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I have been doing business with people "elsewhere" in Europe. Never had any problem. You might be generalising a bit early. And if American English is a dealbre

by tpfour 8y ago

I have been doing business with people "elsewhere" in Europe. Never had any problem. You might be generalising a bit early. And if American English is a dealbreaker, or even considered a "plus", maybe your potential business partners pick up on this and could be irritated? Some American companies I can send an email and get a response in 10 minutes. Others I have to send 3-4-10 and never get a response unless the account manager is called on his personal cell phone.

JumpCrisscross 8y ago
> You might be generalising a bit Sweden consistently ranks as an easy place to do business in surveys among executives [1]. It's also much faster and simpler to start a new business in Sweden than it is in France. I'm picking two examples which speak to my broader experiences. That said, they're anecdotes responding to a pattern pointed out in the article. I'm not saying doing business in non-Swedish Europe is not worthwhile. It's just a lot easier in Sweden. When timelines matter or complexity is high, the Swedish team–in my experience–has come through more frequently. (I put Switzerland into a similar "easy to deal with" category, though I'm biased in being Swiss American.) > if American English is a dealbreaker I grew up speaking French and British English, so no, it probably is not. But when co-ordinating communications between an American legal team and overseas ones, I've seen (and perhaps I only notice this because I speak and write in both dialects) one team say one thing and the other read it as something else (or get confused) where all one needs do to alleviate the problem is "translate". This happens less when co-ordinating with Sweden. It's a small factor and certainly attributes no fault to anyone, but it's a factor that adds up to transactional costs. [1] https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/11/these-are-the-easiest-places-to-do-business-around-the-world https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/11/these-are-the-easiest...
- toomuchtodo 8y ago
  Fascinating take on the cultural nuances. Thanks for sharing!
- tpfour 8y ago
  one team say one thing and the other read it as something else To be fair, this happens to me with lawyers, wherever they are from. It has been a recurring theme of my interactions with them! Also, I will concede that I have never done business in Sweden. Just that from my own experience, there are bad apples and variable quality in businesses, wherever they are from :) The article is pretty clear though, Sweden seems to be hitting above its weight.

by tpfour 8y ago

JumpCrisscross 8y ago

> You might be generalising a bit Sweden consistently ranks as an easy place to do business in surveys among executives [1]. It's also much faster and simpler to start a new business in Sweden than it is in France. I'm picking two examples which speak to my broader experiences. That said, they're anecdotes responding to a pattern pointed out in the article. I'm not saying doing business in non-Swedish Europe is not worthwhile. It's just a lot easier in Sweden. When timelines matter or complexity is high, the Swedish team–in my experience–has come through more frequently. (I put Switzerland into a similar "easy to deal with" category, though I'm biased in being Swiss American.) > if American English is a dealbreaker I grew up speaking French and British English, so no, it probably is not. But when co-ordinating communications between an American legal team and overseas ones, I've seen (and perhaps I only notice this because I speak and write in both dialects) one team say one thing and the other read it as something else (or get confused) where all one needs do to alleviate the problem is "translate". This happens less when co-ordinating with Sweden. It's a small factor and certainly attributes no fault to anyone, but it's a factor that adds up to transactional costs. [1] https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/11/these-are-the-easiest-places-to-do-business-around-the-world https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/11/these-are-the-easiest...

toomuchtodo 8y ago
Fascinating take on the cultural nuances. Thanks for sharing!
tpfour 8y ago
one team say one thing and the other read it as something else To be fair, this happens to me with lawyers, wherever they are from. It has been a recurring theme of my interactions with them! Also, I will concede that I have never done business in Sweden. Just that from my own experience, there are bad apples and variable quality in businesses, wherever they are from :) The article is pretty clear though, Sweden seems to be hitting above its weight.