HR international expansion guide
Expand globally quickly and securely
Entering international markets can be challenging but rewarding for businesses aiming to access global customers and hire top talent. At the same time, dealing with new rules, cultural differences, and admin overhead can introduce notable costs and risks.
As a global HR platform with first-hand experience scaling internationally, we provide all the tools to help you navigate those obstacles. We also offer guidance to support your decisions and help you use resources more efficiently as you enter new markets.
When we speak about global expansion, it’s based on real experience. We have grown a team of more than 1,000 employees across 70+ countries and serve customers on every continent. We understand what it takes to expand successfully overseas.
What you'll learn in this guide
In this guide, we draw on that experience to deliver practical recommendations and tactical insights. You’ll get tested approaches not only for entering new markets, but for scaling responsibly and driving long-term results.
Specifically, we’ll:
Explain how to build a durable global presence
Review localised tactics that shield your business from cultural and regulatory pitfalls in new territories
Outline the fundamental principles of sustainable expansion
Point out the tools and processes that can simplify the end-to-end process
Table of contents
What is international expansion?
Effective expansion strategies
Building an international team
What is international expansion?
International expansion means moving your company’s operations from your domestic market into foreign markets, enabling your organisation to broaden its customer reach.
Hiring global talent is frequently central to expansion plans, since the right people can establish a solid base and bring vital knowledge about local markets.
The idea of entering overseas markets can feel overwhelming for many businesses — especially small and medium enterprises. The process often involves complexity, time, and unexpected risks. Yet with the correct plan and the right tools, the potential returns can be substantial.What does international expansion look like?
Historically, companies expanding abroad commonly set up legal entities in target countries. Today, however, many firms are pursuing alternative — and more economical — paths to grow internationally.
Crucially, international expansion is no longer limited to large incumbents. Advances in technology and globalisation now allow smaller businesses to scale across borders more easily.
“Despite an uncertain economic outlook, 72% of global businesses are planning ambitious expansions into new markets, supported by major investments in digital technologies.” Equinix Global Tech Trends Survey 2023
Four ways to expand internationally
No matter your company’s size, there are several routes to grow internationally. These include:
Exporting
Exporting means selling products or services to customers in other countries, either physically or online.
Exporting can take many shapes, such as international ecommerce. With global payment providers and storefront platforms like Amazon, Shopify, and BigCommerce, you can reach customers worldwide without a local physical presence.
Licensing
Licensing is when your company grants another firm the right to use your intellectual property (IP) — such as trademarks, patents, or copyrights — in return for royalties or fees. This lets you extend your brand and expertise into new markets without operating there directly.
Licensing can be an effective route if you own IP — like software or technology — that has broad applications, or if your brand already has recognition.
Acquisitions and mergers
Buying or merging with a foreign company is a widely used expansion tactic, and cross-border M&A activity has grown strongly in recent years.
This trend highlights the strategic benefits of acquiring or combining with established firms to gain access to markets, technologies, and customers.
Joint ventures and strategic alliances
Joint ventures and alliances are formal collaborations between companies in different countries designed to tap into new resources, expertise, and market access. Such partnerships let your firm enter markets, share risk, and leverage complementary strengths.
Unlike a merger, the aim is to create a mutually beneficial relationship, typically between firms in different sectors.
Direct investment
Direct investment means putting capital into a foreign company to gain a degree of control over its management or operations.
Some investors take this further by establishing a local presence — often via a subsidiary or branch — providing greater control over operations in that market.
This approach is gaining traction, with many companies increasing investments in underdeveloped regions such as Africa, southeast Asia, and Latin America.
“Emerging economies — which once represented no more than 15% of the global economy — now account for nearly 50% of economic activity.” Mauro F. Guillén, BBVA
What are some effective international expansion strategies?
Your expansion plan should act as a roadmap for scaling. Serving as a strategic “true north,” it should define the concrete steps your business will take to meet its international goals.
“In recent years, bold global expansion could have been seen as too risky or too dependent on capital investment in physical infrastructure. Now, things have changed.” Karl Strohmeyer, Chief Customer Officer at Equinix
International expansion strategies typically follow one of three paths:
International strategy
With this approach, your firm exports goods or services to overseas markets while keeping production at home. It lets you leverage existing production capacity to serve international customers.
By exporting, you can meet overseas demand without establishing local manufacturing. This offers a consolidated growth model that builds on your established strengths while extending market reach.
This path is often preferred by small businesses and startups.
Multinational strategy
Under a multinational strategy, your company operates in several countries and adapts offerings to local preferences, acknowledging that markets differ in tastes, culture, and regulation.
To better serve those markets, your company may:
Adjust your products or services to match local demand
Customise your marketing and communications
Set up local production or distribution facilities
This strategy focuses on satisfying specific customer needs in each country while maintaining a global footprint.
Global strategy
A global strategy treats the company as a single organisation offering a standardised product or service across countries. The emphasis is on uniformity rather than localisation, with consistent branding and offerings to exploit economies of scale and efficiency.
This approach simplifies operations, centralises decisions, and leverages global brand recognition.
It is typically better suited to larger, well-established companies.
Do you need to set up a legal entity to expand internationally?
Not always. The answer depends on your company’s objectives and available resources.
For some firms, creating a legal entity makes sense. If you have the capital and time, and it matches your strategy, this route can be highly beneficial.
For many businesses — particularly startups and small companies — establishing entities in multiple countries is impractical.
Beyond the resource demands, setting up an entity is a major commitment. If plans change or you need to pivot, that investment could be wasted — and dissolving an entity can be legally and administratively complex.
Working with a global HR partner gives you far greater flexibility and less long-term obligation. For example, you can pilot a region by contracting independent workers first; this lets you hire internationally fast and makes it straightforward to end relationships if necessary. Remote’s Contractor Management platform lets you hire, onboard, and manage contractors in an easy and cost-effective manner.
If the market proves successful and you want to hire employees as you scale, an employer of record (EOR) service — like the one offered by Remote lets you legally employ workers abroad without the time, cost, and complexities involved in establishing an entity. This lets you scale hiring across multiple markets quickly and compliantly. As you expand globally, you can draw on Remote’s localised HR, tax, benefits, and payroll expertise. That saves you the time spent sourcing local providers and helps ensure ongoing compliance with local labour and tax rules.
We explain how this works in greater detail below.
What is the best time for international expansion?
Timing matters when entering a new market. But how can you tell whether the moment is right to expand?
Below are some signs that it may be the right time to explore markets beyond your borders:
If your domestic market is saturated and offers limited growth opportunities, expanding internationally could be wise. Make sure your home operations are stable and successful before you branch out.
If you’re receiving numerous orders or inquiries from customers in a particular foreign market, that could signal a real growth opportunity there.
If your research shows strong demand for your offering, low competition, or advantageous economic or regulatory conditions in a foreign market, it could be an opportune time to expand.
Do you have a unique product, service, or technology that gives you an edge in a foreign market? If so, it may be valuable to capitalise on that advantage through expansion.
If you can readily adapt your products or services to suit a foreign market and there is clear demand, your chances of success abroad improve considerably.
Hire anywhere with Remote's EOR
Whether you need to hire a single international worker or thousands, Remote has the experience, infrastructure, and skills to support you. Our leading employer of record services deliver a top-tier experience for your global team — along with predictable pricing, legal safeguards, and peace of mind for your organisation.
There are many reasons why expanding internationally could suit your company, for example:
Talent acquisition
One major benefit of international expansion is the ability to tap into new talent pools.
Hiring overseas employees gives access to new skills and perspectives, boosting diversity and inclusion. A landmark McKinsey study shows diverse teams are 33% more likely to outperform peers.
Hiring international talent can also be cost-effective, particularly when team members work remotely.
Remote can help you find top talent in foreign markets, and hire, onboard, and manage them rapidly and with ease.
Brand exposure
Expanding internationally raises your profile and reputation in new markets, exposing your brand to a larger audience and building familiarity and trust. That can translate into higher recognition and ultimately increased revenue.
Happier employees
When you hire globally, employees often value the remote model and its benefits more. In our recent Global Benefits Report, 78% of remote workers reported greater satisfaction with benefits, versus 60% of on-site staff.
That boost in engagement supports retention and makes your organisation more agile. In our 2023 Remote Workforce Report, 72% of companies reported that productivity improved after adopting a remote, distributed workforce model.
Increased revenue
As noted, international growth unlocks new markets and customer segments, helping you generate extra revenue. It can also help you outperform peers, with cross-border businesses achieving an additional 1.9% in annual shareholder returns over firms that do not expand internationally.
McKinsey also finds that companies already growing strongly at home can capture an extra 2.6% in annual returns from international expansion.
Potential cost savings
Beyond revenue gains, expanding globally can reduce costs. For instance, entering markets where resource, material, or salary costs are lower can deliver savings.
Localised insight
Local market knowledge is essential when entering new countries. Without it, you risk alienating — or even offending — audiences and partners through avoidable communication errors or deeper cultural mismatches. Lack of familiarity with local business practices can also cost time and money.
Hiring people on the ground who understand the culture can prevent these mistakes. Whether you engage consultants on a contract basis or place a local employee in charge, Remote can help you source and hire the right person.
“Hiring international employees gives your company a soft landing when entering new markets and allows you to build trust quickly in new places.” Job van der Voort, CEO and co-founder of Remote
Competitive advantage
Entering a market before competitors can secure brand recognition and credibility. Being first can deliver a meaningful competitive edge in your industry.
Even small or mid-sized companies can make a big impact if they offer the right product or service for the right market.
Market protection
A global footprint lets you take advantage of varying market trends and customer tastes, diversifying revenue streams and reducing exposure to localised downturns.
Operating across multiple markets can also offset the effects of an economic slump in one country by relying on stronger performance elsewhere.
This helps preserve overall business stability during broader economic uncertainty.
Customer support coverage
If a sizable portion of your customers live in a specific region or speak a certain language, expansion allows you to serve them more effectively.
You can hire local support staff fluent in the language and culture, creating a smoother experience for customers. This approach scales well and enables dedicated, knowledgeable CS teams in each market you operate in.
Strategic partnerships and collaborations
Expanding globally opens opportunities to form strategic international partnerships and collaborations that would otherwise be out of reach.
Those relationships can spur innovation, help you access untapped markets, and improve operational efficiency through knowledge and technology transfer.
What are the challenges of international expansion?
International expansion brings many advantages but is seldom straightforward. Even in favourable conditions, success is not assured — irrespective of industry or company size.
Data shows the difficulty: companies expanding abroad can experience a return on assets (ROA) of -1% for up to five years, and only 40% surpass a ROA of 3% or higher.
That underlines the importance of knowing common pitfalls and how to avoid them. Below are key challenges you should expect.
Local legislation and regulations
Failing to follow local labour and tax laws can lead to fines, litigation, or even business restrictions. Navigating foreign legal systems can be intricate and time-consuming, particularly when regulations change frequently.
That’s why partnering with an experienced global HR provider is recommended. Remote helps you comply with labour and tax obligations wherever you hire, letting you concentrate on running and growing your business.
“Remote provides all the local compliance and regulatory knowledge for each specific country in-house. Without them, we would have to hire an additional 3 or 4 people to be able to cover all the local labor laws, taxes, accounting, translation, and payroll responsibilities.” Mona Walther, Senior People Operations Manager at commercetools
See our Country Explorer tool for current country coverage and roadmaps.
Market differences
A common mistake is assuming what worked at home will automatically succeed abroad. Entering foreign markets requires a deeper grasp of local dynamics, consumer habits, and cultural subtleties.
For instance, many fintech firms are expanding globally and are typically focused on engineering and product work.
However, they may lack experience in developing cross-border go-to-market (GTM) strategies or in selecting suitable campaigns, channels, and messages. That’s why it’s important to hire the right people with deep knowledge of the market you’re entering.
Cultural differences
Cultural differences affect communication, negotiation, and employee management. Lacking cross-cultural awareness can cause misunderstandings, damaged relationships, and even failure.
That is another reason to hire employees who are local to the market. Locals bring cultural fluency and can offer highly valuable insights and networks to help you navigate the business environment.
Competition in foreign markets
Foreign markets can be fiercely competitive, with local and international firms vying for share. Understanding the landscape and differentiating your offer is essential.
Global competition has intensified rapidly, making a clear competitive strategy vital for successful international expansion.
Time and money
International expansion usually requires substantial upfront investment, including:
Legal and regulatory compliance
The creation of local operations
The development of distribution networks
Additionally, you may need to invest time and funds in building relationships with local partners and recruiting and training a local workforce.
These costs can add up. For example, setting up legal entities can take up to 12 months and cost over $100,000 per location, depending on local rules and ongoing administration.
To avoid these burdens, consider partnering with an expansion provider like Remote. With our EOR services, you can hire in multiple countries without creating a single entity — and be operational within days.
To learn how an EOR operates, see our in-depth guide.
Logistical issues
Depending on your offering, logistics — such as transport, supply chain management, and customs — can present major barriers. Moving goods across borders requires careful planning to keep operations efficient.
To reach customers, you need a sound distribution network and a resilient infrastructure.
Banking and currencies
International expansion usually requires handling multiple currencies, banking systems, and financial rules. Your company must manage foreign-exchange risk, establish banking relationships, and navigate international payment systems.
You’ll also need a plan for paying employees and contractors in the new country. Remote can streamline this via our EOR, centralised payroll, or contractor management services.
How to pay your global employees
Global Payroll How to pay international employees
Data regulations
Data rules are often a complex part of international operations. They vary by country and can influence how you collect, store, and transfer data across borders.
Therefore, staying informed about current data regulations is critical to reduce compliance risks and protect your business.
Data security for distributed teams
Data Security & IP [Webinar Recording] IP protection and data security for distributed teams
IP protections
When you enter new markets, protecting products, ideas, and brand is essential. Securing patents, trademarks, and copyrights where relevant helps preserve your IP.
You also need measures to prevent theft or copying of your IP according to local laws, and plans for handling disputes in local courts if they arise.
Remote can help you protect your IP when engaging employees and contractors abroad.
Cybersecurity breaches
Cyber and data breaches are widespread globally, and the consequences can be severe. IBM reports the average data breach cost in the US in 2022 was $9.5 million.
Protecting your business from cyber threats and data leaks is difficult, especially when expanding internationally. Different regions have distinct data-protection rules, and keeping up with them is a constant challenge.
Cross-border data transfers can be risky, and securing remote employees and their devices is complex. Home workers may use personal devices, increasing exposure.
Therefore, ensure your teams are trained in online safety and use modern tools and practices to maintain strong cyber defences.
If you choose a global HR partner, verify its security posture. Remote, for example, employs enterprise-grade data protection and security measures, backed by a dedicated security team for support. Learn more about Remote’s security protocols.
What are the key steps in international expansion?
Now that you understand the benefits and risks of international expansion, what does a practical expansion plan entail?
As noted, international expansion involves more than planting a flag. It requires market insight, strong local relationships, and sensitivity to cultural and regulatory differences.
Below is an outline of the steps you might follow — and how Remote can support each stage.
This should go without saying: spend time to thoroughly understand the market you intend to enter. Analyse the data, run assessments, and study consumer behaviour and preferences in that market.
Investigate market trends and evaluate the growth potential for your business. Consider macroeconomic and demographic factors.
Be alert to entry barriers like cultural differences, language gaps, and regulatory constraints. Understanding these issues early lets you find solutions or reconsider market entry. Identify your preferred mode of entry based on resources and risk appetite — whether exporting, licensing, merging, or direct investment — each has its trade-offs.
For example, exporting can be lower risk but offers less control. Licensing may speed market access but could pose quality or brand risks. Ensure you document your plan formally.
After research and selecting an entry route, build a comprehensive expansion plan. This roadmap should cover several areas, including:
Financial plan : Outline your market entry budget and ongoing operating costs. Account for currency exchange and financing options that could affect capital structure and cash flow.
Set realistic revenue and profit forecasts based on market research and model multiple scenarios — positive and negative — to establish clear financial goals.
Risk assessment: International business carries risks — political instability, economic swings, cultural gaps, and compliance issues. Conduct a thorough assessment to gauge likelihood and impact, and design mitigation strategies. Contingency plans help maintain operations or enable rapid recovery when unexpected events occur. A robust risk management approach makes your expansion resilient and adaptable.
Once risks are identified, prepare strategies to mitigate or manage them. Contingency planning helps operations continue or recover quickly if issues occur, supporting a flexible international strategy.
Infrastructure and logistics plan: Consider both physical and digital infrastructure needs.
This may mean planning your supply chain, logistics, and transport processes to ensure smooth operations for all stakeholders.
This stage focuses on market-entry preparations and may include:
Securing final funding
Preparing digital and/or physical infrastructure
It’s essential to understand the legal and regulatory requirements in your new market to avoid fines and reputational harm. That includes employment law, IP, tax, accounting, and entity-formation rules.
You could hire local legal and tax experts, but that takes time and money. Working with an EOR like Remote is typically faster and more cost-effective, as we handle much of the legal work for you.
That enables you to start hiring the people who will drive your expansion within days.
This phase is when you create an operational presence in the new market. It may involve opening a local office or hiring on-the-ground staff and ensuring resources are in place for effective operations.
You’ll also begin executing your marketing plan to build brand awareness and attract customers.
Once established, the emphasis shifts to scaling operations and growing your customer base. This phase focuses on marketing, acquisition, and retention, with close attention to performance metrics and ROI.
At this stage, your business has a settled presence. The priority becomes optimising operations and refining products or services using customer feedback and market trends. It’s a time for steady maintenance while continuously working to stay competitive.
HR considerations when expanding internationally
Building your team
Arguably the most critical factor in whether your expansion succeeds is the team you build.
“We know that the success or failure of our company is 99% down to our people. So being able to attract and then retain the best talent is vital to our success."
-Antonio Arias, Chief People Officer of QuoIntelligence
Hiring in a new market can be complex. You must understand local workforce expectations and culture, including salary norms and benefits, plus differences in labour law such as minimum wage, overtime, and working hours.
With Remote, you can leave these concerns to us. Our integrated platform supports every phase, letting you focus on core business activities. Here’s how it works:
Recruitment
The first step is finding suitable candidates. You can use local job boards, social channels, and referrals among other channels.
You can also leverage Remote Talent to help fill challenging roles, using our remote jobs board to tap into global candidates.
Through our EOR, you can also offer the best local benefits to make attracting top talent easier.
Hiring
After selecting a candidate, you can onboard them quickly via our EOR service or, for contractors, through our Contractor Management service.
This is particularly useful for testing a market with contractors before committing fully. You can also convert contractors to employees through us, helping you avoid misclassification mistakes.
“Companies are increasingly recognising the advantages of using skilled freelancers on a project basis, gaining necessary expertise without long-term commitment. This trend is global and includes developing economies.”
-Pedro Barros, Senior VP and GM for Contractors at Remote
Onboarding
Onboarding is among the most sensitive stages in a hire’s lifecycle. A poor experience can make new hires reconsider and risk losing them.
When you hire through Remote’s EOR, the new team member receives a warm, tailored welcome and full support through onboarding. We ensure the process is quick, simple, and compliant, and assign an HR manager to the hire.
This applies to contractors as well. We make onboarding compliant and provide consistent guidance and expert assistance.
"With Remote, onboarding contractors is seamless: it literally takes seconds to add new people to the platform, issue their contracts, and request the ID documents necessary for them to get started."
- Erik Sveen, Founder and CEO of HomeProject
Payment
Paying employees and contractors can be secure, simple, and fast. Wherever your workforce is based, Remote streamlines payroll so you can run it in minutes.
If you use our EOR, payroll is integrated: we perform calculations, apply required deductions, and pay your people on schedule. We also provide in-house support for payroll queries. Learn more about EOR payroll management.
If you choose to open your own legal entity in the new market, we can also provide payroll as a standalone service. Learn more about Global Payroll.
You can also process and pay contractor invoices in a few clicks — and in many currencies. Learn more about paying independent contractors.
Managing team members
Managing daily HR for an international team is straightforward with Remote. We offer a fully free HRIS that consolidates your HR stack so you can run everything in one place. It also allows employees to self-serve tasks like time tracking, expense claims, and document access.
"The HRIS platform is easy to use and everything is there right in front of us. It all comes together and we’re not having to update different sources. That helps us be more efficient, which is so important in a scale-up."
-Bas Moeyaert, Loop Earplugs
Scaling
The advantage of expanding with Remote is there are no limits to growth; our platform and services scale with you globally. As you increase headcount and enter new countries, you don’t need to change providers or alter your processes — something smaller local vendors often can’t offer.
From recruitment and hiring to onboarding, payroll, and management, we manage every aspect of global HR — from your first hire to your thousandth and beyond.
Examples of successful international expansion
Remote has supported companies of many sizes to expand globally, including the following:
Loom
Loom, a leading video communications platform, used Remote’s global infrastructure to expand its team into several new countries.
Facing 900% year-over-year growth in 2021, Loom relied on a global talent pool to meet demand, but international hiring presented multiple complexities.
With 15 people across 11 countries, Loom’s HR team found it difficult to maintain compliance with diverse local hiring rules. Building international hubs and dedicated management teams was unfeasible.
Remote provided coverage for Loom’s international employees and entities, offering transparent, fair pricing through its EOR service. This partnership enabled Loom to convert contractors into employees, improving legitimacy and the overall employee experience.
As we continue to scale and go forward, we can now provide employees the opportunity to relocate through Remote and hire great candidates through Remote.
Loom has unlocked access to diverse talent while ensuring local-law compliance. This supported the company’s growth and improved the employee experience.
Primer
Primer, a prominent fintech company, used Remote’s infrastructure and expertise to manage international hiring complexities.
Recognising remote work’s potential, Primer wanted to tap global talent but faced challenges in expanding across countries.
Partnering with Remote gave Primer the tools to hire internationally, while Remote’s EOR provided fair, transparent pricing and ensured compliance with local laws, letting Primer focus on its fintech mission.
I wasn't confident with the other EORs that we use, which is a dangerous game, because that puts more stress and pressure on our team to provide the follow-up. One of the biggest things Remote did was create this environment where you became an extension of our team, really followed up and overcommunicated in a lot of ways. That was vital for us, because it alleviated some of that responsibility from our team internally. -Erin Potter, Head of People & Operations at Primer
Primer was also able to convert contractors into full-time employees, creating a more consistent and improved experience for staff. As a result, the company expanded its team across borders while maintaining employee satisfaction.
Read more about Primer’s story.
Seatti
Seatti, a cutting-edge technology firm, teamed up with Remote to transform its global talent acquisition and management approach.
Like many companies, Seatti sought to support international growth by hiring in new markets but faced complex global employment rules.
With Remote, what caught our eye is the fact that you have your own legal entities in so many countries around the world. A lot of other similar providers that we looked at often just did it through partnerships. I think the growth and traction of Remote probably also speaks for itself and gives a strong indication that you're doing a lot of things right. -Chris Bieri, Co-founder of Seatti
Remote’s EOR ensured Seatti remained compliant with local regulations, enabling the company to expand its team internationally while fostering innovation and diversity.
Read more about Seatti’s story.
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Expand internationally with Remote
As shown, international expansion offers many opportunities but also introduces numerous challenges.
Remote’s all-in-one global HR solution is designed to help you tackle those challenges at every step. We enable you to consolidate and grow in new markets by hiring, managing, and paying local talent while staying compliant with evolving labour and tax laws.
Whether you need to hire one employee or contractor abroad or hundreds across multiple countries, we provide everything in a single streamlined platform. Whenever you need support, our in-house local experts are available to help.
To learn more about our platform and how it can help you expand your business, book a demo or speak to one of our friendly experts today.