- The guarantee. A promised bank account or visa, though neither is the firm's to give.
- The quote with gaps. Costs left out now and billed to you later.
- The rush. Pay now, by transfer, before you have read anything.
- The refusal. No licence number, AML status, or exclusions on paper.
- The vanishing owner. No named, reachable person owns your file after you pay.
Trust that uneasy feeling
Founders who miss business setup consultant red flags are rarely careless. Most could not name what they sensed in time to act. The signs are about how a firm behaves when it wants your money.
Business setup consultant red flags to watch
Any single soft version may be innocent. Several at once, or one hard version of the first, is your cue to stop.
The guarantee
A promised bank account or visa is the clearest signal, because neither is the firm's to give.
The quote with gaps
A quote that leaves out a layer you need usually brings a bill for it later.
The rush
Payment today, by personal transfer, before any written scope. Real work has a sequence and a paper trail.
The refusal
A firm that will not put its licence number, AML status or exclusions on paper is telling you something.
The vanishing owner
No named, reachable person on your file after payment means nobody to chase when it matters.
The approval guarantee is the cleanest test there is.
Each bank decides its own accounts under Central Bank rules, and the immigration authorities decide visas, so a firm can only prepare your file for its best chance.
Anyone who promises the outcome is either misreading their role or counting on you not to know the difference.
The cost of ignoring a warning sign
The cost lands later: a quote that grows, a structure filed wrong and paid for again to unwind, or an abandoned licence that builds its own penalties.
In practice: unwinding a wrongly filed structure commonly costs more than the original setup did.
Apply this test to us as well.
We name the person who owns your file and put our trade licence number and AML registration on paper. Put the questions to ask before you pay to any firm, including us.
