Crossing Borders Starter Checklist

So you're thinking of starting a business with operations in both Canada and the United States. There are a lot of things you're going to need to know, starting with where to find French and Spanish translation services because there are large minorities in Canada that speak only French and in the United States that speak only Spanish and you'd be cutting out huge sections of your consumer base right from the get-go if you were to only offer services in English. This is just one of the many things you'll need to learn before you start up. This and other articles in the series will give you a rundown of the basics in easy checklist form.

1. Obey the Law

The first and most important thing to remember whether you're selling online collaboration software to schools or shipping swimming pools to Arizona is to keep everything above-board. That doesn't just apply to people who might be tempted to list dumping harmful chemicals as creating PCB designer artwork, but also to genuinely hardworking and honest people as well. When you're operating in an area you're not familiar with, you may end up breaking laws you didn't even know existed. So do your research and read the provincial and state laws for your areas of operations as well as municipal bylaws for the cities you'll be working out of or even driving through.

2. Be Prepared for Long Trips

Obviously if you're shipping a product across the border regularly this means keeping loads secure. Invest in the highest quality ratchet tie down system that money can buy for your trucks. Trust us. It will cost less than having to scrape your product up off the highway when it comes loose. It's not just your truck drivers that should be factoring in the extra transit time, either. For instance, if you're running a business that sells septic trucks to rural operators in Michigan, you're going to have to build relationships with those rural operators, which means you're going to have to visit Michigan. Not just once, but often.

3. Chose a Central Location for Your Headquarters

It may make sense to you to operate out of an office in Liberty Towers because you live in Toronto right now, but if you're going back and forth between your truck factory in Niagara Falls and your septic system clients in rural Michigan, you're going to wish you'd set up your offices between the two. The extra half-hour to an hour commute in from your place at Queen West Condos, will eat up days or weeks of your life over the course of a year. It can also make sense to split your office facilities between the two if you think that would help, but keep in mind that this will involve hiring more staff for the second office.

These of course are only the three biggest things you need to think about. For more detailed checklists and advice check out the rest of the articles in the Crossing Borders series.