Soft landing

A soft landing is the process by which a foreign company establishes itself in a new market in an orderly way, covering the legal, tax and operational decisions needed to start operating without friction. In Chile, a typical soft landing includes choosing the legal vehicle (usually an SpA subsidiary, or a branch of the foreign entity), incorporation and registrations with the Chilean tax authority (SII), obtaining tax IDs for the company and its foreign shareholders, bringing in capital with its registration before the Central Bank under Chapter XIV, hiring the initial team —including visas and work permits when staff relocate from abroad—, trademark registration before INAPI and any sector-specific permits. What sets a well-executed soft landing apart is not the speed of the filings but the order of the decisions: whether to incorporate immediately or test the market first through a distributor or local partner, who will represent the company and with which powers, and whether the chosen structure will support growth over the following years. Incorporating before answering those questions is the most common cause of structures that must be redone mid-operation. The soft landing ends when the operation is up and running and compliant; from there, the ongoing legal function can be covered by an external legal department until the size of the operation justifies in-house counsel.