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I’ve been thinking about an idea that goes beyond the traditional consulting or investment model.

Many businesses don’t necessarily need more advice or even more capital. They need access — to customers, suppliers, logistics, technology, distribution, international markets, or the right business partners.

What if a company could build a network specifically around connecting businesses with those missing pieces?

Instead of simply charging a fee, the company could contribute something valuable to a partnership and receive performance-based revenue, profit sharing, or eventually equity.

For example, an African business with a great product but no international distribution could be connected with an established foreign distributor. Both businesses grow, while the partnership platform participates in the upside.

The bigger question is:

Could a company build a scalable business around creating and facilitating these strategic partnerships?

Or would this inevitably become just another brokerage/consulting business?

I’m interested in hearing from founders, investors, and people who have actually built partnerships:

Is there a real business here, or am I overlooking a fundamental problem?

Do you believe in EU integration? What would make you consider doing business with a company or person from another country within the EU. To what extent you would prefer or avoid regions (Southern, Western, Central, Balkans, Eastern, Nordics).

Do you still see in practice the competitive advantage as "west/north europe is quality, Balkans and Eastern Europe is cheap price, southeners are lazy"

How to make more business together. And how to overcome the language barriers?

Should we have equal tax policies? Since in some countries taxes take about 45% of the income. Which makes them less attractive for new business.

And Balkans/Eastern Europe is slowly catching up to western European standards. Losing the "price" advantage.

What platforms for common trade, commerce, social etc we need to integrate our countries. And should we? Or we have to be more protectionist.

Background: I am from Bulgaria. More than 15y I work with markets within EU and overseas. It's awesome. And think some sort of EU federation is one way to survive in the time of global super empires. I still feel the language barrier keeps lots of businesses disconnected. Everyone prefers its native tongue and thats completely normal. It comes with habbits, national specifics and the sense of "one of my kin". And we lack EU wide platforms to connect to.

I am interested to hear from other EU citizens. All opinions are welcomed.

Hello everyone, can someone give me some suggestion about my career ?
I am good at export and oversea business. I have around 10 years watch selling experience and 5 years key clients mantaince experience.

Now i am living in Manila as 2 kids mother.
I want to start my online business, do you know which kind of work is more suitbale for me ?
For me , I am good at English and Chinese mandarian.

Recently, becasue of Philippiens raining season, I found many of my cotton bedsheet become moldy. Very bad sleep experience. I tried to look for some linen bedsheet in the mall, but all of them selling high quality cotton, or some high expensive flax bedsheet. That's far more than normal people ability.

So I am wondering, if I establish a linen bedsheet in PHilippines, will is it popular?

I’m an oci recently moved back to India want to start an export business but honestly have no knowledge about it. Is there any good resources to learn and identify products to eventually finding clients?

Hey everyone! I am doing a research project for my International Business class and I am required to reach out to 20 people who are living outside of the United States. I have a couple short questions to ask and it would mean a lot to me if I received some answers from people outside of the United States!

The questions are:

1. What Country do you live in?
2. What do you think is the most difficult challenge for U.S. businesses that want to do business
3. in your country?
4. What advice or suggestions do you have for American companies that want to do
5. business in your country?

Thank you and I look forward to you guys reaching out!

Hey everyone i am looking for residents that are not currently living in the United States to answer two questions my International Business instructor assigned me. If you guys would like to help me out with my project for a couple of minutes feel free to reach out to me!

I look forward to seeing your answers, thanks!

What’s the best way to build a career in International Business? 🌍

I’m currently exploring the field of International Business, particularly global market expansion, cross-border trade, international sales, and working across different business cultures.

One thing I’ve realized is that international business seems to require much more than just a business degree. Skills like market research, negotiation, digital marketing, communication, cultural awareness, supply-chain knowledge, and understanding international markets all seem to play a role.

I’d love to hear from people already working in this field:

• How did you start your career in International Business?
• Which skills have been the most valuable?
• Is an MBA/degree in International Business actually useful?
• What are the best entry-level roles to target?
• How important is international work experience?
• For someone based in India, which global markets offer good opportunities?

Would especially appreciate insights from people working in international sales, export/import, global business development, consulting, or market expansion.

26M looking to shift careers from the family business of retail to export import marketing or sales

Anyone who can give a proper guidance please help me.

We have an Agentic Commerce technology that is scaling and we are looking for distribution partners in Asian markets. Https://robauto.ai

We are often asked about this question in international structuring - whether holding companies in jurisdictions such as Cyprus still make sense following the expansion of BEPS, tax transparency and anti-avoidance rules.

The short answer is: yes, but the rationale has changed.

A Cyprus holding company is no longer something that should be viewed simply as a tax-efficient vehicle. For an international group or investor, the broader considerations can include:

• EU legal and regulatory certainty
• Cyprus's 15% corporate tax rate from 2026
• Treatment of qualifying dividends and securities
• Double tax treaty considerations
• Corporate governance
• Cross-border tax implications
• The group's wider international tax position

The interesting shift is that the question is increasingly less about “Which jurisdiction has the lowest tax?” and more about “Which structure makes commercial, legal and tax sense for the business?”

You may contact us for a more detailed overview of the topic at info@naklaw.com!

I’m visiting Bologna, Italy, in November for my first international business trip, with the goal of starting to export my tractor spare parts to Italy. I’m not sure whether I should book appointments with importers in advance or just visit their offices without an appointment. What would you recommend?

Hey everyone,

I’m a student and I’ve been thinking about getting into the import-export business. I’ve been researching it for a while, but honestly, there’s a huge difference between what you read online and how the business actually works.

I’d love to hear from anyone here who’s actually doing import/export — especially how you got started, what your experience has been like, and whether you think it’s still a good business to enter as a beginner.

Not looking for a course or a sales pitch, just some real experiences and advice. Even if you tried it and failed, I’d genuinely like to hear about it.

Thanks!

I am looking for ten people who are currently living outside the United States in different countries to answer 2 questions about International Business!

This is for a college class in International Business I am taking in the US.

1) What do you think is the most difficult challenge for U.S. businesses that want to do business
in your country?

2) What advice or suggestions do you have for American companies that want to do
business in your country?

Thank you so much for helping me out! Have a blessed day!

Running lead gen for home services and insurance clients for a few years now out of Chicago. Email open rates have been rough since late last year and SMS opt-outs were piling up faster than we could replace lists. Needed another channel.

Tested a few things over a couple of months. Ringless voicemail was one of them, used VoiceShot, DropCowboy, alongside some other tools to see what moved the needle. Home services client got decent callbacks on aged leads, insurance client barely moved. Same setup, completely different results.

After digging into it the only real difference was the script length and tone. Insurance message was too polished, sounded corporate. Home services one was short and casual. So the channel isn't really the variable, it's whether the message sounds human or not. Took longer than it should have to figure that out.

Still not sure voicemail is a long term play or just working because it's less saturated right now. Combining it with email and SMS seems to work better than running any of them solo. Anyone else testing multi-channel for agency clients?

Hi r/internationalbusiness,

I own a freight forwarding/logistics company in the Netherlands.

We handle international air, sea and road freight into and out of the EU, and I’m trying to look at our service more from the customer side.

From what I see, a lot of the frustration with forwarders comes down to communication and accountability.

We try to avoid that by giving each client one direct point of contact who stays reachable and follows the shipment.

But I’m curious what people here think.

If you import or export goods, what makes you stay with the same freight forwarder?

And the other way around, what makes you decide not to use a forwarder again?

Not looking for perfect answers, just curious what matters from the customer side. Funny or weird stories are also welcome hahaha

Hello everyone I am a college student taking a college course and for one of my assignments I was ask to ask different entrepreneurs 3 questions. This is specifically for anyone outside of the U.S! I need at least ten people who are currently living outside the United States in at least five different countries. I need these questions to be answered. questions:

1. “What do you think is the most difficult challenge for U.S. businesses that want to do business in your country?”
2. “What advice or suggestions do you have for American companies that want to do business in your country?

If you could also leave your name, company or business, and any type of contact information that I may be able to reach you at!

Google Form

Hello, my name is Ella, and I am taking an international business class at Wichita State University in Kansas, United States. A requirement for the class is to contact people from different countries about US business in their countries. Please answer the questions below to help me with my class! Thank you! Questionnaire Form

Hunting for curious, ambitious people who want to go beyond surface-level China market awareness — co-research trends, build startups, work with talents long-term.

Most overseas discussions about China is about mainstream tourism, culture, food, nature scenery or looking for agent or supplier like that, while few dive into the **real frontier opports** hidden in China’s fast-evolving market.

Is there anyone in the community genuinely interested in deep commercial exploration in China?  This is a long-term poster, not just a one-off subject.

**Anyone interested in the following aspects in China then we can work togther**:

* Startup or branch establishment: 
* In-depth or quantitive market research on domestic industries;
* Top commercial consultation program;
* Build a ad-hoc talent team for single project.

If someone is tired of superficial industry talks and wants to **actually take action, explore real business value, and build practical ventures in China**, drop a comment or send me a DM. Tell me briefly about your thoughts, and what you hope to gain from them. If that is feasible, then we can build something solid and forward-looking together.

I own a US LLC (music publishing, California). My partner lives in Canada and does the same scope of work I do. He is currently set up as a contractor with a manager-type role and an equity-style interest rather than being an actual member.

We are considering converting that into a real partnership, and I want to understand the terrain before paying a lawyer to walk us through options.

1. What structure did you end up with? Multi-member US LLC with a Canadian member, a Canadian corporation contracting with the US entity, or something else?

2. Canada generally treats a US LLC as a corporation rather than a flow-through, which as I understand it can strand the Canadian partner in double taxation even with the treaty. If you hit this, what fixed it?

3. US withholding on distributions to a foreign partner. How much of a burden was it in practice?

4. What did setup cost, and what does annual compliance run?

I know this is not a substitute for professional advice and we will be hiring counsel. I just want to know which questions matter going in. Cross-border attorney or accountant referrals appreciated.