When you are first starting a business, it is only natural to expect that all of your funding (or at least the lion’s share of it) is going to come from sources which are fairly close to you geographically. But what a lot of small and medium size business owners forget is that this is a very big world, and there is an awful lot of money constantly orbiting around it looking for a place to settle down and grow. When it comes to seed money, the seeds can grow in unpredictable places, as well as drifting in from equally unpredictable sources. Just because the economy is down in one area does not mean it is doing so poorly in another.
The best part of all this is, you can find these investors in all kinds of online directories. While no one would recommend doing business with the widows of Nigerian generals who contact you through e-mail every so often, it is possible to find reputable investors from foreign countries who might be interested in your business through sites such as canada 411. Just keep in mind that with the different exchange rates of currencies, you might run into some problems when it comes down to transaction time. You need to agree on an exchange rate which will benefit both parties in terms of stability, consistency and that leaves you both with a good feeling about the exchange.
Consider the recession of 2007–2009. While many countries (Greece, the UK and the United States being some of the worst affected) experienced little to no growth, and a sort of stagnant environment for jobs and housing, some parts of the world were still in boom phases.
