eshanpatil

[eshanpatil]

The best route for global business expansion in India

The idea of starting a business in India is observed to be a profitable one from various aspects.

India is one of the best countries to expand your business internationally!

Before thinking of starting any business, a clear understanding of the location of doing business, its market, the culture of work, and the benefits to your business is necessary.  It is also important to know which route to be adopted to kickstart a business. We will be doing exactly that through this blog!

Keep reading as we will take you through how India has become a dream destination for business expansion. We will also make you aware of the business models which can be used by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) for establishing the business in India. 

Indian culture

India is always known for its heritage and traditions. It is one of the oldest civilizations that harbors a unique and complex diversity, that gracefully embraces change and growth. 

When we say India, the beautiful Taj Mahal, and the serene Bay of Bengal come to our mind. But as we explore more, we see that India offers a kaleidoscopic variety not just in culture but also in art, spirituality, philosophy, and trade. Twenty-seven states of India have their dance forms, music, craft, cuisine, and languages, making India the perfect marketplace of South Asia. 

As of today, India is the second-most populous country. It is one of the fastest-growing economies in the world and is showing all-rounded progress since its independence. India’s development can be seen from its research, education system, space programs, technological advancements, and trade activities. 

India is catching up with other developed countries and creating better work and employment opportunities. Be it work-life balance, work environment, or relationship with other employees, India is always providing a relaxed, productive, and progressive working culture for every employee in India. 

Coming to the business ethos of India, the government has played a key role in empowering various industries and sectors. These emerging industries in India, offer tremendous growth opportunities for small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs).

Government initiatives for business development in India

The government of India is playing an important role in empowering businesses in India. It is constantly inculcating new programs and initiatives for growing business opportunities in every city and state in the country. 

For instance, the government of India is leading by developing mobile-friendly websites and apps for citizens, giving a push to the ‘mobile-first’ mindset. This has inspired every business to make a shift towards using online platforms with a mobile-focused approach, making Indian customers and businesses tech savvy. 

The government has launched the National Broadband Mission for providing broadband access to all villages by 2022. You may have also heard about the widely promoted ‘Make In India’ initiative. It is designed to transform India into a global manufacturing hub. The government’s India Innovation Growth Programme 2.0 (IIGP), Startup India along with Make in India programs are enhancing the tech skills of the population of India and encouraging young entrepreneurs and inventors to foster innovation.

In addition, India has set a goal of developing 10 Million future-ready tech professionals through the Ministry of Education’s Digital Skilling program where it has designed apprenticeship programs in private partnerships with private sector corporates in 72 different areas including Artificial Intelligence, Cloud Computing, and Cybersecurity. In fact, the program ‘Digital India’  introduced by the government has given a solid boost to digitization in India. It has motivated many companies to function remotely and transform their ways of doing business. This proved to be helpful for companies to flourish their business, especially in tough times such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

The government digital platform,  CoWIN is a shining example. It is a digital application used extensively for obtaining information regarding vaccine drives during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

SahiPay is another digital platform that aims to provide easy access to insurance services. It has pushed the Fintech industry revolution further, by giving doorstep services for banking, insurance, mutual funds, EMI collection, and travel booking.

To understand and appreciate new India better, it is important to note its economic growth in recent years.

Economic changes in India

The Indian economy has the distinction of being one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. Political stability after 2014, liberalization and progressive business policy have unleashed the growth of the Indian economy.

As per the Reserve Bank of India, the economic growth rate for 2022-23 is projected to be at 7.8%. India is currently a middle-income country and is the world’s fifth-largest economy. According to the EY-FICCI (The Ernst & Young and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry) report, the GDP ratio is expected to reach 0.4% by 2025 from 0.38% in 2019.

The service and industrial sectors account for 54% and 18% respectively, of the country’s GDP. India is trying to recover from the hit it took during the pandemic and has also retained its position as the third-largest in the world in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP). 

Emerging businesses sectors In India

Increasing investments by the government, greater political stability, growing consumer demand, increase the flow of FDIs, and constantly improving business trends are pushing India to explore and expand various business sectors. 

India is now a business powerhouse for entertainment, pharmaceuticals, healthcare services, education, agriculture, logistics, Information technology, telecommunication, textile, and infrastructure. In recent years, India has shown huge development in fields such as space technology, entertainment, and even trade. A closer look at these emerging industries in India provides a better picture.

Information Technology 

India is known globally to have a technologically driven knowledge economy due to its Information Technology (IT) industry. The IT industry plays an important role in enhancing the productivity of almost every other country sector.  Over the last decade, India has become an IT hub for many software companies across the world. It is now known as the world’s largest sourcing destination for the IT industry. The growth of the IT and business service market in India is projected to reach $19.93 billion, by 2025.

Telecommunication

The Indian telecom industry has grown at a rapid pace post-liberalization. New technology such as Wi-max, Virtual Private Network (VPN), and data services have been instrumental in enhancing business in the IT and BPO sectors.  It is estimated that over the next few years, the rising use of mobile phones and reduction in data costs will add 500 million new internet users approximately, thereby creating various new business opportunities in India. Additionally, by 2025, India will start to have 5G-centric technologies such as robotics, cloud computing, AI, etc.

 Entertainment

The entertainment industry in India has grown out of its black-and-white era and entered multiplex and Over-The-Top (OTT) platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc. This is because of the advances in virtual reality and the use of 3D and special effects by developers. 

This has also provided new business opportunities to ancillary sectors such as dubbing, recording studios, animation, cinematography, and other content-creating options.

Aerospace and Defense 

India is the third largest military spender. It is also known to have the second largest armed force in the world. India is revolutionizing its defense sector, by empowering startups and research projects. The government has also designed a few schemes such as DTIS (Defence Testing Infrastructure Scheme) and iDEX (innovations for Defence Excellence) to uplift the defense and private sectors.

Commercial space sector

India’s commercial space stands out as one of the most promising business sectors in the world. India’s space program, ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization), is the sixth largest space agency in the world, harboring a large fleet of remote sensing and communication satellites. India’s space sector has earned worldwide recognition for its successful Mars mission lunar probes and for launching 104 satellites in one mission for fraction of the cost of western nations.

Fintech India 

Fintech or BFSI (Banking, financial services, and insurance) has revolutionized the way financial services are provided in India. The fintech startup ecosystem saw a huge capital inflow to reach $4.6 billion funding across 160 deals in the first half of 2020. Fintech is also bringing in newer trends in various industries. In addition, government financial initiatives such as Jan Dhan Yojana and India Stack are accelerating the digital revolution even in rural parts of the country.

Textile 

India is now among the world’s largest producers and consumers of cotton. As per the Ministry of Textiles, India recorded its highest-ever textile and apparel exports of $44.4 billion, in the financial year 2021-22. Availability of raw materials and skilled manpower, increasing domestic market, and the rise of e-commerce are a few growth drivers of the textile industry in India. 

 Agriculture

The agricultural sector is a major source of employment for India’s population and hence proves to be an important driving factor of the Indian economy.  The agriculture sector accounts for 28% of the country’s GDP. The increasing adoption of drones, remote sensing technologies, and advanced irrigation systems have provided a boost to the agricultural market in India. 

Trade routes of India

India is constantly exploring overseas markets to develop new business opportunities. The Department of Commerce has strategized various policies and procedures for the expansion of trade and export services. 

You will find it interesting to know that Indian export is not limited to spices and cotton, but has crossed all barriers and become a major exporter of electronics and electrical equipment, pharmaceutical products, AI technology, vehicles, and various software services.

As of 2020, India is at number 18 in total exports and is also the world’s largest exporter of diamonds. It has also established markets in countries such as the U.S, Singapore, China, the Netherlands, Australia, Turkey, and so on. For more in-depth information regarding India’s top trade partners, refer to the Observatory of Economic Complexity. It also provides information regarding the import and export evaluation of India.

Service exports have taken a large leap in recent years. The IT and Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES) are contributing almost 50% of India’s total export services. The service exports scaled up to $148.3 billion in the year 2020-21. This growth was despite the effect of COVID-19 pandemic on India’s travel, tourism, aviation, and hospitality sectors. 

The new-age digital business in India 

With the availability of smartphones and high-speed Internet connectivity, India is on its way to becoming a digitally advanced country. Emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Cloud, and autonomous systems have caused a rapid digital transformation and led to business expansion in India. 

This transformation has helped in the development of various sectors. For instance, in the healthcare sector, the development of teleconsultation and telemedicine has made it easy to provide healthcare services in remote and rural areas of India.  

The use of advanced banking applications and websites has made it easy to perform online transactions at any time of the day through smartphones and tablets. UPI payment options like PhonePe, Google Pay, and BHIM have saved our time and efforts. The time when we stood in lines for paying our bills has definitely ended! 

Digital payments are used frequently for purchasing entertainment and sports tickets. Moreover, digitization has led to the growth of e-commerce and therefore led to global business expansion in India. You name any brand for buying any product, from merchandise, jewelry, footwear, and other accessories to furniture and housing appliances. You search for it and it’s available on every digital platform.

There are many startup ideas that took the digital route and developed successful business models. There are 105 Indian startups that have already made it to the unicorn club as of July 2022.

One such startup example is Dream11, a fantasy sports platform founded in 2008. The company is developed to let customers play fantasy sports such as hockey, cricket, football, and many more. It has raised over $400 million and became the first Indian fantasy sports platform to enter the unicorn list in 2019.

India as a business destination for all

India has an open economy and hence provides many investment opportunities for FDI in many sectors. As per United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), India scaled up to the 7th position for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the world. India has also jumped 14 places and landed in 63rd position on the World Bank’s Doing Business 2020 study. 

The ease of doing business in India and its advantages for SME

For many years, India is considered one of the most profitable destinations for testing business. Factors like digital advancements, adapting to remote working, and the high availability of a skilled and educated workforce have encouraged various business enthusiasts to establish their businesses in India. A few examples of such companies are Procter & Gamble (P&G), Sony Corporation, Nike, CITI Group, Amazon, Uber, Unilever, and Google. The ease of doing business in India can be best understood by the success story of Google Pay. 

Google Pay, was initially designed as a Google wallet. It was launched in India as Tez app in September 2017 and later rebranded to Google Pay in August 2018. Within a year from its debut, Google Pay was being used by more than 22 million people and businesses every month and recorded transitions worth over $30  Billion. 

Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google, said that the debut of Google Pay in the Indian market has been instrumental in understanding how to revamp its digital payment model globally. As of 2021, using the India model, Google Pay was launched in 42 countries worldwide. In addition, with the rising number of online payments and UPI transactions, the Indian economy is known as one of the leading innovators in digital finance.

It is now clear, how India offers an attractive market for testing foreign businesses. So how can you establish your business in India? What are the different business models being used to expand your business in India? 

There are multiple options available for you. At the end of this blog, we have shared the evolution of business models and also an emerging business model, International PEO/EOR.

Remote hiring, a new way of conducting business in India

India offers a large pool of English speaking population that is well versed with technology. It is also a favorable workplace due to employee benefits and employee-friendly work policies. India’s work culture is constantly evolving and developing as per requirement. For Instance, during the COVID-19 pandemic, employees of India adapted to remote working.

Now, well into the pandemic, employees were able to set a precise workflow by using online portals and tools like Zoom meetings. Companies in India have also gotten accustomed to remote hiring and onboarding. If this interests you then please, refer to our blog Building remote teams in India. It will give you a comprehensive overview of everything you need to know about hiring remote employees in India. 

Evolution of business models in India

For many years, the conventional way of expanding your business in India was by either directly set up an entity or through outsourcing. These were the ideal options many foreign companies used for doing business in India.

For instance, International Business Machines (IBM) company, re-entered India in 1987. Since then, it has expanded its operations by setting up offices in different cities and states of India. Uber is another notable example that expanded its business operations in India. It entered India in 2013 and has been constantly growing in the ride-sharing space. It has now become one of the most valuable startups in the world.

Recently, India has witnessed tremendous change and transition in ways of conducting business. It has now evolved from franchising, e-commerce, outsourcing, subsidiary formation, and freelancing options to newer models such as International PEO services or EOR and remote hiring. 

From our experience at Remunance, we can see that most of the startups and SMEs are making the best use of these new models to build their remote teams in India. SMEs from more than 16 countries have taken this quick and cost-effective path to build remote teams of various sizes ranging from anywhere between 4 to 50 employees. These new business models will definitely change the way business is conducted by tapping into the Indian workforce. 

How an International PEO/EOR works?

Professional Employer Organization in India or EOR in India provides services to foreign companies who wish to establish their business in India. These services are a better alternative to outsourcing. This is because PEO/EOR handles all the legalities and compliance issues that are usually faced while outsourcing.

To know more about how PEO services are a better option for entering the Indian market, refer to our blog PEO..better alternative to outsourcing

International PEO/EOR is by far the best option for any small and medium business who wishes to test the Indian market. The PEO/EOR company will be the legal employer in India, for foreign companies and take care of all the HR services including employee recruitment and training, employee benefits, and payroll. 

How Remunance helps in expanding your business in India

Every business is different and therefore needs tailor-made business strategies to align with your goals. Remunance’s PEO/EOR services, will do exactly the same and provide you with a unique basket of services that suit your business needs!

Remunance understands the Indian market and its trends. With our technologically advanced and transparent solutions, we can help you get started in no time!

Remunance will provide you with comprehensive solutions and streamline your entire journey of establishing your remote team in India. 

Click here to learn more about Remunance services and how we can help you.

#list of peo companies #peo #professional employment organization #employer of record #employer of record india #peo companies #peo providers #peo vs eor #employer of record services in india

[eshanpatil]

Expansion of business services through remote working

Remote working is the way to function post-pandemic. But how did it begin in the first place?

Working with remote teams is not a new concept. It has evolved over the years through various business models. It is a tried and tested working model which has proved to be helpful for companies planning to expand their operations in foreign countries.

For instance, if we look at the evolution of business models used to expand businesses, outsourcing and freelancing have used remote working to a great extent. The majority of the IT, telecommunication, and marketing industries have used this model to expand their businesses globally.

India for instance saw a major boom in IT and other services due to outsourcing and subsidiary formation. India’s open-door economy has welcomed many foreign companies to establish their business in India. In addition, the industries and services in India easily adapted to remote working during COVID-19 pandemic. To get a clear understanding of how India’s business sector has evolved over years and how it has become a top destination for global business expansion, refer to our blog The best route for global business expansion in India.

Remote working and its benefits

In remote work, anyone with the right talent, skill set, and qualifications can find a job without any geographical barriers. The misconception that only technological, non-core processes, and IT-based industries can function remotely has completely changed. The COVID-19 pandemic has boosted the confidence of many SMEs to function remotely. Now, various functions in industries like healthcare, pharmaceuticals, accounting, media, and even legal services are carried out smoothly through remote working.

There was a time when working remotely was considered difficult, as technology didn’t exist. The emergence of cloud computing, video conferencing, and advanced communication technologies have made it easy to work in a dynamic and productive remote environment!

Remote working inspires employees to look beyond their local work territories, and explore work options worldwide with high international wages. Building remote teams with employees who wish for flexibility, varied experience, and higher growth works best for small and medium-sized enterprises that wish to test their business internationally. 

Remote team building is exactly what an EOR can help you achieve. An Employer Of Record services will be your legal employer and build a remote team for your business and will look after all the HR-related responsibilities to simplify the business expansion journey of a company. 

Let us understand how the ever-evolving business model of remote working has helped various services and business functions worldwide. This will give a clear view of numerous business options to choose from, to function and excel in today’s remote business world!

Expansion of business services through remote team building 

1. Healthcare

The traditional doctor-patient relationship has thrived and is now building through telecommunication, digital media, and other health technology. Digitization gave rise to connected health, also referred to as technology-enabled care that helps you access quality care and consultation. 

The number of patients preferring television has increased by 50% since 2020. In addition, the defense and military services have incorporated telecommunication and telemedication in their training. They have also made impressive use of these remote services for the treatment of injuries on battlefields and on inaccessible grounds. 

2. IT and ITES service

IT and ITES services have been spearheading the remote working model for decades. In fact, many companies have excelled during the COVID-19 pandemic by building remote teams and wish to adhere to it even during normalcy. For instance, in India, 90% of IT employees and approximately 70-80% of BPO firms, e-commerce, and SMEs have shifted to permanent work from home and acknowledged the success of remote work.  

Many IT leaders and CEOs decided to adopt cloud technologies and cloud-delivered applications such as software as a service (SaaS). 

To make business status tracking, team communication, and interactions easy, and to avoid any challenges during remote working, numerous new software and applications were developed by ITES. 

As with the right set of tools, everything can be simplified in remote working. These are a few examples that can simplify working with remote teams globally.

1.

Google Drive

It is an easy-to-use cloud-based solution that ensures the safe sharing and storage of documents. Files can be edited and documented collaboratively and the remote teams receive real-time updates and edits.

2. 

HelloSign

It’s an e-signature platform on which up to 20 people can sign and get the document in their files. The entire document can be customized as per the brand’s identity

3.

Userlane

It is an easy-to-use software, which helps companies guide employees regarding the usage of any software. It is very useful in creating a step-by-step segmented guide that gives a walkthrough entire software process

Human resources

Human resources as a business function is growing rapidly in the teleworking switch today. Finding the right employees remotely despite the geographical barriers and retaining employees virtually is at times challenging for human resources professionals. HR services or HR teams have opportunities for improving internal communications rather than just providing employees with company information. Increasing the use of collaborative tools and cloud-based HR software helps in smooth business continuity in any organization. 

In addition, the deployment of advanced software such as Applicant tracking system (ATS), payroll system, and leave and attendance tracking systems ensure precise and effective payroll solutions. Adoption of in-built surveys and employee engagement tools also provide room for improvement and growth and help employees stay content within the company virtually. 

4. Entertainment, media, and animation

The entertainment, media, animation, and content development services have changed the way we perceive, produce, and portray content. Heavy investments in virtual reality, animation, and special effects, and bolstering streaming services such as Disney Hotstar, Netflix, and Amazon Prime have transformed the media landscape. Digital media revenue has increased by 31% in 2020 and will continue to rise throughout 2022.

The constant need for advanced augmented reality games, for an enhanced at-home gaming experience, has provided innovative business expansion opportunities for various remote working teams such as video designers. For example, in 2020, games created for Facebook’s Oculus Quest and Quest 2, accounted for 1 million dollars, with just the headsets bringing in over a billion dollars.

5. Education

Remote education has been under the radar post-pandemic. The flexible delivery of e-learning lectures and tutorials has been instrumental in acquiring multifunctional knowledge in the comfort of our homes. Interactive e-learning tools, along with freedom from constant supervision fuel remote learning students to work and study harder. They are responsible for their own skill and education.

Coursera, an e-learning platform, recorded the registration of 20 million new students in 2021. Regionally, Africa witnessed up to 50% growth in online course enrollment and a growth of 48% in terms of student registrations. 

Remote team building in education services has been instrumental in educating school officials, teachers, and parents regarding student learning and social care during the pandemic. In fact, the majority of the remote solutions curated for imparting education and training online are free universally and cater to multiple languages.

6. Engineering design and drafting

As the book by Stephen Bayley and Terence Conran rightly says, “Design is intelligence made visible”. Nothing concrete can be built without a detailed outline or design. 

Remote designing services have proved to be extremely important for accessing qualitative work in shorter timespans. The large, interdisciplinary, and advanced Systems-of-Systems (SoS) can be developed due to the evolving Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) approach. 

In fact, such an approach has helped in the emergence of remote engineering design teams. These teams comprising skilled and talented professionals, help you develop designs for any of engineering focus. These include mechanical, civil, architectural, aerospace, nuclear, and many more.

7. Accounting and financial services

Over the past decade, banking and financial services have embraced digitization, improved customer experience, and hence streamlined banking services even during the new normal. The development of UPI and other payment gateways (GooglePay, Paypal) has increased the adaptability of digital payment into various sectors such as retail, e-commerce, wellness, insurance, and saving schemes. 

In these services, almost all the accounting functions can be carried out remotely. Be it taxing, auditing, bookkeeping, budgeting, forecasting, or even maintaining investor relationships, everything can be carried out through a remote model of working. In addition, there are opportunities to develop remote working systems in areas such as Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A) which at times require in-person collaboration. With proper training for banking officials and advanced data protection strategies, financial services can definitely thrive and succeed through remote working.

8. Digital Marketing

Modern marketing techniques have blurred the lines between branding and PR and have developed data-driven marketing strategies. For any SME who wants to expand their business internationally, digital marketing becomes the voice of the company. It helps connect to customers globally through social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Instagram, and emails. 

As the world moves into the digital era, it has predominantly followed the mobile-first approach. Hence, it is important to develop mobile-friendly marketing material that incorporates multimedia like videos, photos, and so on. Many companies are heavily investing in these digital remote digital workforces to develop top-notch digital marketing strategies. 

9. Data Analytics

Various industries around the world are embracing big data and data analytics due to its operational gain and high efficiency. With the help of advanced computing tools such as Microsoft excel, python, and SQL, data analysts function to convert raw data into conclusive and meaningful insights. These insights provide light on the business problems and deduce a statistical solution. With the growth of various industries, the importance of data generation, sharing and storage has increased over the decades.

In data analytics, from scrutinizing raw data to analyzing and interpreting it, everything can be done on a computer remotely. As per the Jobs of tomorrow report 2020, data analytics and Artificial intelligence have shown the highest growth rate of up to 41% per year. 

With the growth of the new era of remote and location-independent working, big data analysis, virtual team building, and the development of advanced computing techniques, we can definitely see that remote data analytics functioning is here to stay and will always be in demand!

10. Back office support workforce

The back office workforce is an integral part of many end-use industries such as telecommunication, retail, and e-commerce, across the globe. It involves non-core business functions such as data entry, IT support, content creation and moderation, and query management, which is an overview focus on enhancing customer experience. Various companies outsource these functions to focus on expanding their business. 

This is how BPOs (Business Process Outsourcing) emerged in the market and have helped various business sectors attain scalability while promising highly efficient and reproducible results. Accenture, Wipro, and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) are a few renowned names that provide diverse BPO services worldwide. ADP is another well-known name that handles HR and payroll management for varied companies across the world. When we talk about countries, India is now a popular digital hub that has grown its BPO-IT industry over the past ten years. 

Remunance has been successful in providing end-to-end HR solutions to SMEs from various services. Here are a few instances of how we helped companies set their foot in India. 

Click here if interested to know more about what Remunance can do for you or for your business expansion in India.

#peo #professional employment organization #employer of record #list of peo companies #employer of record india #peo companies #peo providers #peo vs eor #employer of record services in india

[eshanpatil]

Building remote teams in India

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted a great many businesses worldwide. The pandemic tested the resilience of companies to doing business under uncertain conditions. There was confusion followed by chaos as California was the first state in the US to lockdown. Economic activity seemed to be coming to a grinding halt. Businesses had to rapidly learn new ways of conducting business as their employees were forced to stay home. Physical teams started transforming rapidly into virtual teams. It took a while but gradually remote work and work from home became mainstream.

In this blog, we aim to address concerns about arriving at the know-how of hiring a remote team. How an Employer of Record services, i.e EOR services in India or an International PEO can contribute to finding the right fit with relevant experiences at competitive rates. 

Our blog will educate you on exploring India as a prospective location for skilled resources, the risks, advantages, costs, and strategies for hiring and retaining a remote team in India. As well as how Professional Employer Organizations, i.e PEO services in India can outrun and serve as the best alternative compared to the other routes of remote hiring.

The remote working trend becomes mainstream

As it became evident to businesses that high-caliber workers were easily available in other countries like India for a fraction of the cost, it kick-started a race to hire overseas employees. There emerged an opportunity for certain types of businesses using cloud and telecom technologies to leverage remote workforce and gain a strategic advantage in their marketplaces.

The pandemic had indeed leveled the playing field for workers to provide their service to businesses out of their native country. The wave of remote working started by platforms like Upwork, Fiverr, Freelancer, Brickworks, and the likes got expedited by the pandemic.

The pandemic has encouraged successful remote teams’ work culture

The post-pandemic revolutionized the concept of work and business ecosystem altogether.

Interestingly, the Netherlands has decided to prioritize its employees’ work-life balance. They are just a step away from becoming the first country to provide work-from-home legally if the law is approved by the Senate. The pandemic was instrumental in playing a huge role in implementing remote hiring and increasing staff productivity.

India as a preferred destination for skilled manpower

India is perceived as a land of opportunity for its cultural, well-educated, and diverse background. India has a talent pool of highly educated and skilled professionals who are adept at problem-solving abilities and are immensely creative. People from India hail from different regions and bring various cultures and thought processes to the table. As per Quora, 4.4 million employees from India were employed in the IT and ITES sectors as of 2020.

Diving into the specifics of India, India holds the second-largest English-speaking manpower. It churns out a great tech talent of 1.5 million engineers yearly from various tier 1 and tier 2 engineering premier institutes like the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) and National Institutes of Information Technology (NIT). According to the report published by the National Survey of India, the literacy rate of India as of 2022 is 77.7 %. India ranks 159 amongst 197 countries.

The cost of living in India on average is 64.6% lower than that of the US. The country’s average population is young. Moreover, it is quite easy to find staff who are eager to succeed and adapt to new business ethos. The salary packages are lower which means businesses in the west can have a larger workforce for the same budget.

India has over 75% of the World’s CMM-Level 5 companies and has the highest number of ISO-9000 certified companies. Whether you are offshoring to India or hiring Indian talents, high standards, professionalism, and reliability are a given. The Indian IT sector today is estimated to be $235 billion.

Companies emphasizing virtual team building

The journey of global companies exploring remote hiring dates back to global airlines like Texas Instruments and British Airways availing their back-end offices in India. IT/ITES companies followed the lead realizing India has great communication, technological and high-end telecom facilities. It has favorable business working environments as well. From 1945-1994, companies like International Business Machines (IBM), American Express, and American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) permitted their employees to telecommute. Considering the telecommuting study conducted by the United States Federal Government reduced the employees’ commuting expenses and increased their productivity.

Today a lot of global software giants like Oracle, Microsoft, SAP, etc outsource to India by acknowledging its potential. India has a strong industrial base, growing infrastructure, and digitization. As well as an enthusiastic start-up population, encouraging growth, and partnering vision from the Government. In fact, 8% of India’s total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is accounted for in the IT/ITES industry in 2020. The software industry of India has given out an output of $16 billion. The leading IT companies of India are well equipped with attractively designed buildings and posh campuses in prime locations.

The influx of global companies during the pandemic

There was a surge of companies coming to India. India benefited hugely from the pandemic. It’s one of the biggest countries in the world with a fast-growing economy, so it wasn’t a surprise why it became the top destination for hiring a remote team.

To get some context, the Indian Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) registered more than 124,000 companies in 2019-20, 155,000 in 2020-21 (25% growth), and 167,000 (8% growth) companies registered in the financial year 2021-22.

During FY 2021-22, the states that registered the largest number of companies were Maharashtra with 31,107 companies, followed by Uttar Pradesh at 16,969, Delhi at 16,323, Karnataka at 13,403, and Tamil Nadu at 11,020 companies.

Advantages of hiring a remote team and leading remotely

Broadens brand reach in two countries

By narrowing down on India as a prospective location for your global business expansion plans, you will have an opportunity to augment your brand visibility and culture in dual countries.

Remote hiring allows you to tap into a pool of diverse and adept population

India is a place of robust diversity. Skilled professionals stem from different regions, have an ingrained ability to adjust, and are adept at problem-solving skills. The authors of ‘Jugaad Innovation’ advise the West to consider Indians as an emerging market offering creative solutions in the business world.

Avail skilled resources at reduced costs

When you hire a remote team, it works out great from a cost perspective point of view. The wage rates and compensation policies in India are different, to be precise they are comparatively low. There is scope for negotiation in India. Also, the costs of recruiting are affordable. You can resource remote employees in India at an affordable budget in comparison to your on-location or in-house employees.

Leverage the variation of job vacancies in India and time zones

The number of engineers graduating every year is way more than the job vacancies available in Indian companies. You can leverage the difference in this situation. You can profit from the difference in the time zones. You can make use of your remote team after the closure of business hours (COB) in your country. With this, you will be able to avail of the clock customer service and enhance business productivity.

Disadvantages of remote hiring

Easy distraction and experiencing isolation

When employees work from home, they can get easily distracted. Their attention span may be compromised. In extreme cases, some employees may even feel isolated and can sink into depression as constant monitoring by superiors can be disturbing.

Asynchronous communication can be inconvenient sometimes

The difference in time zones and geographical barriers can prove as a hindrance in managing a remote team. The scheduling of meetings and follow-ups may be inconvenient keeping in mind the availability of employees, managers, HRs, and employers. You will lose direct control and will have to coordinate with your employees virtually. Meetings will have to be scheduled considering the availability factors.

Decoding the employee mindset of India

While hiring resources from India, it is imperative to understand their work culture. The employees in India like to have 10-15% hikes on an annual basis. They prefer favorable taxations, travel allowances, health insurance coverages, incentives, etc. They prefer a decent number of public holidays. They like working in modern offices and futuristic office spaces.

Staying digitally connected comes with an expense

Ensuring team coordination and collaboration may be worrisome. You may face security issues and also incur technological costs to ensure a smooth virtual business operation.

Put in extra efforts

This means ensuring your employees feel welcomed into your company irrespective of the geographical barriers and differences in time zones. Most importantly, you will have to put in efforts to understand their behavioral approaches and adjust to their culture accordingly.

To gather a better understanding of hiring employees in India and how we, at Remunance, ease your journey, visit hiring employees in India: a guide for foreign companies.

How can you find new employees remotely?

There are different methods of hiring employees remotely. You can source the right talent through online job portals like Naukri and Indeed. 

You can also use LinkedIn as a social media platform to find activities as well as passive talent. Linkedin has 62 million users from India making it the second-largest market for networking platforms. According to Linkedin data, employees in India research mechanical and software engineering job roles the most on social media networking sites. University campus placements or approaching recruitment agencies is also a great way of resourcing talent.

However, the approach an International PEO or Employer of Record services will offer will take off all the stress from your plate.

How do you ensure remote team building in India?

Every job seeker desires for Google-style work environment where the tech giant ensures employee happiness as a top priority. While you may practically not be able to create an adult playground kind of work environment for your employees but you can surely imbibe their organizational values for leading remotely.

Implementing employee-centric best HR practices and a good HR strategy play a major role in meeting business productivity and execution. The sooner you dawn on the realization that employees are the biggest asset of your company, the faster you will be able to climb the ladder of success.

Keeping an open-door policy

Emphasizing creating a happy workplace culture

Encouraging innovation and new ideas

To know more about Best HR practices, visit our blog Best HR practices for business growth.

What are the costs of hiring a remote team?

Depending on the way you decide to hire or the business model you choose to adopt, you will have different costs associated with hiring remote workers. E.g. if you are going to set up your legal entity or hire a contractor directly by using a professional recruitment consultant to find employees then their fees can range from 10% to 18% of the employee’s gross salary. There may be additional costs like conducting a background check etc. If you have hired contractors directly then you will need to pay them salaries directly into their bank accounts. Banks will charge you a fixed transaction fee per transfer.

If you use Remunance then we will charge you a fixed monthly fee per employee. You make one single payment and we will disburse the salary to each employee. You will receive a bill for their bank accounts. Each bank account will have a SWIFT code with a clearly stated purpose for the remittance. This will make it very easy to track and audit the payments made to each remote employee. Remunance doesn’t charge you any finder’s fee.

Hidden costs of remote teams

Remote workers pose a greater security threat

The solution is not to avoid the risk, but to mitigate it. It is very necessary that you invest in VPNs. Your corporate network should be protected and private. Remote team members should be able to log in remotely and access the required tools without putting the business network at risk.

Remote workers are more susceptible to phishing and more likely to use insecure devices

If remote team members use unsecured devices then they make the business network vulnerable. If they’re using the same device for their personal use and company use then they are putting your company network at risk. It is best practice to use devices exclusively for work while using separate and unconnected devices for personal use.

It is equally important to train and retrain your employees on security best practices.

Different models to hire talent in India

Remote teams can be formed through routes like outsourcing, freelancing, contracting, and subsidiary formation. You can choose your route depending on your needs, the time you desire to continue business operations in India, and the control you would like to have.

If you are looking for a long-term relationship with talented remote resources, then an International PEO or EOR may just be the ideal option for you. An International PEO will offer their expertise in handling the HR department. This includes loading off administrative responsibilities like HR management, payroll, and tax filing onto them. EOR services will step in as the legal employer for your employees. The ideal takeaway for your small and midsized business (SMB) employees is that a PEO will offer them the same benefits a larger company would do.

These are the different routes of remote hiring in India:

Partnering with an International PEO/EOR services 

An International PEO works out great when you are on the lookout for a better remote team selection, work allocation, deliverables, and cost. An International PEO will ensure a business continuity plan, a dedicated team in a full-time role, negligible upfront investments, and the opportunity to have an entity at an opportune time. A PEO model will assure complete protection of your projects, by adhering to all your company’s confidentiality clauses and in a leak-proof secured infrastructure. A PEO International charges either straight costs or percentage costs. They will charge you per employee per month or take a percentage of the employee’s gross salary costs.

Click here if you would like to explore the benefits of using Remunance as your India EOR.

2. Outsourcing model

Outsourcing has forever been a favorite and popular buzzword for global companies seeking international talent, especially in the IT industry. Once you have defined the project’s scope, you need not monitor their deliverables as long as they are in line with your business expectations. 

However, in an outsourcing route for hiring a remote team, you do not have direct control over your resources. This will be the lookout for their parent organization. It is difficult to find the right resources within a stipulated time. You may lose your peace of mind when it comes to confidentiality in an outsourcing setup. Your resources will work for you for a finite period of time and on a particular project. You may have to shell out more money from your pockets if you would like to retain them for a full-time dedicated project. You may have to pay additionally for the added effort they put in other than their designated tasks. Such situations will be out of your control.

3. Hiring and engaging contractors directly

In a contracting model of remote working, the resources will work for you in a short-term or long-term project. The biggest drawback with contracting is you will have little control in maximizing throughput in human resources. Contractors can legally work for other clients or multiple companies simultaneously. In such a scenario, their attention span and deliverables will perhaps be compromised. They may work for your rival companies as well.

From a cost perspective in a long run, maintaining a team of contractors will turn out to be an expensive affair. They will charge on an hourly basis, and if there’s additional scope of work loaded onto them, they will incur additional costs for the same too.

This is relatively easy for the business when the number of international contractors or remote workers is small, less than 10. It gets complex, cumbersome, and expensive quite quickly the moment you have more than 10 remote (international) contractors. It is not easy for remote (international) contractors who have to face multiple challenges like local tech support, and filing complex end-of-year tax and GST returns.

The working culture and mindset of contractors are like near-autonomy. They like working independently and won’t go the extra mile to meet your business expectations.

4. PEO versus subsidiary formation

Setting up your entity in India is the most traditional and the most obvious method known to most business professionals. It gives you full control and autonomy to (say) run the payroll, pay taxes and stay compliant with the local laws. However, this pathway is very time-consuming and also expensive. It needs a fair amount of country expertise in the local legal, corporate, and payroll regulations. This method is usually used by larger businesses that have the resources to manage the extra workload. We do not recommend this to SMEs and small businesses that have got no immediate plans to hire a large number of employees.

To understand why to choose an International PEO before you form a legal entity in India, read our blog PEO vs legal entity. 

And to gather an even more comprehensive understanding of the process of subsidiary formation, simply read this blog.

Build remote teams the Remunance way…

At Remunance, we understand a remote team acts as the backbone in managing your global business. We also comprehend the importance of building and retaining skilled resources. By becoming your ally, we provide complete HR admin and office infrastructure support. We aim to inculcate a winning team culture through our ideal selection process conducted by our efficient team of HR professionals. We understand the Indian pulse, are aware of the changing trends in the market and HR policies, and share your employee responsibilities by finding the right fit accordingly.

Our EOR/International PEO services will handle your employee taxation, salary processing, and employee benefits. We have a well-equipped self-servicing employee portal. Our Founder, Mr. Rajendra Vaidya has devised an innovative PEO model to offer you the best of both worlds. Remunance has successfully served 70 plus clients from 16 countries to date.

To know more about our International PEO and EOR services, get in touch with us here to nurture a collaborative business relationship.

Reference links for credit sources

To know more in detail about the developments in infrastructure and the initiatives the government is taking to build the infrastructure in India, visit India Brand Equity Foundation.

#peo vs eor #employer of record #professional employment organization #employer of record india #list of peo companies #peo #peo companies #peo providers #employer of record services in india #PEO

[eshanpatil]

How to choose an international PEO or EOR?

Looking to expand your business globally? You would need the help of an international PEO (Professional Employer Organisation) or Employer of Record (EOR) services. These firms generally have a tripodal arrangement with clients and employees. As a result, their approach is client-centric with an emphasis on employee engagement and satisfaction.  This benefits all three parties and ultimately has a positive impact on the business.

An international PEO or EOR can help grow your business

Expanding into international markets brings a unique set of challenges. Apart from getting familiar with the differences in culture, one also has to study the labor, tax and licensing regulations applicable. Time and effort also needs to be invested to ensure one can measure the success of goals achieved.

How a global PEO or EOR can help you expand your business locally

A global PEO or EOR services will take care of logistical hurdles for you. As they have a physical presence in the country you intend to do business with, they act as a guide, helping you to operate successfully. They also maintain a high level of transparency in both client and employee interactions. Thus, taking decisions that are beneficial for all.

Efficient at offering you innovative business solutions

These firms generally have access to a panel of experts whom they can get onboard to help you set up your business. As a result, they are capable of efficiently easing you into the business set up in a country of your choice. Here’s how they can help…

Get you to adapt to the local set up

A good global PEO or EOR service is aware of the challenges you are likely to encounter. Hence, they will offer you innovative business solutions to adapt to the local set up. They will also help to hire and retain talent, and provide for employee engagement opportunities. 

Can mitigate business risks

They are well-versed with legal, HR, taxation laws and have accounting experience. As a result, they can ensure that your firm complies with the relevant regulations applicable in the country you intend to do business with. All of this mitigates any business risk you are likely to encounter. For example, sometimes a business could be labelled a permanent establishment for failing to comply with certain regulations, leading to higher taxes.

Helps you create a product that suits the market

They help you reach the right audience for your business. This in turn will help you customise your business to meet the requirements of the locals. This in turn creates a business opportunity and market for your business to grow.

Helps you network and expand successfully

As you grow locally, you will seek partnerships with existing businesses and explore new supply chains. A good global PEO can take care of these aspects for you, making ease of doing business a seamless process. Such firms have a certain credibility in the market. Hence, they are able to get the best vendors to set up the right infrastructure that can meet client and employee expectations.

Why does checking references matter? Your success in expanding globally depends on getting the right local support. So, opt for a global PEO like Remunance, whose mission is to make off-shore companies successful in India. Make sure to check references and screen the international PEO or EOR service on different parameters like credibility and overall performance, before hiring them. Your aim is to get someone who is efficient and has a reputation for delivering what it promises.

#list of peo companies #peo companies #peo providers #peo vs eor #peo #professional employment organization #employer of record india #employer of record #Professional Employment Organization #employer of record services in india

[eshanpatil]

How to choose the right PEO partner

Small businesses and multinational companies got exposed to unparalleled opportunities across the globe post-Covid-19 pandemic. While expanding globally, their primary focus generally is the core competencies. At this stage, getting help from an international PEO service provider becomes a smart decision for them.

A professional employer organization comes with local expertise. They have a contractual allocation with their company to manage the employer’s responsibilities and liabilities. An international PEO acts as a foreign company’s legal employer of record (EOR) and gives them access to the international workforce. To begin with, let us study the benefits PEO services in India bring to SMBs: 

Human Resource expertise – Small businesses generally struggle with budget and resources for HR support. A PEO offers a “hands-on” approach to handling everything that falls under the human resources umbrella at a much lower cost. They assign each client a Human Resources Manager or use HRMS tools. These mediums manage HR tasks right from sourcing, recruiting, and onboarding to retaining employees to tracking attendance. 

Compliance with employment and tax laws – The PEO engages with employees and keeps track of their compliance, payroll & taxes. Engaging with an international PEO gives security from legal issues. Their compliance experts keep a check on the rules for wages, working hours, payments, insurance, abiding by the law, and so on. 

Help with payroll – It becomes crucial to choose the right partner as we entrust them with access to employee and business banking information. Their expertise helps in handling salary negotiations, payrolls, taxes, and so on.

How to choose the right PEO service provider? 

1. What is the first step towards choosing the right service provider?

To begin with, ensure that the chosen PEO is well established. Checking if the PEO is rightly exposed to the target market is a deciding factor for its services being reliable and financially sound.

2. Is it necessary to look into their previous and current work?

Understanding what kind of organizations the PEO works with the help to understand whether they can manage your expectations. Ensure they have the required knowledge, skills, experience, and expertise to serve your needs.

3. How to trust a PEO with their work?

Check reviews and ask the PEO for references of past and present clients. Studying the testimonials on their website also adds value. It can help you get the correct insight and make an informed decision.

4. Ask the PEO if they provide training or professional development for the employees?

The legal partners also focus on professional development & employee training opportunities to attract potential candidates. Understand how your provider caters to these needs to maximize the potential of your existing workforce.

What are the most common challenges companies face while choosing the right partner?

The SMBs generally start their search with a service provider from their country willing to extend EOR. But to avoid the fear of the unknown, you might consider existing or in-country service providers from the target country. A few professional employer organizations in India offer productized or unmanned services while a few others might offer customized services. These options are inexpensive but they do not help beyond payroll and compliances. On another note, if you wish to set up a legal entity in India down the line, then wouldn’t it be easier working with a partner you trust or who understands your business? You might also need support with infrastructure and IT as your team in India will mostly be working from home or in a small office.

As we move forward, let’s check if Remunance services help you save your money, time, and hassle. 

Remunance has customized its working module to address the needs of businesses looking for multiple services like HR, payroll, recruitment, and immigration. You do not have to invest separately in a law firm, talent acquisition agency, or immigration agent when you can outsource the entire employment & global mobility lifecycle to the same partner! While we act as the Employer of Record for several companies across 16 countries, we also help them establish their legal entity in India if needed. So when you choose Remunance as your local partner, we take ownership of the management activities such as employees’ wage coverage, benefit programs, compliances, leave management, employee training, office infrastructure, etc. We believe we have helped our clients build, scale, and grow their businesses. Hope these inputs by Jeff, CEO, IntervalZero Inc. helps you in making the right choice!

#peo companies #peo vs eor #peo #peo providers #list of peo companies #employer of record india #employer of record #professional employment organization

[eshanpatil]

Add right talent at reduce cost with Indian PEO

Finding “local high quality talent” is indeed a challenge in countries like the US, UK, most European countries and Australia. It is not affordable. Talented people are in demand in large businesses houses having deep pockets. These large businesses are also fishing for talent in the same talent. Result, higher salaries, high rate of job switching and reduced loyalty towards employers. This creates a perfect environment for an unstable workforce, something that SMEs cannot sustain.

How can small business owners and SMEs overcome this challenge? 

By thinking out of the box. Looking for high quality talent outside your local area or even overseas. In eastern countries where English is their second language. Countries like India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Vietnam, Philippines, and Singapore are all multicultural countries that conduct business in English. Their workforce is largely graduates from colleges and universities where English is the second language.

Amongst all these nations, India has the largest pool of high quality talent and is the undisputed leader. India has come of age after 2014, post the Narendra Modi led BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) government came to power. Here is what the Indian prime minister’s website says about India’s recent achievements – https://www.pmindia.gov.in/en/governance-track-record/

With such massive transformational initiatives underway there is no doubt that India has become the “go to” place for hiring talent as well as a lucrative 1.3Billion strong market. Several G20 countries like the US, the UK, Australia and countries from the European Union have started flocking to India to access its market and source high-quality talent. 

This is evident from the fact that many countries including Australia and the UK have decided to increase their trade with India and have signed bilateral free trade agreements. Google launched their digital wallet platform and online payment system G-Pay in India first before rolling it out to the rest of the world.

The billionaire investor Vinod Khosla once said, “Educational competition in India and societal chaos helps hone their (Indian tech professional’s) skills in addition to the rigorous technical education.” 

According to Wikipedia in 2020, India has over 1000 universities, with a break up of 54 central universities, 416 state universities, 125 deemed universities, 361 private universities and 159 Institutes of National Importance which include AIIMS, IIMs, IIITs, IISERs, IITs and NITs among others. 

Some of the world’s premier business houses are relocating their significant business operations to India including manufacturing plants like Apple Inc. These business units are not just coders but they undertake deep sophisticated work in the field of data science, strategy development, sophisticated design, state-of-the-art software development in the field of AI, Deep & Machine learning, IoT, AR, VR, Drones and research in several other cutting edge sectors.

Wouldn’t you want to tap into this amazing opportunity? 

There was a time when this was really difficult because of complex regulations and inefficiencies in the Indian legal systems. This has all changed. Indian states are making rapid changes. There is a healthy competition to attract business investments. As a result, India has jumped 79 positions from 142nd (2014) to 63rd (2019) in the Ease of Doing Business ranking since Honorable prime minister Shri Narendra Modi has took over. 

According to sources in the MF and the UN, India’s economy has become the one of the largest in the world with a GDP of $2.94 trillion, overtaking the UK and France in 2019 to take the fifth spot. India’s GDP (PPP) is $10.51 trillion, exceeding that of Japan and Germany. Now India is aiming to become a $25 trillion economy before this government goes to the polls again in 2027.

How is Remunance poised to offer you a strategic advantage?

Remunance is uniquely positioned to harness this opportunity for you. Remunance is an Indian business modeled on the basis of US PEO companies and PEO service providers (professional employer organization) and the European EOR (Employer of Record) companies, making it really easy for foreign firms to hire high quality Indian talent.

Pioneering the way forward in India 

Remunance is pioneering the way forward in India to create a brand new PEO industry. Never before was this even thinkable, leave aside actually having a functional remote team running within 3 weeks without having a legal business entity in India. Up until a few years ago businesses used to “outsource” projects to Indian IT companies which spawned huge growth in the IT sector during the 80s and 90s. India became a world leader in IT service. Now Indian companies are building their own platforms and products. India has recently hit a century of unicorns and growing. During the pandemic the Indian workforce has become a lot savvy in working with foreign firms. Now they routinely work as part of a global team.

Remunance makes it very easy for you

Remunance experienced HR professionals advertise the position, curate the applications received and present you with a few hand picked high-quality resumes that fit your selection criteria. Remunance’s experienced HR admin team coordinates interviews with you, across time zones. You interview and select the candidates, shortlist the winning candidate and Remunance does the rest including negotiating the salary as per your budget, issue appointment letters, background check, fix the joining date and manage their on-boarding. Couple of weeks later, you have a productive staff member onboard ready to work on your projects. Easy?

Click here if you would like to speak with one of our friendly strategy consultants to discuss your requirement.

Author

Sarang Pradhan

#PEO #employer of record services in india #professional employer organization #peo vs eor #peo companies #Professional Employment Organization #employer of record india #peo providers #list of peo companies #employer of record