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This article is part of the America’s Favorite Mom & Pop Shops series. Read more stories
Key Takeaways
- Starting a business in a new country forces faster growth, sharper instincts and stronger self-belief.
- Visibility, confidence and local pricing, not humility, determine whether immigrant founders build or stall.
Moving to a new country is way more than just a change of address. It is a complete reset.
When I left my homeland, I was not chasing comfort or prestige, I was chasing possibilities. I was looking for the kind of opportunity that helps you to rebuild your identity, your confidence and your finances at the same time.
Trust me when I say nothing prepares you for how unfamiliar everything feels. The systems are different, the conversations move faster and even small tasks feel too much to accomplish. But here is the truth most people avoid saying out loud – If you can start and build a business in a new country, you have the power to create opportunities anywhere.
Truly, the path isn’t glamorous and easy, but it is worth every moment.
It teaches lessons that local founders rarely have to learn. These lessons are not optional, as they determine whether you survive or stall. Here are five lessons that mattered the most to me.
1. Network like no one is coming to save you
Don’t wait for opportunities to knock. You go out and find them.
One weekend, I wandered into a local farmer’s market with no plan beyond buying groceries. I struck up a conversation with a Polish restaurateur who had just moved to town. He told me how he walked into the local Chamber of Commerce days earlier just to introduce himself.
No pitch, no agenda and within weeks, his Polish babka became one of the market’s bestsellers.
The lesson was simple — Show up. Speak up. Stand out.
I followed that approach everywhere. I once attended the Small Business Expo in New York City with zero expectations. I simply wanted to introduce myself and my professional services to the attendees and get a feel of the business environment. I left the Expo with leads that helped shape my early growth.
I learnt that visibility creates momentum. Attend community events, join local meetups, shake hands and start the conversation.
2. Talk about what you do without apologizing
We live in a noisy world. If you don’t promote your product or service, no one else will. Modesty does not build a business, clarity does.
Many newcomers hesitate to talk about their work. They worry about sounding pushy, pompous or inexperienced, but that hesitation costs them visibility.
If you do not explain what you offer, people will not guess. If you do not share your wins, no one will advocate for you.
I learned to talk about my work naturally. I shared my work online and on social media, demonstrating who I helped and why it mattered. I added key achievements to my email signature. I spoke about my services when conversations allowed it.
Be the walking, talking billboard for your business as visibility leads to credibility, credibility leads to trust and trust leads to business.
3. Use online communities as your learning ground
Being a remote worker, I knew digital spaces were my lifelines. I leaned heavily into online communities by joining Facebook groups, LinkedIn circles, Reddit threads and converted all of them into my classrooms. These spaces became my support system.
As a publicist, I learned how the U.S. media ecosystem worked by listening, asking questions and observing how others worked. That is how I discovered platforms such as HARO, Qwoted and Stacker. These tools did not just help me land coverage, but also helped me understand how journalists think. That insight shaped my approach and sharpened my results.
If you are remote or new, digital communities can compress years of trial and error into months.
4. Stop undervaluing yourself before the market does it for you
When I first started working in the U.S., I kept converting every dollar back into the currency of my homeland. It was a dangerous game. On paper, it felt like I was earning well, but in reality, I was pricing myself out of growth. I used to charge really low rates for the quality of professional services I was offering.
I wasn’t playing by U.S. rules and that mindset kept me anchored to an old economy while trying to compete in a new one. I charged less and justified it by telling myself I was still ‘doing fine.’
But I wasn’t, so I learned that value is local. It is shaped by the problems you solve and the outcome you deliver, not by where you came from. Once I understood the real impact of my work, I stopped shrinking my rates to feel safe and started pricing based on results.
That shift was not just financial. It was psychological. I stopped surviving and started building. That mindset shift made all the difference.
5. Stop trying to blend in and start standing out
Many newcomers believe success requires fitting in. Turns out, it does not.
Your background is not a weakness. It is context. It gives you pattern recognition that others lack. You see gaps because you are not conditioned to accept how things have always been done.
I stopped trying to sound like everyone else. I backed on my writing skills and provided unique services that helped other publicists as well, so my diverse perspectives became my assets, not obstacles. My lived experience became part of my value.
If you are considering starting a business in a new country, understand this clearly. The goal is not to replicate what you left behind. The goal is to evolve. Ask yourself – What new am I offering? What makes me different and how can I use that to leverage myself?
You did not cross borders to play small. You crossed them to build something stronger, sharper and more honest.
Once you accept that, the ground beneath you starts to feel a little more stable and the business you are building becomes more than a company.
Key Takeaways
- Starting a business in a new country forces faster growth, sharper instincts and stronger self-belief.
- Visibility, confidence and local pricing, not humility, determine whether immigrant founders build or stall.
Moving to a new country is way more than just a change of address. It is a complete reset.
When I left my homeland, I was not chasing comfort or prestige, I was chasing possibilities. I was looking for the kind of opportunity that helps you to rebuild your identity, your confidence and your finances at the same time.
Trust me when I say nothing prepares you for how unfamiliar everything feels. The systems are different, the conversations move faster and even small tasks feel too much to accomplish. But here is the truth most people avoid saying out loud – If you can start and build a business in a new country, you have the power to create opportunities anywhere.
Truly, the path isn’t glamorous and easy, but it is worth every moment.
It teaches lessons that local founders rarely have to learn. These lessons are not optional, as they determine whether you survive or stall. Here are five lessons that mattered the most to me.
