Here Today; Abroad Tomorrow

The shores of Costa Rica and the narrow streets of Paris are more than a vacation spot for many Americans. These scenic locales also have inspired adventurous business owners to ditch their domestic digs and ply their trades overseas.

Plenty of Americans find work in other countries. Preliminary numbers from the IRS show that 303,940 taxpayers claimed the foreign-earned income exclusion in 2005.

But starting a business overseas can offer a far more intimate insight into the challenges of red tape, labor laws and cultural differences. Those who surmount the obstacles can find an alluring market for their venture.

"We're especially aware that the European markets are very attractive to U.S. companies right now because of the dollar/pound exchange rates," says Simon Jones, president of the Munich chapter of the American-German Business Club.

Making it Happen

Jim Carroll and a business partner opened the San Francisco Book Co. in Paris in 1997 after running Carroll's Books in San Francisco for nearly a decade. Carroll, who has since bought out his partner, had been dreaming of opening an English-language used-book shop in the city of lights.

But starting a business in France was an eye-opening experience for Carroll, who was accustomed to a less-complicated American process. He estimates he paid about $400 to incorporate his U.S. bookstore in 1989 and made a quick visit to the San Francisco City Hall. "Then in San Francisco, you got a packet of things you needed to do, and there was almost nothing in the packet," Carroll says.