One thing that we had both noted was the large difference in salaries between Portugal and Norway. An engineer in Norway is about three times as expensive as a comparable one in Portugal. We had therefore both played with the idea of starting some sort of outsourcing business.
An outsourcing business does not require much in investments. However, it does require more skills and insights than a typical individual can cope with on his own. Neither my friend nor I had therefore made any serious attempt at setting up such a business. But now that we are two, the task seems doable. Especially since my newfound friend is an economist, while I'm an engineer. Our skills and insights complement each other perfectly.
Being pretty much the only Norwegians in Porto, we are uniquely positioned to broker deals between engineering companies in Portugal and customers in Norway, and the idea is so simple that everyone gets it. Only two weeks into this project, my friend and I already have an option on a large number of engineers, as well as a number of clients ready to buy services.
This has the potential of becoming a great success, and it perfectly illustrates the value of having a unique personal network. On their own, the Norwegian clients would never have found the Portuguese engineers. However, now that the door has been opened, a whole lot of business that was previously impossible has suddenly become possible, and people are willing to pay for the opportunity to pass through that door.
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