Gustavo Ramirez leverages US tax benefits after incorporating subsidiary with Firstbase

GrupoPlex is a large multinational IT and development firm specializing in supporting businesses with nearshore developers based in Latin America. The company is headquartered in Bogota, Colombia, but it recently incorporated in the US and opened a second location in Beaverton, Oregon.

GrupoPlex was founded in 2010 by Gustavo Ramirez and a team of co-founders. While they were initially focused on supporting clients in South America, they started working with more US-based clients around 2020. We spoke with Gustavo to learn more about GrupoPlex’s path since 2010 and the doors that incorporation has opened up for his business.

Challenges

When we asked Gustavo what motivated him to incorporate GrupoPlex in the US, his answer was simple: taxes.

"Founding a business in Latin America means dealing with high taxes. Even when we were able to increase revenue, we saw a lot of the money go straight to the government. Incorporating in the US helped reduce our tax burden and keep more money to reinvest in the business."

The GrupoPlex team also wanted access to the world’s largest market for banking and venture capital. Before incorporating GrupoPlex as a C Corp, their team faced an uphill battle when it came to creating bank accounts and connecting with outside investors. 

As GrupoPlex began collaborating with more clients in the US, they made the judgment that a US business entity would be the ideal path forward. The next step was to find an incorporation tool that met their needs.

Firstbase: Tens of thousands in savings on growth tools

While Gustavo had used Stripe Atlas to incorporate previous ventures, he wanted a platform that offered more operational support and a better customer experience. Firstbase caught his eye due to the unified dashboard for incorporation, compliance, business mail, and more.

“After using Stripe Atlas, I can say that Firstbase has a better ecosystem and a better integrated platform that makes more sense for us. Rather than being focused on a payment gateway, Firstbase is built around the tools that founders need to create and grow their businesses.”

On top of the tax savings from US incorporation, the GrupoPlex team also saved tens of thousands of dollars on growth tools through the Firstbase partnership program. They were able to access $25,000 worth of cloud computing through Microsoft for a total of $6,000 in their first year — that’s nearly $20,000 of savings on a mission-critical product.

After incorporation, GrupoPlex continues to rely on Firstbase to manage compliance through Agent and send + receive mail through Mailroom. Accessing all these functions in one application reduced their busy work and made it easy to stay on top of day-to-day operations.

Tips for founders

More than ten years after GrupoPlex was created, Gustavo has learned key lessons about what it takes to succeed as an entrepreneur. He emphasized the importance of finding trustworthy partners and advisors who can help you make the right decisions — even in areas where you have limited knowledge or experience.

A bookkeeper might seem like an unnecessary expense for a small startup, but they can ensure that your business stays compliant and avoid any fines or penalties. Similarly, you should know the pros and cons of incorporating in a particular state or as an LLC/C Corp before moving forward with your incorporation. Making an uninformed or incomplete decision will only lead to more problems later on.

"From taxes and compliance to ownership and structure, the way you incorporate your business will have a substantial effect on your trajectory and day-to-day operations. It’s worth taking the time for a bit of research and due diligence to make sure you do what’s right for your company."

Wrapping up

At Firstbase, we’re proud to support founders like Gustavo as they expand their businesses into the US. We can't wait to see what GrupoPlex achieves moving forward! Hit the link below to start your own incorporation. Enter code BLOG10 at checkout for 10% off incorporation.