Mon, 28 May 2012
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David Hampton finds plenty of opportunities for his medical informatics corporation in the Netherlands to do business globally, but finds that banks have been slow to set up accounts and document balances for tax and government reports.Name: David Hampton
Nationality: United States
City of residence: Maastricht
Name of company: Stone Bridge Biomedical BV
Date of company launch: August 2009
Can you give us a brief description of your business and how it is going?
Stone Bridge Biomedical is a medical informatics corporation that creates software and systems for remote patient monitoring. We provide tools that allow remote care providers to aggregate, visualise, and interpret clinical information transmitted by remote implanted sensors intended to prevent deaths due to acute cardiac events.
What do you like about doing business in your country of residence?
I like the people and professional colleagues that I work with here in the Netherlands, and the opportunities for branching out to do business globally. The local government and KvK were very helpful in setting up the business quickly and the costs and taxes were relatively low.
What do you find most frustrating about doing business in your country of residence?
Banks have been very slow to set up accounts and document balances for tax and government reports. Simple requests have to be referred to central offices, prompting more questions. Local telecommunications providers have been slow to install services and expensive in use.
What hurdles did you encounter when setting up?
Very few: the process was well-documented and I was able to move through it methodically without issues.
How has the economic crisis affected your business?
If anything, the crisis has created opportunities as friends set up their own consulting businesses and service providers seek new customers.
What advice would you give to other entrepreneurs setting up business in your country of residence?
Talk with business owners (especially expats) who have done it before, contract with good support people for financial and legal services, and have adequate start-up capital to see you through the process and the first months of operation.
How does running a business in your current country of residence compare to running a business in other countries that you have lived in?
It has been easier to run the business in this country vs. other European countries that I’ve worked in; the environment encourages start-up companies.
Joining your voice to Expatica's Expat Entrepreneur series
Would you like to share your experiences as an international entrepreneur in the Netherlands? Simply send an email to the editor with 'Please send me an 'Expat Entrepreneur' questionnaire in the subject line.
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