This article has been provided by Stewart Roberts, Commercial Director at Total Back Office Solutions Limited for our Recruitment Start-up Centre.
The theory goes that if you’re capable of making placements in the UK, doing so overseas must be equally possible – and therein lies the temptation. Obviously an international presence is going to appeal to candidates and clients alike, and when successful, international recruiting provides an excellent revenue stream.
In practice, however, there are a number of things to arrange or figure out ahead of time. Before you start to look seriously at actual overseas recruitment, you need to ask yourself five things:
- How open is my sector internationally?
Ahead of any other step in the game, this is the big one. How is the market for the jobs you represent overseas? Are there nations it’s not worth looking at? Are there nations to focus on exclusively? Can you fill a role many companies are looking for or are you trying to break into a saturated market?
- How important would an overseas office be to this endeavour?
In almost all cases, spending on real estate elsewhere – even a virtual office – is an expense that won’t make back its return on investment in the early phases, and is something you should do only once firmly embarked on your journey. Don’t add any further costs until you’re sure that this is a viable business plan.
There is, however, a reason to do this when breaking into certain very insular countries. A little research will tell you if it’s necessary; if it isn’t then we recommend holding back.
- When your operation goes international, what extra complications will come up?
Let’s start with the obvious pitfalls likely to come up time and again; currency exchange costs and their effects on profit margins. Taxation in more than one country. Overseas registration, compliance, etc. Variations in language and in culture. Will your existing invoice finance infrastructure handle currency conversion? Are you able to be compliant with every regulation you’ll encounter?
- What else could get you into trouble?
Any recruitment agency will tell you that risk management is an important part of their day to day business. Easy enough for an established company working in the market it knows best; the more variables you add in, the harder this calculation becomes. Whatever you do, you can’t let there be any such issues you don’t even know about. Look into the UK’s Double Taxation agreements, check for withholding taxes, and stay up to date on working practices and above all, research, research, research!
- Is there anywhere you can go for advice?
This is the easiest question to answer. Of course there are – you just have to know who’s useful. Your first port of call, obviously, should be HMRC, who can offer advice on a wide variety of tax-related topics. There are a number of highly specialised providers who might offer insight on compliance between country rules and the easier ways of getting your contractors paid without falling foul of any regulations. And taxation and accountancy specialists, like us at TBOS, know how to handle registrations, company setups, and office administration no matter where you are in the world.
With our comprehensive back office and accounts service, we provide advice and invoicing for international placements to those of our clients who need it. Existing relationships with international invoice finance firms make a lot of other placement issues much simpler to deal with.
The short term funding solutions offered by TBOS Freedom are perfect for new start recruitment and permanent only agencies both. We can provide this funding in over 170 countries with 15 different currencies in addition to the advice we can offer. Article provided by Stewart Roberts, Commercial Director at Total Back Office Solutions Limited.
