Save the Date!!

November 7, 2016 

USA Startup Competition at the American Embassy in Paris.

#StartUpForUSA

Gershon Consulting, along with 10+ organizations, are coming together to hold a startup pitch competition for a prize unlike any other. Valued at over $50,000, the prize for the winning startup will provide all the necessary resources for a business entering the U.S. market. Any startup interested in participating in the competition can submit an application on MyBusinessInUSA.com from now until October 12th at 6 pm ECT. Ten contestants will be selected for the final competition and only one winner will be announced!

Be prepared to give your best pitch to our panel of judges, they will make the decision on who has what it takes to make it in the U.S. market. The winning startup will hop on a flight directly to New York City to attend the U.S. Presidential Election and start their journey to fulfill the American Dream!

For more information visit the website and follow us on twitter for updates @GershonConsult.

We can't wait to see what exciting ideas you have! 

Rapid Expansion in the Health Food Market

Shift Towards a More Health Conscious Lifestyle

In the United States, the specialty food market is worth over $8 Billion. In fact, over half of the American population consumes specialty foods. The consumer market for these products ranges greatly with 60% of the consumers being between 18-44 years old. However, there is a visible change in consumers and the millennials are becoming the largest customer segment.

Recent studies show that 31% of Americans snack more than they used to. This is a direct reflection of American’s love of convenience, living a busier lifestyle, packaging innovations, and expended distribution. This new customer segment of millennials are also shifting their concerns more and more towards being health conscious. What better way to address this health concern and increase in snaking than through specialty snack foods?

In the United States, there are high regulations and tax on junk-food. This hurts the competition and opens a window for convenient health foods. One problem that these specialty foods face is that they are expensive and, as a result, are mostly bought by upper-middle class families. However, the benefits outshine this price concern and people are showing a willingness to pay a higher price for a higher quality good.

Underdog To Become The 'Big Dog'?

Can Emmanuel Macron Win The 2017 French Presidency?

Being only 38 years old, Emmanuel Macron could become the youngest elected French President. Macron just resigned as the Minister of Economy to be able to run in the 2017 elections. 

It seems as though people are completely torn on whether or not they think Macron has a real chance of winning the election. Some say that his lack of political party affiliation can hurt him while others think it is refreshing from the standard right wing vs. left wing. Also, he may have an advantage of people voting for him simply because they do not want Hollande or Sarkozy to win. 

But, will this be enough for the underdog to win the election? Only time will tell...

Healthy Living Made Easy 

Obesity and diabetes are epidemics in the United States. In the US, 166 million people are obese, 1.25 million people have type 1 diabetes and 19.85 million people have type 2 diabetes.

To help combat this massive problem, companies have started to develop apps as easy, convenient ways to track your overall health. Most of the mobile-health application users look for goal tracking and for warning of potential health issues.

In recent studies, it was recorded that 60%, roughly 135 million, American adults say that they try to track their diet or exercise. Of this 135 million people, 40 million use an app to do so. Total, 150 million American adults said that they could use a smartphone app to manage their health-related issues. One of these health issues is diabetes. However, only 4% of diabetics use diabetes management apps because they are unsatisfied with the current offering.

There is a lot of competition in the app industry. Forty percent of the top 100 apps on the global charts are less than one-year-old. Brand loyalty to apps is low because comparing similar apps is easy; so, being able to differentiate yourself is important because there are so many diet apps and they are virtually the same. Therefore, having strong brand awareness is crucial in the app market because people search for specific names, not general terms.

The market for health apps is booming. Millennials are focused on fitness while baby-boomers are focused on health. These are two giant segments that have barely been tapped. Consumers are constantly searching for that one app that can do more than the last and provide more accurate features. This is a window for app companies that can offer advanced technological offerings because there are not a lot of apps that are very accurate.

One of our clients, DietSensor, was recently awarded for their innovative technology in this industry. Be sure to check out their website!

Temporary Loophole To Getting A Visa?

Attorney Shares Insights Into Proposed New Immigration Law

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) is issuing a proposed new rule that would give certain international entrepreneurs temporary permission to be in the U.S. to start or develop their business here. If the rule, called the International Entrepreneur Rule, becomes final, it would allow the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to use its discretionary authority on a case-by-case basis to give this benefit to entrepreneurs of startup entities whose stay in the U.S. would provide a significant public benefit through the substantial and demonstrated potential for rapid business growth and job creation.  To be eligible, the entrepreneur or enterprise will:

• Have a significant ownership interest in the startup (at least 15%), and have an active and central role to its operations;
• Was formed in the United States within the past three years; and
• Has substantial and demonstrated potential for rapid business growth and job creation, as shown by:

o  Receiving significant investment of capital (at least $345,000) from certain qualified U.S. investors with established records of successful investments;

o   Receiving significant awards or grants (at least $100,000) from certain federal, state, or local government entities; or

o  Partially satisfying one or both of the above criteria in addition to other reliable and compelling evidence of the startup entity’s substantial potential for rapid growth and job creation.

Under the proposed rule, entrepreneurs may be granted an initial stay of up to two years to oversee and grow their startup entity in the United States.  A subsequent request for up to three additional years would be considered only if the entrepreneur and the startup entity continue to provide a significant public benefit as evidenced by substantial increases in capital investment, revenue, or job creation.

Comments on the proposed rule will be accepted for 45 days, after which USCIS will address the comments received.  The rule will not take effect until such time as a final rule is published.

Note that there is no timeline for when the final rule may be published.  Sometimes it can take several years to get a final rule, although it is believed in this instance the Government would like to get it finalized prior to the November elections.  Given the requirement that the enterprise have been formed within three years of publication of the final rule, entrepreneurs may not want to rush to form companies until there is some better clarify from the Government on the timing of the final rule.

Note also, the discretionary temporary authority to remain is called “parole.”  In the U.S. immigration context, parole is not an actual “status” such as a visa would provide, but rather just “allowing” a person to be here.  That fact raises a question of what happens after the two or five years of investing in your business.  There does not appear to be a provision to convert the temporary stay into a permanent status.  No doubt, that will be one of the issues raised to the government during the comment period.  One of the challenges on that point is that creating a permanent status may require legislative action by the Congress.

For now, existing foreign enterprises that desire to open a branch or subsidiary in the U.S. should investigate whether they may qualify for an L or E visa.  Still, this is very good news and one solid step in a positive direction.

Barbara A. Marcouiller, Esquire, is an attorney in Bellevue, Washington with  23 years of experience in immigration  law, and a master’s degree in international business and economics.  She is a frequent speaker at immigration law seminars.

www.marcouillerlaw.com

Need Help Successfully Expanding into the U.S?

CEO of ITAG Gives Insights into the Biggest Mistakes People Make When Entering the U.S Market

Business in the U.S is a contact sport in which others are already selling to your potential customers. Competitors are providing services to the clients you hope to reach and others are providing technology solutions to your potential users even as we speak.

Since there are already established, successful competitors in this market you seek to enter, your success will depend upon more than quality, service, technical superiority or even a favorable price.  

Why do so many would-be exporters dabble in the U.S market? One reason is that opportunities to travel to new markets frequently present themselves in the form of trade missions and trade shows. Given the opportunity to test the waters, many companies take advantage of the chance to meet potential customers. 

Only a few of these companies achieve the desired sales because they haven’t properly priced their product or service, considered the intricacies of shipping and logistics, arranged for service after the sale or even taken the time to understand the competitive landscape. So, they travel and come back more informed, yet, no closer to a sale than they were when they left.

Another reason companies pursue global markets, particularly the U.S, before they’re ready is that it is human nature to hope for the best. It is the same reason people purchase lottery tickets- Somebody has to win, right? So they pack up their company literature, get on the plane and hope they’re in the right place at the right time.

Not much of a strategy.

Let me give you a few more wrongdoings I see on a regular basis:

• Approaching the market as its local market without acknowledging the cultural difference.
• Recruiting resellers, distributors and expect that will do the job for you. As weird as it may sound to foreign entrepreneurs, U.S resellers are very conservative and prefer working with renowned and established vendors than new products.
• Massively investing from day one to open the subsidiary, recruiting the team, contracting with law firms, accountants, payroll, etc. Thinking it is just down to money.

These are all recipes to failure. Big time.

Thanks to ITAG for filling its customers in with the” I-don’t-know-what-I-don’t-know” piece.

ITAG brings its unique experience and expertise in:

• Pushing new products to the U.S market
• Taking its customers from “early adopters” to “market recognition” stage
• Using sales’ best practices
• Gathering a seasoned team
• Activating its network of contacts and partners
• Blending with its customers’ team

The U.S market is very competitive and expects from its vendors a pragmatic and professional approach :

• The ability to articulate the value proposition to its market
• Having a clear positioning and messaging in regard to competition
• Neat marketing material
• Responsive and irreproachable support
• Sales and Support best practices

ITAG is a turnkey solution to get up to speed in no time and the fastest way to generate revenues.

Through a respectful, constructive and energetic style guided by the defined objectives, we provide the leadership and vision necessary to ensure that our customers have the proper operational controls, administrative and reporting procedures, and people systems in place to effectively grow the organization and to ensure financial strength and operating efficiency.

-Founder & CEO, Daniel Baloche