The Immigrant Advantage
Statistics show that, if you are born elsewhere and later acquire American citizenship, you will, on average, earn more than native-born Americans. I’m not sure of the exactness of this, but since I moved to New York from Paris, France, a couple of years ago, I’ve noticed a few key advantages to being a foreign entrepreneur.
Of course, the goal of this post is not to encourage a slow integration but, rather, the opposite — work on the integration and mindset while letting your past experiences from your homeland passively do the rest. The more integrated you are, the better it will be for you and your business.
I — Mystery
I recently wrote a post dealing with this. A big part of the decision-making process is triggered by subconscious brain activity.
When we know too much about a business, or a business person, we are less likely to do business with them. We need to know just enough. We need to maintain some mystery. The mystery part is crucial in order for a brand, whether business or personal, to be appealing.
Giving the impression of knowing all the secrets of a brand is killing the deal.
Because I come from another country and I speak a different native language, I can have very close relationships with people I work with in New York City, without them knowing exactly what I am about. I’m not from the U.S., so it’s impossible for them to build a complete mental picture of what I could be. They have to make assumptions, and as a savvy marketer and a business developer, I can tell you one thing: assumptions are much more workable.
II — Two Complementary ways to Conduct Business
Being from Europe, one of the biggest advantages of doing business in the U.S. is that I have seen both markets and industries and practices. I’m not saying I have mastered anything, but I can adapt to meet the expectations of my clients. I’m comfortable with European companies willing to expand to the U.S. and have a clear sense of what the big differences are between the two continents.
In my relationships with clients I am able to adapt and be more proactive.
III — Less Judgment
As you can probably tell, based on my writing, English is not my native language. I used to think I was lacking in something, and sometimes, I do — it’s called vocabulary. This is actually a big advantage because people do not focus as much on how I present things to them; they go deeper. They do not expect me to speak proper English, as they would expect from their U.S. business partners. Instead, they immediately focus on the meat of what I’m talking about. In general, clients will be less judgmental with a foreigner than they would be with an American. That applies to articles, videos, demos and presentations, sales pitches, emails, and more.
IV- Leveraging French — or other Foreign — Resources
The start-up ecosystem is growing extremely fast in France. A lot of new incubators, co-working spaces, and VC funds have offices there. The developers and designers are amazing, and have their own visions and specialties. It’s a great competitive advantage to be able to provide things that nobody in the U.S. can. I’m pretty sure the French designers I work with, in the luxury or food industries, exceed the expectations of my current and future clients. I can leverage these highly skilled individuals who love working with me because I’m in the U.S. and bring them client opportunities they would never have working with local businesses. New York, as a location, is also seen as a huge validation and helps a lot in hiring great foreign resources.
My clients value my resources, my resources value my clients
V — More critical thinking
Before I left Paris to move to the U.S., I thought things were as I saw them from my perspective, with clear rules and established practices.
After a few years in New York, I realized there is no “right” way. There is “your” way or the “let’s try something new” way. I can surely compare how specific things would work in New York versus Paris, but I’m not limited to only one or two options anymore. I’m more willing to create my own rules, and that was only possible by exploring first, getting out of my comfort zone, and getting to know a new market.
VI — A Community to Rely On
The French community is easily accessible everywhere, and is very resourceful. I pretty quickly had a network of like-minded people with whom to share my experience and from whom I would learn lessons. I will always recommend being a lone wolf in business in order to find out-of-the-box solutions. However, even for logistical purposes, a strong community can help in the beginning of integration into a new country. That’s a privilege only expatriates have. In a native country, there is no such thing as a community of people helping each other because “they went through the same process.” I’m sure this applies to any foreign community out there.
I haven’t mentioned all that I have learned just by being in this amazing city of New York. Its energy, diversity, and concentration of successful and inspiring people makes this town the personal development kingdom.
This might be also a big part of my growth.
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