Abroad, medium-sized companies that are used to success are not always champions. Peter Anterist, CEO of the global trust company InterGest, describes the "eleven most popular ways to burn money abroad" - logging roads that should be avoided in times of difficult markets. In Anterist's examples, nothing is invented and nothing is gratuitously satirised. Over 50 years of InterGest practice in accompanying German companies abroad show: It is not entrepreneurial negligence that leads to the blind alleys described. Rather, it is usually success at home that leads to lonely and unquestioned decisions for foreign business.
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Fail in foreign trade: eleven sure ways to burn money
Why do successful medium-sized companies fail when starting up a business abroad?
The most uncomfortable insight about setting up a business abroad: success at home is usually to blame. Companies that have been winning in the German market for years often decide on their international business alone and unchecked. Assumptions that hold true at home suddenly stop working in a foreign market.
"Fail in Foreign Trade" is a "reverse" practical guide to setting up a business abroad, drawn from real projects that show how not to do it. Anterist describes eleven patterns that InterGest has observed again and again over the decades. All cases are based on real events; people and products have been anonymised.
Who is behind the guide to starting a business abroad?
Behind the guide to starting a business abroad stands a practitioner. Prof. Peter Anterist is a lawyer and a visiting professor at CUFE University in Beijing. He has led InterGest as its second-generation head since 2001. His father, Heinz Anterist, founded the company in 1972 in Saarguemines, France. For InterGest's 50th anniversary, the local global portal interviewed Anterist about internationalisation in the "InterGest 50 Years" interview. More on the company's history is available under About InterGest.
Where can I get the book on starting a business abroad?
You can request a free copy right here on this page or order it on Amazon. It's available in both German and English, so you can pick the edition that suits you. If you are planning a concrete project beyond reading, InterGest offers a free initial consultation covering things like choice of legal form, location, or first steps on the ground. The frequently asked questions give a quick overview; how InterGest supports companies in practice is shown on the services overview page.
How does InterGest support starting a business abroad?
When starting a business abroad, InterGest is present in more than 50 countries with its own organisations and supports companies on the ground rather than from a distance.
Examples from the network include starting a business in China, starting a business in France, starting a business in India, starting a business in Mexico or starting a business in Hungary. The companies the network has already supported are listed under our clients and references.
Who is Peter Anterist of InterGest?
The author of the guide to starting a business abroad and managing director of InterGest.
Prof. Peter Anterist is a lawyer and a visiting professor at CUFE University in Beijing. He has led InterGest as its second-generation head since 2001; his father, Dr Heinz Anterist, founded the company in 1972. Today Peter Anterist is one of three managing directors of InterGest Worldwide GmbH, founded in 2016 and based in Hamburg, alongside Nils Blunck (partner in Hungary) and Dr Alberto Canova (partner in Italy). A person and company profile is kept by the business platform Die Deutsche Wirtschaft; more about the company itself is available under About InterGest. You can find more about other countries on our overview page starting a business abroad.
What sets InterGest apart from classic consultancies?
Self-employed partners with local know-how, instead of employed managers in company-owned branches.
InterGest works as a franchise network: in every country there is a self-employed entrepreneur with local know-how, rather than an employed branch manager. That is what sets InterGest apart from global outsourcing providers, which run their own subsidiaries staffed by employed managers. All partners maintain the same structures and deliver the same quality of service, from formation through accounting to administration, for example for starting a business in China. They spot changes in laws, rules or customs duties early and recommend the right steps so that clients stay successful; the services overview and our our clients and references give a good impression.
Since 1972.
50+ countries. 750 employees. 1,700 companies supported.
When do you start?
THINK AND ACT LOCALLY,
TO BE SEEN AS A LOCAL PROVIDER