Has your company ever thought of having a business partner in another country? Businesses worldwide now have business partners all over the world. They often have partnered with foreign companies to manufacture and distribute products and provide numerous services. Often these arrangements can prove very lucrative for all involved. We truly are living in a global world.
When a large hospitality company in the U.S. decided to market its products and services in Dubai, they reached out to a security consulting firm to investigate their future partner. That consulting firm: TAL Global
The Dubai organization was well-known, could help their partner in the U.S. immensely, and appeared to be a perfect fit. Both firms were excited about the potential arrangements and took steps to complete them.
However, just as a precaution, the U.S. firm decided that a little investigation was warranted before signing a contract.
The Situation with the Misleading Business Partner
Of course, scores of businesses have partnerships with other organizations worldwide. It’s now commonplace. But companies can risk a lot of time, effort, millions of dollars – and their reputation – by getting involved with an organization that might not be entirely on the “up and up.”
While there was no indication that this was true with this Dubai company, businesses often get into partnerships with foreign enterprises based on incomplete information, no information, or even worse, misinformation. This is especially true if there is a rush to forge a partnership.
Because so much information is now available about companies and organizations online, it might seem easy to quickly find out about a company thousands of miles away, its executive staff, and other pertinent information. However, that is not always the case.
Many countries have fewer or different reporting standards than those in the U.S. In some cases, less information is reported about organizations in general, and what is available to the public is from controlled sources. This means information available online is information an organization wants others to know and a little more.
Enter TAL Global
This hospitality company asked us to perform what is called in the security industry due diligence services. While many of these investigations turn up little information that could block a partnership from moving forward, all too often, they do.
However, no matter the outcome, the benefit is that the company requesting due diligence can now feel comfortable making their decision based on credible and reliable information.
Among the steps in a due diligence program are the following:
- Detailed background checks about the company officers.
- Investigating any civil or criminal court actions involving the company or its officers.
- Contacting organizations such as the Better Business Bureau or something similar in overseas countries looking for potentially damaging information.
- Checking addresses; In some cases, a business expected to be in a commercial or industrial location is in a residential. This can be troubling.
- Finding out where officers live. Successful, high-net-worth officers living in a low- or moderate-income neighborhood can also be a concern.
- Lack of information available about an organization or its officers. Sometimes information that should be available about an organization is missing. Lack of information available about an organization or its officers can be a red flag in itself.
Why TAL Global
TAL Global has experts across the globe that perform due diligence services. They know the ins and outs of local record-keeping, where to look for information, what sources to tap, what information is dependable, and what may be questionable.
In this case, we told our client that the Dubai organization was a credible and worthwhile organization to do business with. Based on our conclusion, the partnership was formed and has proven successful for both parties. Please feel free to Talk to Us.
