Opening a new office - or several new offices - is essential to your growth plans, but when those new offices are in new countries it does pose some risks that, if not dealt with correctly, could lead to fines, reputation damage or even being locked out of new business opportunities. Our Head of Global Business Services looks at five ways to mitigate the risks of international business.

1. Plan thoroughly and do your research

Make sure you investigate the territory's political, legal and cultural environment, as well as the competitive landscape, target market and/or workforce.

2. Get help from third parties

Local service providers and advisers are invaluable, particularly when creating a new legal entity, recruiting and training staff and setting up your back-office function according to local rules and regulations.

3. Remain flexible

The boundary between what you do in-house and what you get help with should remain fluid, and be constantly reassessed over time.

4. Consider joint ventures and acquisitions

One way to avoid some of the effort, cost and risk of setting up in a new territory is to buy an existing operation or create a joint venture with an existing operation. However, these options come with their own risks and professional assistance should be sought.

5. Consider a single supplier to manage your multi-territory relationships

One of the key issues in expansion is the gathering, processing and reconciliation of operational, financial and legal data across multiple territories. Using a single strategic supplier to handle these as outsourced functions could help provide consistency across processes and standards.

How TMF Group can help navigate the minefield

We help companies of all sizes to grow their operations, focusing on providing specialised and business-critical accounting, payroll, tax compliance, corporate secretarial and human resource administrative services. This enables you to accelerate your growth and operate your corporate structures and investments in different locations without using multiple providers.

We help to reduce risk, control costs and simplify operations. What's more, as one global, independent and wholly-owned firm we offer a united view – we are united in ensuring consistency for you as you cross international borders. That's what makes us stand out from the crowd: you get a single point of contact no matter where you operate, reducing the time you need to take on compliance, and you can rest assured that the people doing work on your behalf are locals who know what it takes.

Our independence means we are free to work with your auditors, advisors or banks without creating conflicts of interest in corporate governance or local regulatory restrictions. It also means we can provide a range of services which most international accounting and legal firms cannot offer - including banking and payroll settlements, company representation, local directors and fiscal representation with the tax authorities.

Read more about our services for companies.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.