Planning to start your own business and trying to decide in which country you should establish it? Well, you may want to consider building a Hong Kong company. Why? Read on to know some of the pros and cons of building a business in Hong Kong as well as a guide on how to run the business.
Pros & Cons of Setting Up A Business In HK
The advantages are fairly self-evident:
- Great outdoors lifestyle
- Career opportunities
- The rule of law/lack of crime
- Accessibility to regional holiday & business destinations
- Low tax
- Domestic help
- Low crime
- Good education standards.
Below are the cons of setting up a company in Hong Kong:
- Being away from family and friends
- Small and expensive apartments
- Work-life balance in a crowded job market
- Air pollution
All The Documents Needed To Register A Business In Hong Kong And How To Establish It
Firstly, you’ll be required to give the agency’s fee and choose a title for your brand new business. Your authorized agency will then investigate whether the claim is available in Hong Kong or is previously taken.
Then, you’ll have to give a copy of your passport, a copy of an authentic document as a confirmation of your residence. You’ll also have to submit a questionnaire with standard questions like your address, your passport number, the name of the director, and shareholders to Hong Kong.
For a simple business structure, which, unless you have particular demands, will be adequate, your authorized agency will set up your business via e-registration. This process takes less than two hours to get your new company’s certificate of incorporation as well as the business registration certificate upon confirming the parties’ passports online.
Alternatively, if your proposed firm has few layers, you will get a set of pre-signed certificates (the NNC1 Form and the Articles of Association) for the shareholder and director to sign, and you’re compelled to return the real documents to your authorized agency by international courier.
That’s it! The whole process of registering the company should take around five business days.
How To Choose An Agency To Help You Set Up Your Company
Step 1: Check the agency’s website
Let’s assume you did some research on Google, and you found three to five agencies that offer company incorporation services.
Does their website look professional? Is their English any good? Can you quickly understand what the agency is offering you? How old is the site? Would you believe an agency that started its website two months ago?
Does their website give a phone number, a physical address in Hong Kong, and an email address? Can you check if the site belongs to a genuine company?
Step 2: Getting more information on the agency
Let’s assume that the title of the agency that you’re researching is “HK Companies Incorp Limited.”
Check on Google for inquiries like “HK Companies Incorp Limited frauds,” “HK Companies Incorp Limited problems,” etc. The goal here is to find if someone else is complaining about the company in a forum, website, or blog. Of course, if you do not see any suspect info, you can’t be certain that the agency is trustworthy. But if you find something, you may rethink your choice.
Step 3: Contacting the company
Now it’s time to communicate with the agency.
If you give them a call during business hours, does anyone answer the phone? Does he/she speak proper English? It does not have to be perfect, as English is not the primary language in Hong Kong after all. Nevertheless, all the documents regarding your future organization will be in English, so you need to deal with someone that has sufficient language knowledge.
If their English is wrong, you’re probably dealing with a mainland Chinese that acts as an agent for a real agency, or worse, somebody who is just attempting to scam you.
Can you pay by wire transfer, or do they insist on getting your money through Western Union? If they only receive Western Union, run away! Why? Because you can’t follow the transaction, and they can efficiently run away with your money. This is true for any monetary sale, not just when starting a company.
If you send an inquiry via email, does somebody answer within 24-48 hours with excellent English and without forcing you to buy their service as soon as possible? An established agency has many customers and does not necessitate to be pushy. But a fraud? They want you to send them some money and then run away before you realize they don’t know much about incorporating companies.
When you ask for a quotation, do you receive a clear answer to all of your questions and a list of the cost of each service?
Links:
https://www.investhk.gov.hk/en/setting-hong-kong/employment-policy.html
