How to grow startup in Asia Pacific region and Australia

  

APAC region, encompasses the whole of Asia (East Asia, South Asia, North Asia and Southeast Asia), The Pacific Islands and Oceania, is usually associated with high growth and a great potential for success. Global expansion towards the Asia-Pacific Region is becoming more and more popular in business. However, in order for your business to be successful in this endeavor, you have to carefully set your goals and start determining the needs to suit APAC economies.

Why You Need to Expand towards the APAC Region

APAC has a forum of 21 Pacific Rim member economies promoting free trade throughout the whole region. It is truly diverse in nature which provides a myriad of benefits to your company’s expansion plans. For one, a larger audience can help boost profits and sales as it helps open your company to other markets. This in turn brings financial stability and a steady stream of revenue.

A new market, a strong financial footing, and access to hire global talents remotely are just the right ingredients to long-term success in business. And with APAC leading the global digital talent acquisition industry, plenty of opportunities can open up and much can be achieved as a start-up business.

With that being said, there are a few things to remember before expanding towards the APAC region. And in this guide, we’ll provide you with valuable tips to help your startup in its APAC expansion.

Conduct extensive research before entering new markets

Do not start your expansion without doing extensive research of the country you intend to expand to. The West and the APAC region have significant differences in doing business which is why it is critical that you do your due diligence before kickstarting any plans of expansion.

1. Legal Compliances

Understanding the foreign market, as well as the legal and regulatory differences from your home market, is a crucial step before jumping in on the expansion. Failing to comply with business regulations and tax compliance laws can have massive repercussions on your business.

For example, one can learn a lot from Uber’s exit in the Philippines in 2018. That year, Uber sold its operations in the Philippines to its competitor, Grab, after receiving a cease and desist order from the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) over unregistered drivers.

On that account, make sure to engage with local experts to get country-specific insights to help you navigate your way to doing business in each country or region.

2. Opportunities

Apart from legal requirements, understanding the local market is crucial. That includes taking language and cultural differences into consideration. This involves acclimatizing and localizing your product to fit a new customer base.

Furthermore, being able to identify opportunities and gaps in the market will not only provide you with an understanding of your target demographic and your customers’ buying persona but as well as the perfect time to execute the expansion.

3. Competition

Evaluating the current market competition and identifying potential barriers to entry are keys to successfully expand to the APAC region. Startups must gather sufficient information to assess existing products and services in the market in order to gain a strong grasp of the local culture and achieve valuable customer insights.

4. Talent

The best opportunity that international expansion could give is tapping on talents that transcend borders. Investing in local professionals who understand the market will be able to assist you to adapt your strategies and operations to the local business climate.

When hiring from a local talent pool, consider answering the following questions first:

• How will you manage and balance local hiring with global employee mobility?

• What can you offer to attract competent candidates?

• What cultural nuances might affect retaining top local talent?

• What measures can you put in place to smoothly integrate your local hires with your global team?

Things to consider

• First, remember that strategy and readiness are part of the preparation. An expansion involves certain challenges in management and logistics. Again, don’t forget to take into consideration the international laws and regulations, including how to navigate product optimization, and handling HR challenges.

• When you are ready, make sure your company has a solid revenue base. According to Beat reports, startups usually wait until they have $10 million in domestic revenue before expanding internationally. Create a reliable financial plan before moving to new waters.

• Lastly, lay some groundwork. Spend some time to research the infrastructure and government of the country you wish to expand in. Laws and taxation are different. The people and their needs are different. Localize yourself and immerse yourself in their society. The more you know, the more you understand, the better you can strategize.

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Final Tips

International expansion means refocusing your orientation towards a different customer profile, which is a crucial step in successfully positioning yourself in the local business landscape. Doing so will help you identify market gaps and understand how to navigate across geographies.

A Guide to hiring cheap remote workers in Pakistan Asia

 The upward trend in remote work & tougher visa regulations is creating a massive opportunity for businesses to hire remote workers in emerging economies to meet their talent needs.

Pakistan is a good choice for recruiting remote workers due to the low cost to companies and its staggering array of skilled employees, specifically in the fields of telecommunications and IT, to name but a few.

Here are few facts you need to know before hiring your first remote worker in Pakistan:

Country

Pakistan

Capital & Major Cities

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Islamabad (Capital)

Time Zone & IDD

GMT+5 (Pakistan Standard Time), IDD +92

Currency & Exchange Rates

Pakistani Rupee (PKR)

1USD= approx. 159.36 PKR. Check out the latest exchange rates here .

Spoken Language(s)

Urdu, English (official languages) + 17 regional languages

Public Holidays

11 days – Public Holidays in Pakistan are a combination of Islamic, national, and other religious holidays.

Overview of the Talent Pool

Pakistan is among Asia’s six most populous nations. A surge in population growth over the past few decades has given way to large numbers of young and talented individuals entering the labor market.

English is one of Pakistan’s two official languages with most schools and universities offering their curriculum in the English language. This makes hiring remote workers from Pakistan even more advantageous given the fact that they’re effective communicators.

Previously, excessive red tape made hiring and terminating Pakistani employees difficult however, in 2016, the government announced an initiative (the Prime Minister’s Youth Program) to combat unemployment in the country.

This program enables youth and poor segments of society to gain better employment opportunities, economic empowerment, skills acquisition, access to IT, and practical on-the-job training to improve job prospects.

Global research centre Point Topic Global has ranked Pakistan 4th in terms of broadband Internet growth in the world meaning that that the country has excellent connectivity in terms of internet and telecommunications.

Most government departments, organizations and institutions have their own websites with Pakistanis being one of the biggest users of the Internet, communicating with users all over the world.

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Cultural Insights

In general, the people of Pakistan are helpful, friendly, approachable, and humble.

Trust is a major consideration in Pakistani business culture; therefore, Pakistanis are more comfortable when they’re familiar with whom they conduct business.

In order to foster and build a trusting relationship, Pakastani will often ask personal questions to gain further insights and help them forge strong bonds.

The Pakastani people are generally casual about deadlines and punctuality. Although attending a meeting on time is always important, in the remote work sphere, you might find yourself having to wait as meetings might not occur as punctually as you’d expect. During meetings always wait to be introduced to by the meeting host as you’re likely to be greeted in order of age and status.

Pakastani workers do not appreciate overly assertive and argumentative behavior and similarly, placing them under high pressure may jeopardize and harm your working relationship.

Outcomes of a win-win nature are most likely to appeal to them and will gain popular support.

Appealing to a win-win outcome usually gains popular support.

Salaries & Benefits in Pakistan

The country does not have a minimum wage for skilled labor however, you will need to negotiate terms of employment and compensation.

Companies must provide guaranteed benefits that include time off for holidays and paid vacation days. Pakistan has 11 national and religious holidays for which employees get the day off. Employees who have worked continuously for at least a year get 14 consecutive days of annual leave during the next year. Those vacation days carry over into the next year if they’re not all used.

Another guaranteed benefit is 10 days of casual leave with full pay and another 16 days of sick or medical leave where employees get 50% of their regular pay.

Employers can grant casual leave for situations such as a sudden, fast illness while taking sick leave requires a medical certificate.

Terminating employees

Termination Process: A written letter should be provided when terminating a contract and reasoning for the termination must be sufficient and both employee and employee need to provide a month’s notice. In the absence of notice, a monthly salary in lieu must be provided.

Severance Pay: When employees are discharged from work, they are given severance pay. The payment must amount to 30 days’ wages for each completed year of service. Employees dismissed for misconduct are not entitled to severance pay.

Employing remote workers in Pakistan

Employment laws in Pakistan can be complex to understand. Snaphunt’s Employer on Record Partners can seamlessly employ & payroll your remote Filipino talent to ensure you stay compliant while doing away with the need for you to create complex structures. Contact us today for a free consultation.

Hire Remote Employees from Pakistan