Setting up a business in Taiwan as a "one man show"

Business Entrepreneurship
1

I am in a (good) situation where I need to figure out what makes the most sense for me (and my family) at this point. We are returning to Taiwan in August, and are hoping to make Kaohsiung our home. Money is not our primary motivator here - it is more getting an ARC (short term) and an APRC (long term), while making some money, and doing something somewhat enjoyable.

I will initially try and find a buxiban teaching job, but I am not really sure if that is what I want to do right now. It supplies an ARC, which is important in my long term goal of getting my APRC, but it is locked into one employer, one job and doesn’t have any flexibility.(And sadly, no gold card for me)

I am considering opening a company as a means to have more flexibilty: teach English on short contracts, tutoring, do some consulting, teach some music, sell some artwork, even potentially perform some music or do some acting in film or TV.

I have a few questions.

  1. Is the company framework in Taiwan flexible enough for me to be able to do these things on a work permit as a company director? How exactly is the purpose of a company outlined?

  2. Does anyone have experience in setting up a company as a “one man show”? I would love to talk and trade ideas.

And most importantly, 3) Is this even possible?

As always, thank you everyone for their input.

2

1 - yes; there’s a description of the intended business but it can be pretty damned vague, and if you ever get caught doing something they don’t think fits the original description then you can just file a form to change it, (never heard of anyone needing to do that but that’s what my CPA said when I asked about using the existing company structure to do other things as well if I saw an opportunity, “Do whatever you like, as long as you pay your taxes nobody cares!” :cowboy_hat_face:)

2 - sort of, (branch office for foreign corp, but I own both and only have a couple other employees besides myself in TW - family can be employees too!)

3 - yes, just find a CPA (not attorney for this, though you should get one of those too for all the obvious reasons) and they can do the rest for you

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3

You’re gonna be subject to revenue requirements to renew your work permit which is needed for renewing your ARC.

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Good point. I guess I could teach for 2 years, then get the business visa for 3, then convert to APRC to avoid that issue? Would that work?

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Thanks for the response. It does answer some of my questions with the types of allowed work on the business visa.

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I also wanted to bring this up to your attention if it was an option for your situation as well.

If you’re working online this could be an option

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There are still a few restrictions for foreigners, e.g. no govt contracts w/out special permission, and farming has some rules about land ownership and whatnot (@explant would know more about that), plus the usual seemingly random import/export restrictions every country has of course.

Note: If you look at @ExpatDad’s posting history here and assume he’s wrong about this as well… (he’s wrong about 99% of the time about everything, it’s become a standing joke at this point) - he’s actually right this time!

The Gold Card program is definitely worth looking into - I got one and there’s all kinds of good benefits, (mostly tax-related).

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I have wracked my brain for a way to qualify for the Gold Card in its current form. It is a great program that I would love to qualify for. Currently there is no path that I qualify for.

I did qualify for the Economic path waaaay back when you just needed the income, and didn’t have to have a job related to the economy. Sadly it is no longer the case.

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Don’t assume anything - contact their helpdesk, tell them what you do and ask what category you should apply under - they are very helpful about finding loopholes in your favor!

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It would. Though I’d probably teach for three years so as to give yourself a cushion.

But it’s also is contingent on them giving you a three year ARC too.

Of which not everyone gets.

11

I think I might give some professional roles a shot with some multinationals. There are a few that I can apply to. I will apply and see what happens.

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12

Good luck!

Speak Chinese?

13

I speak Chinese very well, and read/write it quite well too.

Some of these jobs might pay well enough and be in areas that could potentially get me a gold card. Fingers crossed!

Thanks for the well wishes! I will keep everyone updated.

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14

Then I think your chances are rather good :four_leaf_clover:

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Been in this City / region for a while and worked with some start ups. I guess its not the best city for a start ups so I hope like the city or have ties to city/region. (It keeps me working to make things work here, even when being out of the region a lot as I spend time here)

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We’re you able to monetize your YouTube channel?

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It was monetized for a year or so. Then we were back in Canada, and it wasn’t really prioritized, and it became demonetized.

Youtube was fun for a while. But the amount of work you need to put into it is not worth it for what you receive, money-wise, and it doesnt become even able to-support you for years. And, if I am being honest, I didn’t really feel like we were making much of a contribution to society. The other Youtubers I met were really great folks, though (especially Lukas).

I can’t say we will never do it again, but for now I am looking into other work options.

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This may be survivor bias, but I feel like the people who do well “easily” do it as an extension of something they already do - they’re just sharing and having fun. And nowadays AI editing can relieve a lot of the workload part of it as well! :thinking: :man_shrugging:

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I followed your channel because you’re a fellow Forumosan but felt it didn’t really provide any information that wasn’t readily available elsewhere online. I was hoping that something would click as you got your footing and you’d come up with a unique angle in the international nomad space but you stopped making videos about then.

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It’s terrible for startups and multinational and even big Taiwanese company roles in general. Taichung was bad but Kaohsiung is even worse. However you never know what can happen.