in the country on a work permit tied to an employer, starting a business on the side may not be allowed, or may need a separate permission. EU citizens living in another EU country usually have more freedom, but the rules still differ from place to place. It’s the least exciting step and the most important one, so check with the immigration authority or a local adviser before you take on a paying client.

2. Learn the basic rules for registering and VAT where you live

Most countries let you start as a sole trader, which is quick and inexpensive to set up. VAT is where people get caught out. In Denmark, for example, you have to register for VAT once you expect to sell more than DKK 50,000 in a 12-month period. Find out your local threshold, open a separate bank account for the business, and put a share of every payment aside for tax from the first invoice. An hour with an accountant who works with freelancers is usually worth more than a week of reading forums.

3. Keep your income while you test

If your permit and your contract allow it, there’s no prize for quitting first. Many of my clients start while they’re still employed, testing their idea in the evenings until real people have said yes. It takes the pressure off the first offer, and it means you decide to leave based on evidence rather than hope.

4. Decide who you’re selling to, and in which language

Living abroad gives you a choice most local founders don’t have. You can sell to the local market, to other internationals in your city, or to clients anywhere online. Each option changes your language, your pricing and where you’ll find people. You don’t need a final answer, but you do need a first one, because “everyone” is very hard to have a conversation with.

5. Rebuild a small network on purpose

Every move costs you part of the network you’d normally lean on. Instead of waiting for it to grow back, write down twenty people who know your work or have the problem you solve: former colleagues, people from your community, the friend of a friend who keeps asking for advice. Then talk to five of them this month. Those conversations will shape your offer more than any amount of research.

6. Shape one offer before you build a brand

The logo, the website and the perfect business name can wait. What can’t wait is one clear sentence about who you help, what problem you solve and what changes for them. Write it on a single page, add a price, and show it to the people from step five. Their reactions will teach you more than another month of second-guessing.

7. Give yourself a realistic runway

New businesses rarely grow in a straight line, and a business abroad adds a few extra unknowns. Know how many months you can cover your costs, and decide in advance what would tell you it’s working, or that it’s time to adjust.

Rules for permits, tax and VAT change and differ by country, so treat this as a starting list and check the details where you live.

I didn’t feel ready when I registered my company, and I’m not sure anyone does. Looking back, the forms weren’t the hard part. The hard part was deciding I was allowed to start.

If you’re living abroad and thinking about starting something of your own, I’d love to hear where you are on this list.