For Brian Friedman, retiring from Ernst & Young as Head of Human Capital in September 2007 proved the starting point for developing an interest that just evolved into a business within months.
Though originally a tax specialist, Brian had increasingly become an expert on worldwide reward issues, and decided that it would be interesting to set up an online news portal and networking forum with a focus just on expatriate matters.
And in a short period, the experiment (http://www.totallyexpat.com) has gone from strength to strength, with a mailing list of 30,000 and a subscriber base of 3,000 to the Forum for Expatriate Management (FEM). It was revenue positive from the start given its low operating costs. Registration is currently increasing by 200 to 300 a week.
"I didn't actually do a lot of research into the market. I had been in the business for a long time and just felt nothing ventured, nothing gained" Brian says. "I wanted to give something back, help represent the industry and consolidate all the information that was out there."
Brian's starting point was the development of an effective website, and a launch party that was hosted by KPMG to which 100 people came. His business model now provides free individual membership after registration that provides access only, and then corporate subscription rates that range from £350 to £15,000. The highest level covers advertising, a page on the site, publicity for events and similar benefits.
Though there has been a downturn in financial services expatriate assignments that is recession driven, the evidence shows that expatriation is important for international businesses: in the FTSE 50, one-third of the CEOs are non-British, and 49 companies have non-Brits on their Boards. There may be a trend towards more senior assignments, which underscores FEM's lobbying of the government's Migration Advisory Committee on planned immigration regulations that could severely hamper intra-company mobility.
The issues around expatriation are significant. Brian describes the process as a re-birth for individuals. If any one of the numerous challenges, ranging from housing to schooling goes wrong, it will jeopardise the success of the assignment. But the planning process is even more important, he argues, and needs to include effective selection and cost estimates. FEM provides a useful forum for those wanting answers to specific questions or access to service providers.
Having dealt with start-up challenges, Brian notes the level of support has been significant, and following FEM's first annual conference, he is now planning the development of up to 100 branches abroad such as Dallas/Fort Worth - already on-stream - and New York with its launch in September. Other short term targets include Paris, Amsterdam and Shanghai. The chosen locations depend in part on who decides to volunteer locally and is willing to drive forward the idea: the licences will include revenue sharing agreements.
Other possible aims for the future will build on the information now gathered to develop consultancy in vendor selection and perhaps expatriate recruitment.