According to the Hong Kong Companies Ordinance, incorporating a business requires a physical address and a resident secretary. So important is the company secretary that your application will be declined at the first instance if the requirement is not met.
The secretary is expected to ensure that the company operates legally all the time and does not fall into conflict with the law. Therefore, how do you work with company secretary to ensure that the company grows faster?
Ensure he understands the business mission and vision
As an offshore company, the main mission for entering into the Hong Kong market is to grow rapidly. However, you can only achieve this if all the stakeholders understand the short and long-term objectives.
You should share the business objectives and how the company anticipates achieving them with the secretary and enriching them with his input. This will inculcate him into the structure so that you can move together as a unit.
Include the secretary in all high profile meetings to determine the company strategic decisions
For some companies especially those with a single shareholder, it is possible to feel as if sharing meetings with the company secretary is involving an outsider.
Therefore, they tend to hold back and leave him out in major meetings that define the strategic orientation.
However, it is important to ensure that the company secretary is involved in all the company meetings that determine the company strategic decisions. For example, he should be there in board meetings held in Hong Kong.
Use the secretary to build connections with local companies
Because the company secretary is a resident, it is advisable to ensure you use him to grow connections at the local level. After commencing operations, the business will be new, and networks will come in handy to solidify early support.
Such networks can help to raise the overall revenue for the company even for the first few months of operations.
For example, if your company is in fitness, network with other companies can help to get a lot of clients.