Manage your UK website business from overseas?

[DJB]

I am in quite a dilemma these days.

I am about to arrange and start my future studies. I have tons of website business ideas that I wanna give a go in the UK and I also feel very attracted to study for some time in London. I am really keen on doing a one year International Foundation Course at the London Metropolitan University next year (starting september 2009 - till summer 2010) which will provide me with the necessary study and language skills needed to succeed onto an English taught business undergraduate course (3-4 years).. if I succeed of course.

However, I am also thinking about perhaps studying in the US after doing my International Foundation Course instead of the UK - so my question here is:

- if I set up a website business in the UK and decide to carry on with my studies in the US, will it be unrealistic to think that I will be able to manage an online business from overseas?

After all; that is the one of the major advantages by having an online business - that you can manage it from pretty much all over the world.
Of course the size and the entire complexity of the website says a lot, and the ideas I have covers small-size online businesses which does not need employees and can pretty much be controlled single handed by one persons.

[bumfluff]

- If you're studying, are you going to have the time needed to start businesses?
- Where's your client focus? If they're still in the UK, are you going to be in tune enough with them?
- If you're registered here, are you going to be able to keep up to date with regulations around your busines etc?

[DJB]

That is exactly the kind of questions that are torturing my mind these days.
- I am not in doubt with the fact, that I will be able to find time and energy to start up a single website while studying. What is more tricky is the question about management, because as you say - will I be in tune enough with my users, costumers and the general target group to the website when I am located halfway around the planet?

The main concept of the website is to be a website with a public user function where people will be able to write classifieds on the site - no payment function to take responsibility for either.
It should be possible should it not?

[bumfluff]

Originally Posted by DJB

That is exactly the kind of questions that are torturing my mind these days.
- I am not in doubt with the fact, that I will be able to find time and energy to start up a single website while studying. What is more tricky is the question about management, because as you say - will I be in tune enough with my users, costumers and the general target group to the website when I am located halfway around the planet?

The main concept of the website is to be a website with a public user function where people will be able to write classifieds on the site - no payment function to take responsibility for either.
It should be possible should it not?

I think you'd have to still police it.. if it gets overrun with spam, porn, work from home "opportunities" etc, people are going to lose interest pretty quickly. Though you could maybe get some others on board who you trust..

[DJB]

Originally Posted by bumfluff

I think you'd have to still police it.. if it gets overrun with spam, porn, work from home "opportunities" etc, people are going to lose interest pretty quickly. Though you could maybe get some others on board who you trust..

I would not say that supervising the website and the flow of new classifieds on the webpage should be a problem. What I am more scared of, is the whole thing about the contact information for the webpage.

If a website has a given target group in one country and provides an online service for its users, but the "physical address" (phone, postal address), is set to be overseas it might have an affect on the users. For instance, if a user is surfing around on the website and finds the online service useful and is about to do a purchase from one of the website's services, then the user might take into his/her calculations that the website's "physical contact information" (phone/address) is set to be in another country - and this is what I am afraid of would have a negative affect on the conversion rate on the website.

Or am I simply just being too careful?

[magazinesubscription]

I suppose it depends on the type of business your looking at running. I tend not to have any customer contact at all, so I can run my biz any where with a internet connection.

[bumfluff]

Think you're being too careful, to be honest. I don't even remember seeing contact info on a classifieds site apart from maybe an email address..

[Joff]

I started freelancing during my final couple of years at Uni and found it was a great way to get an income - what students don't have a part time job these days?

[DJB]

What about taxation from the website's income?
I guess the income needs to be taxed regarding to where the business is registered, yes?

[Brian Turner]

So far as I'm aware , you're taxed according to where you are considered to be legally domiciled.

However, if you're not charging for the site, perhaps income is not an issue?