Master global startup growth in four steps with Deel’s compliant hiring, localised HR, global payroll, and remote team management tools. Building and scaling a global startup isn’t as complex as it used to be, especially when using organisations like Deel, but knowing where to begin can still feel overwhelming.
This article walks you through four key steps in building a global startup—from choosing how to hire to running global payroll—so you can take each step confidently.
Hire and Classify Workers Compliantly With EOR and AOR Capabilities
The first step to growing your global startup is to build an international team to establish a physical presence in local markets around the world. To do this, you have three hiring options:
- Hire direct employees through your own foreign entities
- Hire independent contractors
- Hire international employees through an employer of record (EOR)
Hiring direct employees can be expensive and time-consuming, as you must first establish a local entity, process payroll per local payroll regulations, and provide your new hires with mandatory benefits.
Hiring independent contractors is a great intermediate solution since these workers are flexible, don’t require training, and often operate on a per-project basis. Your startup does not need to open an entity to hire contractors and is not obligated to cover taxes and benefits. You must, however, be aware of local laws regarding the classification of contractors to avoid misclassification.
The third option is to hire employees globally through an EOR. An EOR is a company that engages and pays one or more employees to provide services to another company. An EOR is a superior option for startups looking to grow their presence globally since it enables you to legally work with employees in countries around the world without setting up a foreign subsidiary in that country or region.
Deel’s global HR platform has both EOR and agent of record (AOR) capabilities, which means it can help you compliantly hire and classify contractors and employees in 100+ countries without the need to set up a local entity or risk misclassification penalties.
This route is ideal for startups looking to test particular markets and grow their workforce presence without undertaking significant investments of time and money.
2. Set Your Team Up With Localised Contracts and Onboarding
The next step in your global expansion journey is to onboard your new hires so they’re set up and ready to work with their necessary entitlements and protections. Every country has unique labor and employment laws to follow. Many of which cover the following:
- Pre-employment background checks
- Working hours
- Overtime pay
- Pension
- Equity
- Health insurance
- Medical leave
- Unemployment benefits
- Paid time off
- Sick leave
- Parental, paternity, and maternity leave
- Minimum wage
- Termination
- Intellectual property ownership
- And more
Building an internal HR department to oversee these laws and regulations in every country and jurisdiction you hire can take many years. Instead, startups can use a contract generation and onboarding platform to standardise the process.
Deel’s global HR platform has a built-in contract generation workflow and global HRIS that supports the creation of locally compliant contracts and onboarding your new hires in alignment with local labor laws.
When you start the contract creation and onboarding process, the platform prompts you with relevant local practices, so you get working hours, compensation rates, and termination clauses accurate every time, no matter where the worker resides.
You also have the option to customise each contract with pre-employment background checks, statutory benefits such as health insurance, parental leave and pension plans, intellectual property, and non-disclosure agreements, all localised to the worker’s country of residence.
Local experts review the contracts to ensure they’re airtight and continue to review and update them quarterly to comply with ever-evolving labor laws.
In addition, the HRIS simplifies many HR tasks, enabling you to manage time off, expenses, compliance documentation, compensation changes, and oversee workforce data in one system of record.
Compensate Your International Workforce With Global Payroll and Contractor Payments
Next, you need to consider how you’ll compensate your international workforce. When paying a global team, you must adhere to local payroll laws to avoid government penalties and fines.
Building an internal function with expertise in country-specific tax and payroll laws can be time-consuming and expensive. Alternatively, startups can outsource their payroll function to local vendors. However, this decentralises data and can lead to inconsistencies and lack of oversight.
Instead, companies can rely on a global payroll provider to handle compliant payroll and payment processing for their global team. This is the most hands-off and consolidated payment approach since one provider oversees the entire payment process.
Deel’s global HR platform has a built-in global payroll and contractor payments function to process payments for your workforce in 100+ countries around the world. Local, in-house payroll managers take care of payroll calculations, tax filing, payslip creation and delivery, employee deductions, and more.
The platform also provides you with total control and oversight. You can add bonuses, expenses, and off-cycle payments, review your team’s salaries and taxes in one system, create customised reports to analyse spending in specific areas (like social security, and 401k, pensions), and sync your payroll data with any other accounting software you use.
Support a Globally Distributed Team With Remote Team Tools and Resources
The final step to building and scaling your startup is to effectively manage and support a remote and globally dispersed team. Providing support involves embracing flexible working styles, implementing virtual communication and collaboration tools, and cultivating a culture of trust and accountability.
Deel’s global HR platform includes many tools and resources to help remote and globally dispersed teams thrive. These tools include:
- Deel Engage: Our HR plugins let your team complete tasks such as requesting time off, connecting with colleagues, making referrals, and completing pulse surveys, all within Slack. This eliminates context-switching and keeps your workforce engaged
- Deel Equipment: Easily ship and manage all the tools (laptops, monitors, headphones, and more) your team needs to work remotely in just a few clicks
- Flexible workspaces: Give your workforce the option to work anywhere and access hot desks, Wi-Fi, meeting rooms, and networking opportunities with flexible coworking space memberships
- Equity management: Grant your global EOR employees with equity, and Deel will take care of payroll and report any taxable events
- HR integrations: Connect Deel with your favorite HR platforms to reduce manual tasks and streamline workflows
- Visa and immigration services: Get worldwide visas for your global team. Deel immigration experts handle visa sponsorship, applications, and support for dependants
Build and scale globally with Deel
The founder’s journey to building a global team looks drastically different from a few years ago. Today, you have the infrastructure required to hire, pay, and manage workers worldwide at your fingertips. These are critical enablers of success for soon-to-be-scaling teams.
With Deel on your side, you can take your startup global from day one. The platform has everything you need to help you hire employees and contractors compliantly, master international labor laws, pay workers worldwide, and manage a global workforce.
Sounds like the solution you’re looking for? Book a demo today to start your global expansion journey.
