By Prince Ghuman
As a small business owner, just keeping your company running can be hard enough. From managing teams to managing your finances, there is little time left to find new ways to make your money work for you. One often overlooked area for large savings is understanding how and when your home currency can work to your advantage. In recent months, the Greenback’s strong performance versus international currencies has uncovered just this opportunity, an opportunity that can save your business hundreds if not thousands of dollars. Outlined below are a few quick tips on how you and your business can make the most of this all-rare situation.
- Look Overseas: Now could be the time to consider that overseas expansion you’ve been eyeing. The strong U.S. dollar combined with economic instability in areas like the Eurozone and some oil-dependent economies means that your money is likely to go further than it has for many years. Additionally, international expansion is perceived as growth and as a positive indicator to investors and potential employees evaluating your company. Furthermore, by making an international move you’re almost certainly going to open your company up to new markets, customers and opportunities.
- Hire Ivy League talent at community college prices: One of the unexpected advantages of the strong U.S. dollar is its impact on hiring foreign talent. When it comes to talent for both remote work and one-off projects, the strong dollar has opened new frontiers and made hiring top-notch experts around the world far easier on a company’s bottom line. Many companies often look to low-cost options such as India and Eastern Europe. However, with the U.S. dollar as strong as it is, highly educated talent from Western Europe, Australia and Canada are more affordable than ever. The favorable dollar rate means access to engineers, coders, QA teams, designers and other experts in a variety of labor markets around the world – and the opportunity to pay fair compensation to top-notch talent in otherwise inaccessible markets.
- Lock in long-term prices today: From the outside, planning for market fluctuations might seem impossible. But in reality, the opposite is true if your company relies on imported goods or supplies, thinking about the long-term and locking in rates when possible with your international suppliers will save you big bucks in the long run. While there are many things that impact your business that are outside your control, this approach provides both stability and shelters your company if the strong dollar begins to go in the opposite direction.
- Look for a partner with transparent prices: The major benefit of the strong dollar is your money goes further. Where this positive becomes a negative is when your chosen currency broker hinders the dollar’s strong performance by slapping your business with unexpected fees and costs. Instead of paying three or even seven percent per transaction plus wire fees, or running the risk of currency fluctuations eating at your revenue, turn to a vendor with transparent pricing. By working with a trusted partner, your money will stay where it should stay — with your business.
In the end, though, it’s about one thing: Making your money work for you. By looking at the dollar as more than just a currency, it will open up access to new markets and the opportunity to work with talented clients that would otherwise be considerably more expensive domestically. Take a look at your business today and see how the dollar’s strong performance can help you hit your business goals today.
Prince Ghuman is the global director of enterprise development at, USForex, an international currency exchange specialist with a global network that spans 190 countries.
