Expat Entrepreneur: How To Create and Maintain Your Own Portable Career Anywhere In The World (Paperback)

~ (Author), Debbie Jenkins (Editor)
Key Phrases: portable career, body reflexology, Expat Entrepreneur, Chamber of Commerce, The Hague (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This terrific book is exactly the support I could have done with on our overseas postings and even on my return to the UK. Jo Parfitt has gathered together her own insights and experience and that of many other entrepreneurial expats to create an indispensable tool for anyone wanting to create something new wherever they land." Bobby Meyer, publisher, serial entrepreneur and three times expatriate, Sage Press

Product Description

Tens of thousands of people now move overseas for work or pleasure. If this is you, read on...

Going to live in a new country can be the catalyst for a sea-change in your career. Opportunities that existed in one country may dry up in another. Sometimes it makes sense not to pursue one single career path but to adopt a shifting, growing, portfolio of portable careers.

SECTION 1 arms you with practical advice on how to choose a business idea that works for you and how to develop the right mindset.

SECTION 2 shares the remarkable stories of more than 23 international entrepreneurs as they share how they've maintained and built rewarding, portable careers in all four corners of the world.

SECTION 3 provides extensive links, resources and tips for expatriate entrepreneurs living in 35 countries

If you are considering working for yourself in a foreign land then this inspirational guide belongs in your suitcase, wherever you may be, wherever you may go and whatever you may hope to become.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 228 pages
• Publisher: Lean Marketing Press (March 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1905430132
• ISBN-13: 978-1905430130
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,131,949 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars What is an "expat entrepreneur"?, May 15, 2008

By	Pascale Cotton "Coach & tele-trainer for expa... (Geneva/Switzerland) - See all my reviews

The title of The Expat Entrepreneur, by Jo Parfitt, is slightly misleading. The book is in fact much more a motivating reading about how to become self-employed from home as an expat, doing what you are passionate about, and how to use your creativity in the development of new activities that can eventually bring money - all this based mostly on 23 interviews of expats who "have been there & done it".

There are a few practical parts, like the assessment "Do you have what it takes?" and the resources that are classified by countries. Despite the assessment, the first part of the book is rather in the style of the American self-help books, something like "if you want it, you can do it". The 23 interviews of "expat entrepreneurs" are quite interesting and there are a few specific resources behind each of them, which can provide food for further thoughts and research.

As I mentioned, the book is certainly about expats who became self-employed and it also motivates to do the same. But it cannot be considered a business book for budding entrepreneurs.

Many of the examples that are provided in the 23 interviews belong to the areas that I wouldn't really call a business, like painting, although I am always happy to see artists making a good living. Among the more "business-like" examples, I saw one case of a company that I know well and that has been constantly operating on the verge of bankrupcy for many years, and another one of a person who runs among other things a translation agency, but has a website in French that is very miserably translated, which is not a surprise considering that the translations into French are done... by a Danish person. Therefore, a better selection of the examples would have been needed.

I also regret that, although the book is written by a woman and its intended readers are expat spouses, i.e. mostly women, the examples that are provided are the typical traditional female occupations (teacher, artist, image consultant, women in various helping professions, etc.) as if we were still in the 50s. The very few examples that are more business oriented are the rather obvious ones that can provide a portable career for expats: relocation, web design and consultant.

What about women who are freelance engineers? Or who have a PhD and work as independant researchers and consultants for international organizations? And what about the people in the biotechnology sector who come from the US or Asia, in order to create a company in Europe in one of the recently created biotech clusters? Or the young finance specialists from Asia who come to London or Geneva in order to create a company in the financial sector? Aren't these people expat entrepreneurs too?

I also regret that, although the book is supposed to help budding expat entrepreneurs, such elementary words like a business plan or a marketing strategy are not even mentioned, although they are key elements of success for entrepreneurs of any kind. How to deal with bankers is also absent from the book, although, if we consider the missing examples that I mentioned before, it would even be appropriate here to mention examples of expat entrepreneurs who managed to get financing through business angels and venture capitalists.

I also regret that the book doesn't make a clear distinction between the businesses that are created on a permanent local basis, like a bed-and-breakfast in France, by people who in fact are not expats, but immigrants probably for the rest of their life, and what I call the real "portable businesses", i.e. those that are run mostly through the Internet, indepently from the location of the business person, and which allow expat spouses in particular a huge flexibility.

Therefore, this book is a good resource specifically for expat spouses who are just looking for ideas and need some encouragement in the form of examples from real life. But expatriates and expat spouses who really mean business will have to find the resources they need about how to create a small business in a foreign country somewhere else.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A hopeful and practical guide for international travellers, May 24, 2007

By	Reader Views "www.readerviews.com" (Austin, Texas) - See all my reviews

Reviewed by Stephanie Rollins for Reader Views (5/07)

Jo Parfitt found herself traveling the world with her husband. This made it difficult to have a normal career. She felt like a tag-along wife. She wanted her own identity. She began her expat entrepreneur career. She used her writing skills to start her own business.

"Expat Entrepreneur" came to me at a perfect time. My military husband thinks that we are going to have to move. Though that is part of the job, it really upsets me to leave all that I have established. In "Expat Entrepreneur," Parfitt explains that I need to see it as an adventure and an opportunity.

Parfitt explained that it is an opportunity to start anew. She advised to establish what the reader is good at, what they have a passion for. Then, take that and start an expat career.

She explains that not all people have the skills necessary to be an expat entrepreneur. She also informs the reader that there are different laws in different countries that put constraints on expats working. Also, many professions are not in demand in different countries. Many of the requirements for nursing, teaching, and etc... are different in other countries. Throughout the book, websites and other books are mentioned to guide the reader to the appropriate resources.

Parfitt explains that a career no longer consists of a daily attempt to climb a corporate ladder. It is now an opportunity for adventure and enlightenment.

Twenty-three expat entrepreneurs share their adventures in half the book. This was inspiring for me. They explained what it took to get started in their businesses. They told of their struggles. They share advice.

Today's society is global. Many have spouses who have to travel internationally. Unless the tag-along spouse has a portable career, they will feel isolated. "Expat Entrepreneur" is a practical guide for tag-along spouses. It is hopeful and inspiring. I recommend "Expat Entrepreneur" for all tag-along spouses, especially military spouses. Read and be on your way to an exciting portable career.