How to Start a Side Project With Local Partners
The side project that you start with local partners creates connections that professional networking cannot replicate. The shared risk, the shared work, the shared achievement — these experiences bond people.
Two years into my time in Lisbon, I started talking with a Portuguese architect and a Brazilian chef about opening a small restaurant. We spent eight months on the planning — market analysis, location scouting, menu development, legal structure. We never opened the restaurant. But the experience of working together on a shared vision created connections that have lasted for years.
The side project with local partners creates the shared experience that generates genuine relationships. The weekend work sessions that build something together. The disagreements about direction that require real negotiation. The moments of progress that generate shared excitement.
The side projects that work best are the ones that match the skills of all participants. The local partner who knows the market, the regulations, the networks. The expat who brings outside perspective, connections to other markets, the specific skills that the local context lacks.
The legal structures for small collaborations vary by country and by the nature of the project. The informal arrangement that works for small projects — the revenue share without formal incorporation — creates ambiguity that can damage relationships when the money becomes real.
The tax implications of cross-border collaboration require advance planning. The income earned in a country where you are not a tax resident. The contribution of skills versus capital. The repatriation of profits to different jurisdictions.
The side project that does not succeed provides lessons that the successful project cannot. The project that runs its course, that reaches natural conclusion, that exits cleanly — these endings preserve relationships that ongoing ambiguity would damage.