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Global compliance management services offered by Global Professional Employer Organizations (PEOs) are critical to companies expanding internationally. As companies quickly grow into new territories, complications and compliance issues can arise and PEOs can quell any problems before they begin.
Through Employer of Record services and compliance knowledge, a PEO can keep your expansion process safe. But what else do they guarantee?
1. Speed to Market
Expanding into new territory places your business and your product within a stone’s throw of your target market. The critical thing businesses want to experience when they do this is speed. Without speed, your expansion loses momentum and might come under pressure from any changes in legislation.
Because of that, time is of the essence. A PEO acts as an Employer of Record, meaning you can quickly and efficiently have feet on the ground. In fact, through a PEO, you can potentially have a compliant presence in a new country in less than 48 hours.
Not only does this negate the issues of changing global relations and economic changes, it also means you can effectively leapfrog the competition.
2. Global Compliance
A Global PEO makes it their job to keep you compliant. The waters of international law and legislation can be murky in parts, deep and hard to explore. To save you time, a PEO works to keep your expansion process compliant under the numerous laws that might apply when operating in more than one country.
Their knowledge of global labor laws, employment laws, tax legislation and other important and business-critical rules, regulations and obligations means you can rest assured your business is acting compliantly.
Dedication to in-country compliance is something PEOs count as their top skills, helping you to avoid any issues that could harm the entire success of the international expansion. Cross-border changes to regulation and any specific obligations under trade agreements can sometimes go unseen or unheeded. With a PEO, you don’t need to worry about these issues.
3. Flexibility
PEOs create a risk-free environment for hiring overseas employees and expatriating current ones, acting as the legal entity within the target country. This means that employees are screened, hired and can begin work, with their salaries and benefits set up in line with local legal requirements.
PEOs allow organizations to benefit from the right employees who can get the job done and help to create a stronger relationship between the new entity, the home country HQ and the local market and suppliers in the host country.
Similarly, suppose the expansion process is being done to simply test the waters. In that case, the organization can remove themselves from the area quickly and without the significant costs associated with a traditional exit strategy.
4. In-Country Awareness
Culture. One of the primary identifiers of a country is its people and its markets. While cultural considerations may fall to the bottom of the pile when it comes to expansion preparation, with your mind solely focused on compliance risks and tax obligations, it’s of vital importance.
Cultural training is good, but can only get you so far - you need partners and staff that know the new territory intimately. This is where a PEO shows their expertise, with cultural knowledge and awareness to keep your brand in line with cultural expectations and traditions.
For example, did you know that in Japan it’s considered rude to give business cards Japanese-side down? Business cards there usually contain a Japanese and an English side and to present it English side-up is an offensive practice. They also consider it rude to write on another person’s business card. That kind of etiquette is difficult to discover for expansion first-timers and culture shock can be a real threat to your growth.
PEOs help you prepare for these cultural changes, meaning you’re not likely to make any cultural faux pas that have the potential of harming your brand image.
5. Lowered Costs of Set-Up
There are many costs associated with international expansion, especially if you decide to go it alone. Think of the costs of expatriation or repatriation, cultural research, entity set-up, premises, rent, utilities… The list continues.
Alternatively, working through a PEO can be much cheaper. As this process requires no full entity set-up by you and no need for a premises or the costs of an exit strategy, you can enjoy a much lower monthly overhead.
International expansion also includes the issues and costs of VAT liabilities, translation services and security. Expanding through a PEO service means you avoid all of these financial requirements, giving you a bigger budget and more control.
To find out what other benefits you can receive, why not get in touch with our experts here at Global Expansion? If you’d like to learn more about the key considerations in the expansion process, the ones that go further than benefits and give you solid advice for growth, then download our guide.
Expansion Considerations for Rapidly Growing Businesses
International markets are complex places and come with many alternative and changing legislative requirements that you might not be used to. PEOs are here to help you get to grips with the everyday challenges that beset businesses on the eve of new growth.
Here at Global Expansion, we’ve created a guide for those beginning the international expansion process, filled with information on important considerations you must make plans for.
Click on the link below to download and learn about how you can ensure the success of your expansion.
