Objective
For this case study, we will relate the entire experience of one of our foreign start-up clients who asked our firm to help them incorporate their new company dedicating its economic activity to invest in the services market. Particularly in selling software as a service (SAAS) for which they have developed an amazing software that will improve people’s lives.
Case Overview
The company is just coming out of a business accelerator program and wans to establish their brand in the UK and soon the world. They have developed an ingenious software that helps people with their daily lives, particularly in the area of giving the highlights of every city, town or county that a person visits. The software, which can be subscribed for a a certain amount each month, is designed to give the user an overview of the place that he or she is on, or is planning to visit. This is done so that the user doesn’t have to do a Google search or a Google Maps search and waste precious time looking for places he needs or wants to go (the SAAS is designed to work with Google Maps, by the way).
Challenges
The primary challenge of this startup company is to sell to as many people as possible in Google Playstore, Apple App Store, Huawei AppGallery and other app stores. But that’s not really something difficult to do as there have been many similar companies who sell SAAS and went through the same hurdles and succeeded. Basically the real challenge that this startup business will face is convincing people to buy a monthly subscription for their SAAS, as there are already free tools on the web to find hotspots that an individual might be interested to go to in various cities around the world.
Business Solution
We followed a specialized process for creating our client’s limited liability company (as a foreign entity doing business in the UK) and it’s pretty much straightforward. It involves a series of legal strategy that helps the client establish their business in the UK faster, so they can start marketing their product or service to the UK consumers.
Legal Strategy:
• Drafting and signing of a power of attorney
• Obtaining a UK Foreigner ID number (Biometric Residence Permits) for the partners of the LLC
• Obtaining a certificate for the denomination of the company
• Opening a bank account in the name and on behalf of the company, with the subsequent deposit of the minimum share capital
• Drafting of the Articles of Incorporation of the company
• Signing and registration of the Public Deed of the company at Companies House
• Obtaining the company’s Tax Identification number (TIN) at the HMRC
• We emphasize that the client did not at any time need to travel to the United Kingdom, as we could establish the company on his behalf without him leaving his country of residence.
Marketing
Among the company’s notable goals is to provide users with key specific information on certain places of interest (i.e. airports, train stations, bus terminals, hotels, restaurants, and others) that is not available on Google Maps, and/or will take too long to search on any search engine. For example, the company has a feature in its software up-to-date information on, say, flight schedules, available sitting positions, food served on the plane, travel time, the user’s carbon footprint left by boarding a specific flight and many other crucial information. Their SAAS cost $39.95 per month to subscribe and is renewable annually. They aim to cater to Western countries first as people in North America and Europe are the most inquisitive of the people on the planet, but they will soon offer their services worldwide.
