Did you ever imagine you would have an international business? That you would be planting your company’s flag in a faraway land, seeing your product in a different language or having to work out time differences when meeting your team in another part of the world?

Expanding abroad comes complete with concerns around different regulations, language barriers and cultural differences. But if you take the step, what is the best way to staff your move?

Any international expansion needs to be well-planned and researched. Getting a true understanding of local markets and business practices is vital on the product or service side, but just as important are the resourcing and finding leaders to build a new team.

Sara Daw is group chief executive of the Liberti Group and CFO Centre Group. The company provides access to fractional C-Suite professionals. In 2009, when it was a “very small SME”, an opportunity arose. The company had been growing steadily in the UK and a connection in its network inquired about launching in Australia.

Fast forward to today and the company is operating on five continents, in South Africa, Australia, the US, India and Germany. “I basically spent my life running training during those early years,” recalls Daw. “It doesn’t cost us that much to start up in a new country in terms of pound notes, it’s more around the investment of time in training people.”

A method that Daw has implemented – despite admitting that it may not be for everyone – has become a key tool to build trust. When team members visited leaders in other countries, they would stay at their houses. They would get to know their partners, children and way of life, both to understand the local culture and form a strong connection as the foundation of a successful business relationship.

Although it made some mistakes with hiring, the company has now built a replicable template for international expansion. Leveraging connections to find employee number one in a new territory is also a key recommendation from Orla Leonard, head of international and region lead in Europe at leadership consulting firm RHR International.

“I think knowledge and experience of clients and the market is number one,” she says. “Dipping into existing networks for referrals was a helpful first step. I have been amazed by the willingness of clients and contacts to flag up talented people in their networks and I have learnt that ‘paying it forward’ is something people like to do.”

The Liberti Group and RHR International focus on hiring leaders within the new territory, but another approach has its upsides too. “You need to strike a balance between embedding your company culture and capitalising on local expertise,” says Peter Gillingwater, chief executive of Newfound Global, which helps tech businesses expand into new markets. He recommends a hybrid approach. “

Send one of your trusted team members who already knows your company inside-out to set the tone and act as a bridge, then hire strategically in the new market,” he advises. “This combination allows you to transfer your company culture while leveraging the deep market knowledge of local hires.”

He gives the example of gift card tech company Tillo, which expanded to Austin, Texas in 2022. Its chief executive moved to the US for the transition and the difference was felt on the ground. The company expanded to Australia a year later.

“Sending someone senior who understands the company inside-out is a game-changer,” Gillingwater says. “They set the tone, build credibility and drive success in a way that a junior hire simply can’t.”

Once you have a leader in place, it’s time to build the team. Gillingwater says that choosing not to engage with local talent is a fast track to failure. “Local hires aren’t just there to add to your costs,” he says. “They’re the key to understanding how the market works. The best hires bring connections, insights into cultural nuances and a deep understanding of what local customers expect.”

Much like hiring a leader in the country, leaning on a network of trusted connections can take longer to get results but can be worth its weight in gold. Leonard says RHR International’s policy of asking clients and contacts for recommendations has provided first-hand testimonials from people who had worked with candidates and significantly reduced the risk of a bad hire.

That said, it’s not as simple as hiring anyone who’s local – you have to get the right people. Gillingwater says he has seen too many businesses fall into the trap of hiring someone’s cousin or a “well-connected” friend without checking if they are up to the job. The right local hire can accelerate your sales pipeline and provide invaluable feedback to shape strategy. The wrong hire will waste time and money and – perhaps most seriously – damage credibility.

“If you don’t have the network, bring in someone who does,” says Gillingwater. “A good talent partner or local expert can open doors and ensure you’re getting the best talent, not just whoever’s easiest to find or available. It’s worth waiting a few months if it means you get a great hire. Paying recruitment fees can be unpalatable but good recruiters often have the best access and knowledge around who is good and who should be avoided.”

Leonard suggests spreading the net wide when interviewing candidates. Narrowing the pool too quickly could lead to missing valuable candidates. She admits that one of the mistakes she’s seen is going too fast with recruitment. There is often a sense of urgency to get someone in, but this can create blind spots and store up future problems.

“Ensure there are multiple meetings between the candidate and multiple stakeholders, especially those in senior positions who are working more closely with the central HQ,” she says. “This also allows the candidate to get a sense of the organisation and make an informed decision. The most talented candidates have choices, so engaging them in a two-way dialogue is really important.”

There are creative solutions too. Software solutions company Epicor has tapped into emerging talent pools by partnering with institutions such as President University in Indonesia and the Institute of Technical Education in Singapore to provide students with hands-on experience using its software. This not only helps students develop valuable skills but also positions the company as an employer of choice for top talent in the region.

In-person interviews can give you an important baseline for what the talent pool looks like, so are rarely a waste of time. However, it’s important to look beyond the CV. Ask candidates about their values, what motivates them and how they approach challenges.

Combined with the local knowledge of a leader on the ground, you will start to understand the nuances that make this new territory unique. “For example,” says Gillingwater, “in France, work-life balance is a big deal so employees may expect clear boundaries around working hours. In the US, it’s often about long hours and hustle.”

In the same way that US companies expanding to the UK often need to tone down the hard-sell approach so as not to come across as brash, insights into local nuances can also offer the chance to hone your offering or messaging. Focus on building relationships and showing commitment to the market. As Gillingwater says: “It’s about blending your culture with theirs, not bulldozing it.”

As the international operation grows, a robust local hiring plan will emerge but business as usual applies. “Be really thoughtful about each hire and the impact each role will generate for the business,” says Leonard. “I think challenging yourself to think about what is different and what best-in-class looks like here is important – and to challenge your own schema of what makes a good candidate.”

With a robust culture of transparency and knowledge sharing, expanding into additional territories becomes easier, says Daw: “We have so many fantastic leaders in the business now and they have all been through it. They have their own stories and learnings and can support each other.”

The cultural groundwork for this has been laid already. The company holds two conferences a year, leaders do country visits and meet frequently on virtual calls. “If you’ve got the right relationship, you can pretty much get through anything,” says Daw. “We appreciate that every country is different on the ground, so we have guiding principles and core philosophies as a company, but each market can tailor those and localise those to their specific locations.”

RHR International also subscribes to gathering its teams from different territories together face to face. As part of this, the company’s values are discussed, which allows the standards it sets for all territories to be consistent.

Another way of keeping tight links between offices across the globe is exemplified by the creative communications agency Irvine Partners. It has offices in six countries throughout Europe and Africa and offers its team members an office exchange programme, enabling them to travel to different regions and get to know their colleagues better.

One of the biggest mistakes Gillingwater sees is being unprepared. “Too many companies dive into a new market without validating their product-market fit or understanding local nuances,” he says. “They make bad hires or rely on remote teams and end up wasting time and money.

“The fix? Do your homework. Invest in local expertise, bring in the right people and commit fully to the market. Also, make sure you have the appropriate budget to enter a new market, as it normally costs twice as much and takes twice as long!”

Expanding internationally isn’t easy, but when you do it right, the rewards are super-sized too.