{"id":20797,"date":"2023-10-25T11:22:23","date_gmt":"2023-10-25T09:22:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/?p=20797"},"modified":"2023-10-25T11:38:43","modified_gmt":"2023-10-25T09:38:43","slug":"jimmy-jackson-blog-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/en\/jimmy-jackson-blog-4\/","title":{"rendered":"A Call to My Mentor: His 3 tips for locating a European HQ (Part #4 by Jimmy Jackson)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I know this must come as a surprise, especially if you actually know me and have seen me in person at the helm of my company, where my employees all see me as a man of action and focused determination, a leader of towering intellect, strength, will power, and humility. \u201cJimmy,\u201d my colleagues often say to me in a state of hushed awe, \u201cIt\u2019s true what they say: you are a human dynamo!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, that I am.  But even so, when I\u2019m facing an enormous decision with my reputation and retirement fund on the line, my nerves do sometimes get the better of me.  For example, when I asked the lovely Norma Gustafson to marry me 31 years ago, I was a nervous wreck, but luckily this has turned out to be one of my better decisions. Likewise, when I decided to walk away from a promising career in the burgeoning aquarium gravel industry and establish a company on my own, even borrowing seven thousand dollars to do so \u2013 well, let\u2019s just say I had a sleepless night or two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And now, though I hate to admit it, I find myself in one of these situations again. I know that expanding my company is the right thing to do. That<\/em> is not the decision that has me worried. What is preoccupying my every waking moment isn\u2019t \u201cif\u201d or even \u201cwhen\u201d to set up our European operations, but where<\/em>. If I make this decision correctly, it could make a huge difference \u2013 to the company\u2019s future, of course, but also to my future (and Norma\u2019s), not to mention to the future of Beauregard, my CFO, and all my other employees who will work there, relying on me as they always do to be their intrepid leader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So last night I did what I have done many times before when facing a potentially life-changing decision: I got on the horn and called my old mentor Abercrombie Jefferson.  I\u2019ve known him for years, and he has helped me with many a hard choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abercrombie, who is a very private, very discreet person, is the owner of AJX Invisibility, a company that sells some kind of high-tech cloak.  It does business all over the world.  He went through a similar search for a European business location a few years ago, which led him to Switzerland, which I\u2019m learning is the best darn country on Planet Earth. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBuzz,\u201d I said when he answered the phone (he\u2019s always been called \u201cBuzz,\u201d but no one knows why), \u201cIt\u2019s your old pal, Jimmy Jackson. Have you got a minute?  I could use some of your excellent advice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLay it on me,\u201d he said: his trademark reply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I described my situation.  He listened carefully and then gave me three bits of advice:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First<\/strong>, he recommended I make a list of all the criteria that are important to me.  Not only things like how easy it is to set up a company in the first place, but especially ongoing factors, like how high the company taxes will be (and my own, if I go live there for a while), how reliable the country\u2019s transport networks are, how well-connected its airports are, what\u2019s the cost of living, how easy it will be to hire talented people, do people there go on strike every ten minutes, whether I will have to learn a new language or will my fluent Latin be enough, and so on e.g. et cetera. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He even advised me to put things on my list Iike the weather, the food, the culture \u2013 anything that might matter to me personally.  (I didn\u2019t tell him about my hope to locate someplace with decent vino \u2013 Abercrombie has a drinking problem, no point in upsetting him.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second<\/strong>, he said I shouldn\u2019t depend on friends who push for a particular place, like \u201cGo to San Marino, Jimmy!  My brother-in-law opened a foot spa there and he loves it!\u201d I am probably going to get lots of recommendations like this, according to Buzz.  \u201cListen politely, but do your own homework.\u201d That means comparing possibilities thoroughly and realistically, not just believing every anecdotal story I hear, glorious though it may be. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Third<\/strong>, he told me that all of the countries over there have investment promotion agencies whose job is to help people like me.  (Yes! I\u2019ve discovered a few interesting ones already, e.g. Invest in Switzerland<\/a>, IDA Ireland<\/a>, Business Sweden<\/a>, Germany Trade & Invest<\/a> and Business France<\/a> to name a few!)  They will not only help get me set up when I actually decide where to go, but can help me put together the information that I need now to make that big decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buzz, you\u2019re a godsend!  I told Norma all about this excellent call and she agreed that the next time he\u2019s back in town we should invite him over for one of my stupendous (though booze-free) Hot-Dog-A-Ramas.  Good times ahead!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Off Wiederzane!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hello everybody,<\/p>\n

In my last couple of blog posts, I allowed a side of Jimmy Jackson to be seen that I don\u2019t normally show people: the side that is paralyzed with fear when I have to make a big decision.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":20798,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"mc4wp_mailchimp_campaign":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[1206],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20797","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-jimmy-jackson"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nA Call to My Mentor: His 3 tips for locating a European HQ<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I allowed a side of Jimmy Jackson to be seen that I don\u2019t normally show people: the side that is paralyzed with fear when I have to make a big decision.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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