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Top 3 Ways to Run a Successful Company While Operating Overseas This is how you'll build a flexible team that is empowered enough to succeed in your absence while still being kept in the loop

By Hisham Koshak

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Any executive who owns and runs a company knows that being mentally present for employees is a must on a daily basis. However, being physically present can be tough for those of us who run companies from other countries or are on the go a lot. For example, running a U.S. company, while living overseas presents unique challenges for many CEOs. For those of you in that category, you are not alone, as the world continues to get smaller and more entrepreneurs in India, China, Japan, and the middle east are investing in or starting U.S. companies – while NOT living in the U.S., it's important to share common hurdles so international entrepreneurs can grow their businesses successfully.

It's no surprise, one of the biggest hurdles to overcome is communication. While many leaders can also be great communicators, navigating time zone differences can be an issue. However, what makes an entrepreneur successful is being able to adjust, drawing up a plan for that adjustment, and executing it. When drawing up a plan for running a company overseas, below are the key aspects of a plan to successfully manage and navigate a team from overseas.

Hire Self-Motivators

A self-motivated team member understands the importance of always staying the course. Teams that are built under the right leadership will never slack on their duties when you are not in the office. By hiring the right people, the best work gets done in an efficient way. In other words, the company runs like a well-oiled machine. With that being said, hiring self-motivated employees should be a big part of the bigger picture. It's "the gift that keeps on giving" because self-motivation is an intangible trait that will never leave a person. At the end of the day, it means that once these employees are on board, they'd continue to work without the need to be given much direction. As a result, these types of employees grow the culture.

But there are also things you can do to retain the strongest teams. Instead of ruling with an iron fist, try motivating your team to spread positivity throughout the company. As a result, your employees work harder, and it will boost company morale.

Empower Employees

When you empower an employee to make certain decisions, you are letting them know that you trust them. It gives the employee a sense of comfort, but not enough that they won't deliver. This tactic not only builds products, but it shows how much confidence you have in your employees' ability to perform.

That confidence means that they will get the job done in an effective manner that will translate into growth. Whether it was an increase in revenue or character, take the angle to make sure that your business is rolling in the right direction.

By hiring those with complementary skills to your own, you're able to let go of control and rely on your employees. Also, make it a point to provide your employees with the tools and resources they needed to successfully manage and lead their teams.

Focus on Communication

We all know how important communication is since it's used every day to interact with others. In order to run a successful company, entrepreneurs need to develop and grow their business communication skills. Understanding that strong communication skills will eventually aid you as an entrepreneur to communicate better with business investors, employees, and clients.

You need to make it a point to set your team up for success. While meeting with managers of each department, implement day-to-day tasks to be carried out while you lead from afar. By putting all of your trust in your managers, it gives you time to seek new enterprises, investments and even expand your own entrepreneurial ideas. The key to all of this is being able to communicate effectively.

Essentially, through this, you'll build a flexible team that is empowered enough to succeed in your absence while still being kept in the loop.

If your company falls into the category where you're the CEO & Founder and reside here in India, or anywhere else overseas, you should know how important it is to be available for anything that requires you to be mentally present – even when you're not physically present, these tips will put you in the driver's seat. Through hard work and dedication, it's important to grow as a person as well as an entrepreneur. Learning the ins and outs of entrepreneurship will give you time to sit back and reflect on the importance of trust, empowerment, and communication. Learning how all three work to achieve your business goals in order to have your company succeed, even if you are not currently residing in the same country in which it conducts its business. Putting this plan in place will enable you to have a strong team you can count on to make company progress and growth a reality.

Hisham Koshak

CEO and Founder at REME

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