MBA2627 Q&A Wednesday: Should I Hire Locally or Overseas?

Summary

Summary of Episode MBA2627: "Q&A Wednesday: Should I Hire Locally or Overseas?"

Introduction

In this episode of The $100 MBA Show, host Omar Zenhom tackles a common dilemma faced by entrepreneurs and business owners: "Should I hire locally or overseas?" Released on May 21, 2025, Omar draws from his extensive 20+ years of entrepreneurship experience to provide actionable insights that can help listeners make informed hiring decisions tailored to their business needs.

Hiring Overseas

Pros

1. Cost Efficiency

   • Lower Costs: Omar emphasizes that hiring overseas often reduces expenses. “You can often hire amazing talent at a fraction of what your local rates are” [02:15].
   • Higher Value: Investing in overseas talent can yield more for your money, allowing businesses to onboard senior professionals without the hefty price tag associated with local hires [02:45].

2. Global Perspective

   • Diverse Insights: A global team brings varied perspectives, enhancing product development and market reach. Omar shares, “If you want to impact the world, you need to have the world represented in your team” [03:30].
   • Cultural Relevance: Understanding different cultures can improve product usability across diverse markets, as exemplified by his experience with Webinar Ninja’s international success [04:10].

3. 24-Hour Coverage

   • Round-the-Clock Operations: With team members in different time zones, businesses can offer continuous customer support. “You could support your product and services while you sleep” [04:50].

Cons

1. Time Zone Challenges

   • Delayed Collaboration: Asynchronous communication can slow down project timelines. Omar notes, “Everything's kind of taking 24 hours now” [07:00].
   • Solution: He suggests clustering team members within similar time zones to mitigate delays [07:30].

2. Cultural Differences

   • Communication Barriers: Misinterpretations can arise from varied cultural norms. Omar advises, “We have to be super clear because some things are a little bit more subtle when it comes to culture and communication” [08:15].

3. Increased Management Complexity

   • Need for Strong Documentation: Managing a distributed team requires robust systems and clear Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to ensure seamless operations [09:00].

Hiring Locally

Pros

1. Enhanced Communication and Collaboration

   • Real-Time Interaction: Local teams can communicate more effortlessly, fostering quicker decision-making and project progression. “Easier communication and collaboration, especially if you're building fast” [10:20].

2. Stronger Company Culture

   • In-Person Relationships: Building trust is more straightforward when team members interact face-to-face regularly. Omar highlights the value of occasional in-office days to strengthen team bonds [10:50].

3. Suitability for Specific Roles

   • Localized Expertise: Certain positions, such as sales or legal roles, benefit from local knowledge and presence. “When it comes to finances and legal, I always have a local person that I'm working with” [11:30].

Cons

1. Higher Costs

   • Expense Premium: Hiring locally, especially in Western or high-income regions, can be significantly more expensive [11:50].

2. Limited Talent Pool

   • Geographical Constraints: The best candidates might not reside nearby, limiting the available options [12:10].

3. Inflexible Schedules

   • Operational Limitations: Covering multiple time zones becomes challenging, potentially hindering customer support and other time-sensitive operations [12:30].

Decision Making

Omar emphasizes that the decision to hire locally or overseas hinges on the nature of your business:

• Local vs. Global Market: If your product or service targets a specific geographic area, local hires may offer essential cultural insights and operational efficiencies. Conversely, a global target audience benefits from a diverse, international team [12:50].

• Role-Specific Needs: Assess the role’s requirements. Positions that demand local market knowledge or regulatory understanding are better suited for local hires [13:10].

• Focus on the Right Fit: Ultimately, “It's about the right person for the role. Sometimes they're down the street and sometimes they're across the ocean” [13:30]. Prioritizing the candidate’s ability to contribute effectively to your customer’s needs is paramount.

Conclusion

Omar wraps up by reinforcing that the choice between hiring locally or overseas isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer. Instead, it should be a strategic decision based on your business objectives, customer base, and the specific roles you aim to fill. Building a team that aligns with your vision and enhances your ability to serve customers is the key to sustainable growth and success.

Notable Quotes

• “You can often hire amazing talent at a fraction of what your local rates are” [02:15].
• “If you want to impact the world, you need to have the world represented in your team” [03:30].
• “Everything's kind of taking 24 hours now” [07:00].
• “We have to be super clear because some things are a little bit more subtle when it comes to culture and communication” [08:15].
• “It's about the right person for the role. Sometimes they're down the street and sometimes they're across the ocean” [13:30].

Final Thoughts

For entrepreneurs grappling with hiring strategies, this episode provides a comprehensive framework to evaluate the benefits and challenges of local versus overseas hires. Omar’s practical advice, backed by real-world examples, equips listeners with the knowledge to make informed decisions that align with their business goals.

Transcript

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[Barry]

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[Omar Zenhom]

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[Barry]

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[Omar Zenhom]

Smart question this week. Should I hire locally or overseas? And here's my take. If your product, your service serves a global market, you're trying to impact the world. Your team should reflect that. But let's break this down in today's episode, the real pros and cons of both options. Because the right answer depends on what you're building, who you're serving and where you want to grow. Who you hire shapes the quality of your product, how well you understand your customers, and how fast or slow your business grows. It's not just about cost. It's about capability. It's about communication. It's about culture. So let's start with hiring overseas. Let's explore what it's like foreign. Welcome back to the Hundred Dollar MBA show. I'm your host Omar Zenholm where I deliver practical business lessons three times a week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday to help you start, grow and scale your business. I mean, a lot of overseas hires hires across the globe, six different continents. I mean the only continent I can hire in is Antarctica. So let's go over the pros of hiring overseas. Number one, I found that you're costs are generally lower. You can often hire amazing talent at a fraction of what your local rates are, especially if you're living in a western country like us, Canada, the uk, Australia, whatever it might be. I also see that you get more for your money. So you might get a senior, you know, developer engineer at the cost of maybe an entry level engineer. This allows you to build your team earlier and even on a budget. Number two, global perspective. And I believe this is more important, more valuable than the cost pro of hiring overseas. If your customers are in different time zones, they speak different languages, have different cultures, are from different regions, then a team member that is international in that world, in that culture can serve them better. When I was building Webinar Ninja, my software company, I wanted this to be a global product, a global brand. And I needed to represent the world with my team so that they can inform my product to be able to be impactful for everybody in the world. So we made sure that for example, our UI was easy to understand and use regardless if you're a native English speaker or not. It's just intuitive. And this is why our product sold very well overseas in non English speaking markets. So again, if you want to impact the world, you need to have the world represented in your team. There's also small little things like one of our UX UI designers was from Bulgaria and in her country everybody uses Android. They don't use iPhone or at least a very small minority use iPhone. So for her, our app needs to work really well on Android. It's even more important than working on an iPhone in her perspective. And it's great to have that perspective so you understand that not everybody's like you, not everybody is like your country or your culture. The third one I absolutely love is 24 hour coverage. If you are a champion of customer support in your business, if you want to make sure that your company synonymous with amazing support, then 24 hour coverage is something that you want to think about. And if you want to have people working in regular hours or daytime hours, you need to have a global team. That way they could support your product and services while you sleep. That's a huge advantage. This also means that you are a global brand. That means your business is serving your customers 24, 7. Doesn't matter where they are, what time it is you, you got their back. Did you know that the pet industry is a booming $150 billion industry? People absolutely love their dogs, don't you? If you're looking for a new investment and love dogs, there's only one name you need to know. That's Dogtopia. Dogtopia is the largest, leading and fastest growing pet franchise in North America with 300 locations. Dogtopia is the only pet services franchise that offers a reoccurring revenue membership model. Dogtopia offers safe, open play, daycare, boarding and spa services for dogs. Want a strong franchise model that is recession resistant and number one in the industry? Check out Dogtopia because every dog and dog parent deserves it. Go to dogtopia.com to learn more, that's dogtopia.com I'm currently in the south of.

[Barry]

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[Omar Zenhom]

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[Omar Zenhom]

To sign up for your free trial. That's shipstation.com code MBA, but it's all roses. What are the cons of hiring overseas? Well, time zone challenges Collaboration can be slower if your team is spread out, meaning that if you have a team across six continents like I had at one time, you will have to use asynchronous communication a lot. This means that when your team members are posting something on your team collaboration application like Asana or Basecamp or whatever it might be, somebody might be sleeping and then they'll wake up in the morning and they'll see that post and then they'll respond to it and then when they wake up they'll see it. So you could see everything's kind of taking 24 hours now. It's not that bad if you have long cycles of development or work or nothing's time sensitive. One of the things that you can do to challenge or to remedy this challenge is to make sure that your teams are all in the same time zone. So for example, all of the customer support team might be in the Philippines or all your engineers might be in Eastern Europe or Europe in general, so there's some overlap. Or all your riders are in North America. Whatever it might be the point is, is that when they need to collaborate with other people on their team, it's easy in terms of their time zones. Number two, this is something that a lot of people talk about, but it needs to be talked about and that is cultural differences. This isn't always bad, but it can affect how you communicate, give feedback or build relationships. What you might consider to be friendly might be rude and vice versa. So when I work with a global team, I make sure that we over communicate. We also communicate our intentions. Like I say, I'm telling you this and this is why I'm saying this, so people understand, okay, this is where it's coming from. And I never assume that people will understand me or read between the lines. No, we have to be super clear because some things are a little bit more subtle when it comes to culture and comes to communication. Let's make sure there's no subtleties. We are just clear and transparent. Number three, hiring takes more intention. You need strong documentation. When you're hiring internationally, clear SOPs, you need the tools to support a distributed team, like a great project management tool like Basecamp or Asana or whatever it might be. The point here is, is that you need to be streamlined. You just can't use Google Chat or Slack and just hope everything's gonna work out. You need to have systems in place to make sure nothing falls between the cracks. So let's talk about hiring locally. What are some of the pros? One, generally easier communication and collaboration, especially if you're building fast, especially when you're in the beginning or the early stages of your business. Number two, easier to build a strong company culture in person if you're in the same office. With real communication, your team members will trust you faster if you're seeing them every single day. Now I know this is like the age of remote work and not a lot of people want to go into an office, but a lot of startups and a lot of new businesses benefit a lot by being in the same office at least a couple or three times a week so that they can build those bonds, build that trust, communicate what they need to communicate with each other so they have some momentum and they could build faster. And sometimes for specific roles like sales or legal, having someone local just makes more sense. For example, I had a global team, but when it comes to finances and legal, I always have a local person that I'm working with. But what are the cons of hiring locally? Well, cost, plain and simple. So like I said, if you're in a western country or A high earning per capita country. Hiring locally can be expensive, especially in major cities. You also have a limited town pool. The best person for the job might not live near you. And of course, inflexible schedules, especially if you're trying to cover multiple time zones. You know, it's hard to get a hire to wake up in the middle of the night to do a night shift or a graveyard shift for customer support. So what's the right move? In my opinion, if your product is local, say you're serving customers in a specific city or country, then hiring locally may give you cultural nuances in person collaboration that matters for your business. So say for example, you have a cleaning company that cleans people's homes and you're based in a major city like Sydney, Australia. It makes sense for you to hire people that understand where the areas are that you need to go to to clean these houses. You understand the culture of Australia, you understand that you know when school holiday and that's not a good time to do house cleanings maybe and your local market is Sydney, then it makes sense to build a local team. But if your business is global, your customers are everywhere, let's say for example, then your team should be too. So if you have an online business, an online digital product that's serving the world, I recommend you diversify. Because that diversity will give you better products, because you're going to get better feedback from your team, smarter marketing decisions, and a company that reflects the world it's selling to. That's what we did with Webinar Ninja, our software company that we grew for 10 years. We had team members across six different continents and it made for a better product. No doubt about it. Here's the truth. It's not local versus overseas. It's about the right person for the role. Sometimes they're down the street and sometimes they're across the ocean. What matters is building a team that helps you serve your customers better. Your customers are the most important thing. They allow you to grow. And when you have a team, you move faster and, and you bring your vision to life no matter where they're based. Thanks, Barry for your Q and A question. Today on Q and A Wednesday, if you got a question you want to ask and you want it answered right here on the show, just go to 100nba.net q Submit your question there and we got your back. If you want more help building your business the smart way, subscribe to my Three Things newsletter at 100- MBA-NET just sign up for any of our freebies any of our guides and you'll be part of our newsletter. Every week I'm gonna send you three things. Something to think about, something that's gonna change your mindset. Number two, something to do so that you are moving forward every week. And number three, something to learn so you are growing. As an entrepreneur, it's my way to coach you from afar. It's no fluff, just practical help for entrepreneurs just like you. Again, 100- MBA-NET sign up for any of our guides and you'll be added to our newsletter automatically. Thank you so much for listening, for consuming.

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Thank you.

[Omar Zenhom]

Today's podcast episode. You are a doer. You're an action taker. You're my kind of person. You're my people. I can't wait to see you in the next episode. So I'll see you then. Take care.

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