Case study: Digital nomad community, Nomad.Club partners up with Sleek

4 minute read

When setting up a business in another country, you need to be sure who you choose to partner with. Read on to discover Nomad.Club‘s journey.

Not all those who wander are lost

Software architect Narcis is the epitome of the ‘Digital Nomad’. Having started ValenceX, a company in Singapore part of an international corporate group providing B2B digital platforms, he is passionate about Flag Theory – the concept of internationalizing different aspects of your personal and business life depending on the benefits the different jurisdictions provide.

‘You might be a resident in one country, have your assets in another location, and earn money in another and do your shopping in a fourth one,’ he says. The theory, dating as far back as the 1980s,  is promoted as a way to create a lifestyle marked by privacy, wealth, and freedom.

Finding fellow travellers

It’s what lead him to launch Nomad Club, a digital community that welcomes anyone who wants to travel. ‘People can use our tools to search for flights, connect with other travellers, and more.’

Aimed at digital nomads and those who aspire to it, it educates people on location independence and the ins-and-outs of what’s required to make the most of life on the road.

Digital tools for a digital lifestyle

That’s also what lead him to start looking at Sleek. ‘I was looking for a jurisdiction to incorporate my business – once I chose Singapore, I started looking for a partner.’

‘I had already met with another company secretary before discovering Sleek at the last minute.’ Narcis adds. ‘It offered a fully digital service, and I had to take a look – it was much too cool not to take a look.’

(Want to know the benefits of incorporating in Singapore? Read our guide here.)

What made Sleek stand out was that it was a fully digital solution.

‘Representing Nomad Club, I’m still very much a nomad – essentially we’re looking to find ways of doing business that cuts through bureaucratic red tape – being able to do it all online is beyond awesome.’

Onboarding on the go

Since Nomad.Club was newly incorporated, it was a simple and systematic process to get his financials in place, too. Given that he was set up in several different jurisdictions, Narcis was interested in how best to optimise his tax position.

Over a coffee, Sleek’s accounting team worked to understand his business, his entities in the region, and how to make the most of the exemptions schemes available from IRAS.

‘One thing that many people don’t know is that everything one year before commercial launch in Singapore is deductible – save those receipts!’ says Mary Ng, Sleek’s Head of Accounting, who worked closely with Narcis through the process. ‘You don’t know what you don’t know.’

As part of Sleek’s accounting package, Narcis also received a Receipt Bank subscription, which allows his business’ receipts to be recorded and processed digitally, from wherever he happen to be – a huge benefit for those always on the go.

Catch me if you can

“I came for the technology, I stayed for the people…. I’m impressed with how awesome they are behind the scenes – their speed and service is great.”

His initial trip to Singapore to start the business was a fly-by visit. In the short time he spent with Sleek, he was impressed with how client-oriented the team was, and the value provided in the short space of time. ‘You responded to queries in less than 12 hours, which is very important with clients visiting from overseas.’

Everything is up and running smoothly in Singapore now. ‘Everything is digital – and, as much as possible, self-service for the less important things like mailroom. It’s amazing’, Narcis says.

‘When you’re on the move, having a professional service is so much more efficient than having to find and pay someone to do it for you who charges by the hour.’

‘I came for the technology, I stayed for the people’, Narcis says.

What’s next for Nomad.Club

“I’ve now used Sleek’s company secretary, accounting, and visa services and I’m impressed with how awesome they are behind the scenes – their speed and service is great.’.”

Unsurprisingly, global expansion is on the cards for Nomad.Club, including outreach efforts with select partners and tapping into existing digital nomad communities to share the company’s business tools for travel.

And as for Narcis? ‘I can be in four continents every few months,’ he says.  ‘I stumbled into the lifestyle, but I have no plans of stopping now.’

Want to learn more about our featured businesses? Visit the websites of Nomad.Club and Valence X.

Thinking of starting up? Talk to us!