Canada To The US

Admittedly, there are far fewer Canadian businesses currently doing business in the United States than there are American businesses doing business in Canada. This isn't due to any deficiency in Canadians or the way they do business, but to the fact that Americans have more people and therefore more capital to drawn upon. It's time to turn this fact to our advantage. Buy a good quality strapping system and load up the product, because we're going to the United States, baby!

Officially, the United States welcomes all forms of foreign investment both in law and in practice. What this means is that their policy is to welcome you if you decide to expand Super-Nanny Oakville down south and open a Super-Nanny Buffalo or a Super-Nanny San Francisco. There will be no laws against you setting up and no unofficial deterrence from the government. This is because you won't be the only one reaping benefits from the arrangement. Your franchise will provide jobs to Americans and money to the local American economy in the form of rents for the storefront, wages, utilities, and any services you hire.

Unofficially, you may not want to plaster the Canadian flag all over the windows of the shop unless you're opening up in an area populated by Snowbirds. The simple fact is that protectionism is not dead in either of our countries, as evidenced by lawsuits of Class Action, Ontario NAFTA protests, and American boycotting of anything that doesn't have a "made in the USA" label. While we're not suggesting you lie, it may be better not to antagonize any protectionist elements by putting up a big map of Canada with an arrow that says "this is where your money is going."

There are other types of business that can be expanded into the United States, of course, not just retail. Retail is only the most visible to the population. It's a lot easier to see a Tim Horton's storefront than it is to see the Canadian lumber being used by an American furniture factory or the Canadian landlord who bought the rental condominiums downtown. Toronto provides an excellent counter example of this. There are highly visible towers for American companies like Microsoft existing alongside unnoticed factories that use a special type of ball bearing produced only in America.

There are certain things you'll need to get a hold of if you want to export to the United States other than a buyer in that country. In addition to your factory, you'll need warehousing space near the border crossing you intend to use. Perhaps Oakville real estate if you're crossing into the Buffalo area, or Burnaby real estate if you're entering via Seattle. You'll also need transportation, either road, rail, air, or water depending on where you're shipping to. Many companies hire out their shipping to dedicated transit companies rather than invest in vehicles themselves. Thirdly, you'll need to make sure all your customs documentation is in order.