Being an expat gives you a tremendous advantage in life and business.

I used to think that building a business in a foreign country would put me at a disadvantage. However, truth be told, my experiences in the past years were quite the opposite. Yes - it can be challenging, at times lonely, but as Ali Youssef and I shared during our recent Q&A with the students at the University of Sunderland (Ifrah, thank you so much for the invitation), being an expat gives you so many opportunities.

When you look at the most successful founders, a majority of them grew up in foreign countries. Why? There is an obvious willpower necessary to strive abroad, although I also believe that existing in-between cultures and geographies is somewhat of a superpower.

Business is all about the people. We live in a connected world working in multicultural teams, harvesting the great qualities of other countries and cultures. However many of those teams fail, and the reason is simple - errors in translation.

As an expat, you have a unique ability to be the facilitator in between - understanding both the UK and other cultures involved in the project. We are great at solving problems for our British clients that are unique to NHS and British financial institutions because we frequently experience them ourselves. But what we are truly great at is translating our client’s needs to our teams in Bulgaria and Poland, and the other way around, facilitating a great experience on both sides.

London is a unique environment where all cultures mix and match and where playing an expat card will be more advantageous than anywhere else in the world.

Next time you find yourself in doubt, celebrate being an expatriate and turn those doubts into opportunities - you will strive in no time.