Have you ever had the experience of watching friends or loved ones take off on an adventure or vacation and felt the sadness of being stuck at home having to work or take care of other obligations?  In a real sense this is the same feeling many of us get each time a new edition of Escape From America magazine drops into our email box.  Another edition of wonderful articles about wonderful locations we can only dream about as we watch others live these foreign adventures vicariously.  Wouldn’t it be an interesting study to find out just what percentage of Escape from America readers fall into the “dreamers” category.  I’ll bet it is a majority. The purpose of this article is to present a number of strategies that may allow a greater number of Escape From America readers to take their dreams and desires and turn them into reality.  Although the strategies may be “outside the box” for some they are worth considering as they open opportunities otherwise unavailable.  Many Escape from America readers are fully aware that many of the opportunities we see today may not be available in the future as the economic sins of the U.S. begin to be atoned for.  We fear what will happen in the future as the Dollar’s buying power falls and limited global resources become more expensive.  With that in mind many of us believe time is of the essence.   So what is this Strategy?  The same one many rich individuals use regularly, joint ventures.  When one is faced with not being able to reach a goal by themselves then it may be wise to network with others in order to attain it.  For those of us with limited capital or current obligations joint ventures are a great option- if not the only one.  It is the goal of this article to introduce you to the concept of joint ventures and hopefully offering you ideas and information you need in making your dreams a reality. Benefits of Strategic Joint Ventures There are a vast number of beneficial reasons for considering strategic joint ventures as a way of investing internationally.  Besides making the project viable in the first place, joint ventures are a great way to share risk, expense, management, and operations of an international venture.

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Another valuable benefit of a joint venture is the educational and experiential lessons it can provide.  For many of us, investing in foreign lands and cultures is quite “foreign”.  Thus if your long-term goal is to have a foreign business or lifestyle there is a great deal to be learned in the relative safety of a joint venture and hopefully under the tutelage of others who may have more experience.  A joint venture can make it easier psychologically to take that first step into the world of international investing.

Going it Alone vs. Strategic Joint Ventures
Those of us born and raised in the US are taught from a young age the importance of independence and competition.  You know the old Frank Sinatra song “I did it my way”.  There is much to be said about having your own business or project, having control of every aspect, and at the end of the day the understanding that it was you who either succeeded or failed.  But this really doesn’t matter if you can’t even get started in the first place. 

For those of us considering joint ventures as a way of entering into the global investment arena there are a number of issues or challenges we need to be aware of and prepared for.  First, any venture with more than one person will have issues surrounding personalities and communication.  Like a marriage, there will be misunderstanding, conflicts, control issues and all the rest of those little nuances that make humans so interesting.  There will be issues with the coming and going of individuals within the venture.  How the assets can be used or distributed.  How to protect against liability issues.  And so on.  Many of these issues can be avoided by creating clear expectations and contracts from the start, working hard to keep communication open and transparent in all aspects of the venture, and being selective about who you network with in the first place.

Partnerships, Investment Groups or Trusts
One of the issues anyone considering a venture will face is how to legally set up the project in the most effective and efficient way possible.  Numerous issues will come into play here as there will most likely be several country’s laws and legal issues to consider.  There are issues regarding the formal operation of the venture and how to effectively limit liabilities both emanating from the venture and the individuals involved.  The venture could be organized as an LLC, Partnership, Corporation or Trust depending on the circumstances surrounding the project.  These issues are best addressed with an attorney and more information is available at the link below.

Management & Operational Challenges
Whether you are considering operating a simple residence or business venture either here or internationally, there will always be issues surrounding their management and operations.  Where these challenges are simple to manage when they are local they may become much more complicated and difficult as the distance between the venture participants and the project increases.  Thus, in your planning of the venture, this challenge must be considered in great depth.  In some situations you may get lucky as one of the participants may be in the position to fill this need.  In others, you may have to find a local you can trust to employ in this capacity.  Whatever you do, this act is one that can make or break your entire venture so be sure to consider it in great deal and use as much wisdom as possible in the decision.
 
 

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Due Diligence-  The first step is to begin doing your due diligence (homework) by developing the who, what, where, when, why, and how of a project.  Ask yourself what it is that you wish to achieve.  Are you looking to be involved in a foreign business opportunity or are you just looking for a nice retirement location to time-share with a few other people?  Once you have an idea of where you would like to go with a venture you will then need to assess what opportunities exist.  Where are these opportunities located?  What expenses are involved?  And so on.

There are several ways you can develop a joint venture that will affect the next step of finding others for your venture.  If you have a particular project in mind, you may wish to intensively research, design and organize all aspects of the project then seek others who would like to join your project- as is.  Another method would be to have a general concept in place then seek others to team up with in developing a comprehensive plan using the knowledge and experience of the group.   The method you select will define both the approach you take in finding others for the joint venture as well as the relationship patterns that will exist in the group throughout the project’s life.

Finding Others-  Once you have established the basic information above it is time to reach out and find other like-minded individuals who are interested in becoming part of the venture.  The classified section of Escape from America is a great place to start.  Where else could you find tens of thousands of escapists seeking opportunities globally.  Many in the same situation as you.  A simple classified might read: “Serious like minded individuals sought for joint venture in the purchase of small (vineyard, hardwood tree farm, retirement property, etc.) in such in such location.  If you share this dream, lack the resources to do it on your own, and are willing to work as a part of a team, then contact us for more information”.   Next thing you know you will be off and running.

Final Thoughts
For anyone thinking of starting or joining a joint venture it would be wise to consider doing so on a small scale with the idea of keeping it simple.  In today’s “super-sized” world it is easy to go a bit overboard and get carried away.  By keeping everything small and simple you can avoid many of the problems faced by business ventures everywhere- trying to do far too much, far too quickly, with far too little money.  Small and simple lowers risks while keeping the expectations realistic among the team members and ultimately much happier.  Remember it is always easier to explain how expectations were exceeded rather than why they were not met.   Finally, choose those you plan to network with wisely as you will be working with them for what could be a very long time. 

For more information on Joint Ventures we invite you to visit both the classified ads section of Escape from America and our website at www.intentionallivingcenter.com

Happy Ventures and Adventures!