Want to hire expats

CBC

If this is a disallowed topic -- please delete, and I apologize. This forum has been so helpful over the past week, and I appreciate the integrity of the community. I am co-locating to Delhi as of this week to set up a small (very) outsourcing office for a US information services business. I want to try to find a couple of expats to help me get things up and running. I am trying to set up a meeting with the US consulate to see their advice, but I am wondering if anyone in this forum has had any experience with this, or, again, whether I should post this question elsewhere or not at all. Thanks.

edwardseco

Not a moderator but as I see it, its an information request so..

** jeanneleez **

I'm just curious. Why are you looking for expats in particular? They have their own special needs if you are considering hiring them... like visa issues, less familiarity with the locale, language and culture. There are a lot of challenges for both the employer and the employee. Will this venture handle sales and if so, what countries are you planning to target? Will this venture be primarily responsible for project deliverables or will it focus on the full P&L? Do you plan to oversee the organization from the other side of the planet? How much autonomy/responsibility do you feel comfortable giving to your lead here in Delhi? What is your budget for financing this company until it makes a profit? Do you have an exit strategy in mind? What sort of commitment are you willing to make?

I think these would be some of the questions I'd ask...most of all, taking the chance on a start-up in a foreign country, is well, probably the riskiest idea, especially for expats with families. There is a rich source of educated local talent, some returning NRI's, too. You may not want to restrict yourself to just expats in your new venture...

Just my opinion, though. Mileage will vary.

-- Jeanne

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Nick-H

If the expats are already expats, and have some long experience in India, then some of those disadvantages won't apply.

In fact, the very opposite may apply, as they may have already have had experience hiring and relating to local staff.

In this repect, a 'local' expat with professional experience but time on their hands could be a very useful bridge.

All conjecture, of course

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Just one member of the IndiaMike Mod Team

CBC

Hi Jeeneleez, Nick has it about right, and your questions are all perceptive ones. We are doing interviews with scientists in Europe and Asia, and it is better in relation to time-zone issues and costs for our NYC-area office to share this with an Delhi office. We need to find someone(s) with who we can communicate easily with and can understand intuitively our provincial American way of looking at the world. So, we aren't selling anything from Delhi, just developing content for our information business.

Nick-H

You'll have to do better than that if you want an Englishman!

shashank.aggarwal

CBC, whatever little information you have shared, I guess you are looking to setup a market research sort of team. For this you will find lot of Indians who have got plenty of knowledge in the field.

What you need is some from your US office to coordinate in Delhi and setup up a team of Indians.

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