Meet the Member: Joorney

We're excited to welcome our new Councillor member: Founder & CEO of Joorney, Benjamin Jarmon.

Read on to learn more about their time-saving service for French entrepreneurs preparing their project in the United States. 

FACC: Joorney provides business plans, necessary for French nationals to apply for various categories of U.S. visas, including E2, L1 and H1B, providing as many as 1500 per year. How does an initial consultation begin?

Joorney: We also write business plans to obtain loans and investor funding, we prepare pitch decks, financial models and provide market research services. An initial consultation usually starts with our clients talking about which type of process they are pursuing (visa, loan, investor raise, sale of business, expansion) – we ask a few questions about how they got there and what stage they are at with the supporting documentation they need to achieve success. From there we are able to provide our expertise and quote the right product to them.

Once we engage, a questionnaire is sent to the client and once filled, a project manager is dedicated to the client and reviews the information directly with them – in average 7-10 business days later a 1st draft will be sent to the client and we will perform revisions until the client and immigration attorney are satisfied.

FACC: Do you also advise individuals what category they should be applying for, based on their project, or do you coordinate with any legal services for this aspect?

Joorney: We do not advise individuals for visa categories or any other legal advice – we have a network of 500 immigration attorneys throughout the US that we can refer our clients to for any immigration legal question they might have.

FACC: Do Joorney business plans take into account factors such as capital, investors and geographic factors? i.e. higher operating costs in NYC vs. Philadelphia etc. Do you advise clients to reconsider certain elements if they are not aligned with criteria for approval, based on successful past candidates?

Joorney: We do challenge the numbers that are provided to us by the clients if they don’t make sense and/or if they are not aligned with the criteria for approval and previous successful cases. For pure strategic advice, our advisory department takes on more in-depth missions which really digs deep into the company financial assumptions – that’s where we engage on financial modelling missions for example or market research missions to validate certain assumptions.

FACC: During the visa approval process, USCIS often requests additional supporting materials. During Embassy interviews, the candidate can be questioned on certain elements of their application, including their business plan. Does Joorney provide any coaching for effectively presenting a business plan or help to ensure client’s comprehension, in English?

Joorney: We don’t provide coaching on the business plan since most attorneys we work with will have a preliminary session with their clients to roleplay the interview, but we do answer any questions our clients have about the business plan.

FACC: In the case of an experienced business person, already having ran or established a successful company in France and well versed in business plans, what is the advantage of using Joorney’s services? Do you provide any guarantee for approval or have any success rates that can be communicated?

Joorney: A 20-30-page business plan takes in average about 100 hours to write for an entrepreneur or CEO. Not that they can’t write it, but it’s a lot of hyper focused time spent on research an writing for someone that is setting up a business.

The advantage of using Joorney is to gain time, respond to USCIS requirements into a business plan, facilitate communications and back and forth revisions with the immigration attorney and have the whole process facilitated in a couple of weeks rather than a few months.

We do not provide guarantees as our immigration business plans are tied to a legal application we do not control, but our reviews on Google, Facebook and our website speak for themselves and our national network of immigration attorneys can attest to our professionalism and efficiency.

The same value can be mentioned about our advisory services, whether it’s for market research, financial modelling, pitch decks or bank business plans – it’s getting through the process faster and with a better quality document.             

FACC: What is one piece of advice you would like to share with FACC members and future entrepreneurs coming to the U.S.?

Joorney: I am an E2 visa holder myself and I tell my clients going through the immigration process to follow the rules without trying to cut corners. In the end what the US wants is for entrepreneurs going through investor visas to be at risk, to invest in an office, to invest in employees, in marketing and sales as if the business was guaranteed to take off. Another advice is to research your market before coming – there is a lot of data to be learned from before jumping into the US market.

FACC: How did you hear about the FACC and what are you most looking forward to in 2019 as a new member?

Joorney: We were members of FACC Miami before joining NY and we are looking forward to meet fellow NY members and aspiring entrepreneurs and investors wishing to move to the US this year.

Interested in connecting with Benjamin and Joorney? Login to the FACC Member Directory now.