Every year, the ASEAN welcomes scores of global companies eager to set up businesses in the region. Multinationals flock in from America, Europe & the Mediterranean to take advantage of the region’s rich labour, raw material and consumer markets. In most cases, global ventures set foot without any know-how of local labour laws, salary norms or statutory compliance, resulting in frequent run-ins with various regulatory departments.
Navigating regulatory requirements for global startups in foreign countries is a herculean task. Companies that start their ventures do so at the cost of huge investment, and sometimes, not letting go of operational functions can greatly wear business down. Outsourcing can give you the opportunity to focus on the one thing that truly matters in your business - your product.
As we all know, global startups come in to existence primarily with expansion on their cards. As smooth as it sounds, the initial days or years of the company are definitely not. For starters, we need to know one simple truth: there are no luxuries.
Global startups rely heavily on cross-functional team management to keep their costs low. Nobody wants to spend more money when the key focus is on building an exceptional product or a service. Nevertheless, there is one reality that global ventures cannot compromise on - people.
Employees are the greatest potential any company can have. They are the reason why great ideas exist and how they get transformed into life-altering futuristic processes. While any startup can compromise on operational costs, it cannot compromise on payroll, benefits, insurance, taxes and compliance documentation.
While a large number of global ventures do away with the traditional HR department, most of them are prudent enough to hire outsourcing companies in its place so that salaries are delivered on time and statutory contributions paid without dues.
Multinationals launching in international destinations need to be extra wary of local regulations and laws concerning new businesses. Any oversight might result in crippling fines, irrevocably derailing their performance & numbers.
Staff size, hitherto believed to be an important factor that drives outsourcing, is no more a deterrent. Most ventures have staff numbers under 200 or less, but the long term benefits that outsourcing provides outweighs the drawbacks.
Outsourcing also reduces the capital expenditure needed to acquire systems and software. By having services outsourced and systems leased, it helps startups expand without investing on processes or technology.
Global companies trying to find ground in new markets may need HR outsourcing firms more than ever to act as their employer on record. The main issue lies in aligning company policies to local practices and these firms tend to have the advantage as they already have best practices in place and time-tested success stories.
GUIDING GLOBAL VENTURES
At Propay Partners, we offer payroll, employee mobility and statutory support for foreign startups. Additionally, we act as Professional Employment Organization (PEO) for MNCs starting their interim operations and help them skip irrelevant paperwork & regulatory hassles.
While outsourcing levels out most of the operational bumps, accountability is still an issue that stares most corporations in the face. Our team of compliance experts handles accountability through detailed study, clearly-written service level agreements (SLA), bespoke services and segregation of work (SOW).
We work with investment corridors like InvestKL, InvestSelangor, MIDA & EUMCCI to handhold upcoming global ventures in Malaysia. To date, we have supported Coca Cola, AXA, Fonterra, Tesla, TUI Group and many more to establish their operations in Kuala Lumpur. We also provide complimentary advisory support to companies that reach out to us through these circuits.
Today, outsourcing is no longer seen as a cost cutting proposition, but a tool that mitigates risk and ensures compliance. That’s why for many CEOs, this collaboration is for the long run.
