Lifestyle entrepreneurship has always been on my mind for more than a decade. Let’s just say that it’s my personal endeavor to build my business around my life – not the other way around.
As a lifestyle entrepreneur and online business owner, I am enabled to work virtually from any locations in the world, at any time of the day. I am also empowered to work with boosted efficiency and effectiveness; it turns out that working and running a business outside a physical office let my creativity on the loose.
As I don’t have a physical location, I deal with people – partners, clients, and employees – from all over the world, using my mobile devices; talk about living and working in the cloud…
In fact, I’m on a grand plan to turn everything in my business into the “cloud” – in a tech and finance context.
Tech-wise, my business runs on web-based (or cloud-based to make it sounds cooler!) apps – on a bare minimum, I can run my business using only a rental/borrowed laptop and a WiFi.
Finance-wise, I want my personal and business transactions to be done while I’m on the go. The same goes for investing. I invest in precious metals, so I want those to be physically stored in a location other than my home country; I can order buy/sell via emails and other online platforms.
There are so many things to talk about lifestyle entrepreneurship, but in this article, please allow me to focus on one technical aspect: Bank account for online business owners.
Your bank account is more important than what you think
I brought up this topic due to the fact that people seems not to put enough emphasis on the importance of back accounts when they embark on a journey around the world – as a traveler, business traveler or lifestyle entrepreneur.
While running an online business from a tourist spot looks like a great dream of many, online entrepreneurs seem to forget that they should also figure out how to keep their hard earned money – and how to access it while they are traveling the world.
Sure, you can always keep your revenue in a business bank account in your home country; but we are not talking about how here; instead, we are talking about how much of your revenue that turned into expenses – e.g. Bank fees and taxes.
Let’s talk about taxes
You see, if you are running an online business like the one I’m running, your business doesn’t have a physical location. Sure, you can have a mailing address – e.g. P.O. Boxes – but that doesn’t mean that the address is your operational headquarters.
Plus, if you run a non-retail online business like mine, you don’t sell to anybody. I run online magazines and service sites – all business is done online, no goods change hands.
Tax-wise, you are not tied to your home jurisdiction due to those factors.
When you don’t do business locally and physically, you might want to consider opening an offshore bank account, for a number of apparent reasons:
- Worldwide accessibility – via online/phone/fax methods
- Internationally-accepted credit cards
- Tax saving benefits
- A chance to choose a more stable jurisdiction than your home jurisdiction
So, how this can help me and my online business?
Business-wise, as mentioned above, you can enjoy a lower tax on your business revenue – legally. Perhaps the biggest benefit of all is the ability to put your business assets in a (much) more economically and politically stable jurisdiction.
One more thing: Unlike what you think, opening an offshore bank account doesn’t have to be expensive and/or complex. More on this later – read on.
On a personal level, just like the perks of a business account, you can protect your assets in a stable jurisdiction. Moreover, you can make a withdrawal or make a payment via your credit cards – wherever you are.
So, why can’t you do this with a bank account in your home country? Well, the tax reason is obvious. Here are some more reasons for you: Your bank may have limited access overseas; your bank may not support multi-currencies; and even if you can make withdrawal using your cards overseas, the fees and charges are too expensive.
Which jurisdiction?
Choosing the right jurisdiction often comes on a personal preference. However, for me, a stable jurisdiction, ease of process, and a low opening balance requirement are priorities.
For those purposes, I personally think that Switzerland is the way to go.
Well-known for its stability and neutrality, it’s the go-to jurisdiction for opening an offshore bank account.
Top notch confidentiality, excellent Internet banking services with online bank transfer capability, Internationally-accepted Visa/Mastercard cards, SWIFT/IBAN and multi-currency facility are some of the best features of Switzerland as an offshore banking destination.
For more information on which jurisdiction to choose, you can read this article.
Got it – how to get started?
The best way for you is to seek the right company that can help you in offshore banking. As always, there are companies with a questionable reputation that offer you cheap service, but I clearly don’t recommend it to you.
Need a guide? Here’s how to open an offshore banking account.
If you are looking for a personal recommendation, I can recommend you my acquaintance’s ICO Services, a reputable international corporate services.
Takeaway
If you think that offshore banking is a scam, think again. It’s perfectly legal. Unfortunately, due to many illegal activities associated with offshore banking, the reputation is tarnished.
Again, offshore banking is as legal as you want it to be – it’s all coming back to your true intention when opening this type of account.
If you are a lifestyle entrepreneur, an offshore bank account can offer you much flexibility, as well as sufficient protection to your business revenues. Moreover, a lower tax mean that you have more funds to give bigger wiggle room for your business to grow.
Before you go, let me remind you that this post is for informational purpose only. Seek legal help to make sure you are doing the right thing.
