By now you will have heard from all over the place, like blogs, news articles and almost certainly other business owners, that it is becoming better and better for British businessmen or potential businessmen to establish a Dutch company. Everyone talks about the low rates of taxation, the Dutch workforce and availability of highly trained staff, and particularly about the fact that if you establish a Dutch business your business stands a much better chance after Great Britain finally leaves the European Union. I certainly heard all the advice, and I followed it. Around 8 months ago I decided that it was time to establish a Dutch company. I did it as a holding company, but there are plenty of other company types that can benefit. The trouble is, through all of the suggestions that I read, saw and heard that I should establish a Dutch company, no one really explained how it should be done. I have quite a bit of experience in the business world, I have Dutch associates who I have known for many, many years, so I expected that I would be able to handle it myself. I had a quick search around online, made a couple of phone calls and made a start on all of the requirements that I had seen. I tried to:
- Open a Dutch bank account;
- Register the company name;
- Register with the Dutch chamber of commerce;
- Register myself as director and shareholder;
- Find a physical address.
All of these were, in fact, the right things to be doing to establish a Dutch company. The only problem was that I was not doing them in the right order. Even when I was getting the order right, I completely underestimated the time it would take, meaning that other steps were getting out-of-sync, leaving me waiting for one process to finish and twiddling my thumbs before continuing with another. All in all, it took me more than 4 months, nearly 5, to establish a Dutch company.
Establish a Dutch company the better way
I got there in the end. My holding company is working as it should, and I certainly have no regrets about my decision to establish a Dutch company. What I do regret is how I did it. I spent days and weeks working through paperwork and repeating steps that I had got wrong the first time. I spent hundreds and thousands of pounds on getting help with the administration. And I spent money on aspirin for all the headaches it gave me. What I should have done was to enlist help from experts. When I was getting close to the end of the process required to establish a Dutch company, I encountered intercompanysolutions.com, the website from Intercompany Solutions, a Netherlands-based company specialised in helping foreigners to establish a Dutch company and everything that goes along with that. With all the frustration I was experiencing, I decided to give them a call, and to my amazement they completed the rest of the process for me in a matter of days! I will never know for sure, but I expect that I would have been spending at least 3 or 4 weeks banging my head against a wall if not for their help.
If you want to find out more
The website intercompanysolutions.com is full of useful information, but if you are serious about establishing a Dutch company I would highly recommend that you call Intercompany Solutions and talk to them directly. It will almost certainly save you both time and money.