But where do you start with all the planning, legal issues, hiring, immigration, and taxes?

Here are 12 tips to successfully enter the USA market:

1. Market research: To be sure of your product viability, research the market saturation, potential demand, the local competition and choose the correct target audience.
2. Location evaluation: The US is not a single market, it is a federal system. You must treat each state as a separate entity with its own procedures. You need to determine implications of developing your business in a specific state or whether a national entry is possible for your product or service.
3. Choosing a legal entity: For UK businesses launching in the US it is recommended to set up a C corporation, which is treated as a separate entity from its owners, known as shareholders, as well as the directors who operate the company. C corp profits are taxed at the corporate level, and any profit distributions to shareholders in the form of dividends are taxed again. However, the structure makes C corporations advantageous for businesses that want to take on investments, grow, go public, as well as limited liability.
4. Initial tax planning: There are many variables in international tax, making every situation unique. Careful planning before the event can usually materially reduce a taxpayer’s exposure to double taxation, costly compliance fees and penalties.
5. Visa support: Discover how you can go about applying for an entrepreneur visa to the US by understanding the L-1 visa, E-2 Treaty Investors visa, E-1 visa and learn about what you are allowed to do in the US under ESTA.
6. Setting up bank accounts: Each bank has a slightly different process to open an account, so you’ll need to check out the exact steps required by your chosen bank. In some cases you can get the process started online, by filling in an online application and uploading your documents. However, if you’re not a US citizen, or don’t have a SSN for any reason, you’ll probably find you need to visit a branch in person to open your account. The process might last several weeks.
7. Recruiting US employees: Recruiting management is time-consuming – it’s more than just placing an ad and waiting for the right candidates to come to you. Busy employees or business owners tasked with recruiting might skip over an important step: evaluating which specific qualities you need in an employee and how they can improve your company’s current performance.
8. Choosing a co-employment service: Under a co-employment agreement, a back office services company becomes the employer of record for your company. That means they take on the responsibility of managing the tasks traditionally associated with human resources, including processing payroll and tax information, handling worker’s compensation claims, maintaining personnel records and administering benefits.
9. Accounting help: With the right team, finances won’t be a frustration. As we mentioned above, the US is not a single market and each state will have different legislation that may impact the accounting requirements of your business. Hiring the right team who have experience and understanding of your unique accounting needs will save you potential frustrations further down the road.
10. Selecting the right IT infrastructure:  Small business IT support takes time and expertise, and trying to come up with your own IT solutions is never a good use of your time, even when operating in a familiar territory. Adding the added pressure of setting up your IT infrastructure in the US makes this an even bigger challenge, particularly with differing rules around data protection and e-privacy.
11. Americanised marketing and branding: Creating a unique personality for your company is an essential step in building a relationship with your customer base and developing notoriety across your industry. When implemented successfully, a great brand strategy shows people not only what you do, but how you do it.
12. Tax accounts for the US entity: After all, taxes are a huge responsibility, and staying on top of your record-keeping, paperwork, and payments quickly becomes time-consuming, with no clear assurance you’re doing things correctly. It’s worth bringing in an expert to save on costly mistakes.

If you’re thinking about setting up in the US, and want to test your product or service in a hassle free, low risk way, our America Made Easy product may be right for you.

For more details, please visit www.newable.co.uk/AmericaMadeEasy or email us at AmericaMadeEasy@newable.co.uk