There is a moment most growing businesses hit where the workload is real, the budget is tight, and good local staff is nearly impossible to find. Hiring is slow. Costs keep climbing. And somewhere in the middle of all that, someone brings up offshoring.
Maybe you have heard the word before. Maybe you are not entirely sure what it means or whether it is the right move for your company. This guide answers both questions and walks you through exactly how to build an offshore team the right way.
What is offshoring, and does your business actually need it?
Before we get into the how, you should know what offshoring actually is, and whether it fits your business in the first place.
Offshoring is not the same as outsourcing. A lot of people use the two words interchangeably, but they are different. Peter Bell, CEO of TGT Global, puts it plainly:
“If you care about the relationship, if you want to build value, then offshoring every time will win out. The outsourcing market is a commodity-based industry. The offshoring market is a relationship-based industry.”
With outsourcing, you hand a task to a third party, and you want the result. You do not manage people, you do not build relationships, and you do not particularly care how it gets done. Think of it like filing your taxes with an accountant. You want the tax return. You do not need a personal relationship to get there.
Offshoring is different. Your offshore team works for you. You hire them, you train them, you manage them, and they represent your brand. The relationship is real, and so is the investment.
“If you need a task completed and you have no time or desire to manage the people doing it, outsourcing may be a better fit. But if you want to grow, build a team that your customers trust, and maintain control over how your business runs – an offshore team is where that happens,” Peter shared.
That said, offshoring is not automatically the right answer for every business. As Peter says, there are situations where outsourcing genuinely makes more sense.
If offshoring sounds like the right move, here is exactly what building your team looks like from start to finish.
1. Define your goals and the roles you need
The businesses that struggle with offshoring are usually the ones that jump in without a clear picture of why they are doing it.
Before you post a single job description, get clear on what problem you are trying to solve. Ask yourself these simple questions:
- Are you trying to reduce labor costs so you can reinvest in growth?
- Do you need extended hours of coverage that your local team cannot provide?
- Are there tasks in your business that must be done, add no real value to your core team, and that nobody wants to do?
That last one is actually a great starting point. Peter Bell uses an exercise with his IT business team, where he asks each employee to write down every task they do that meets three criteria:
- It has to be done
- It adds no value to them personally or to the company as a whole
- No one wants to do it
“What we discovered was a whole list of tasks that I could then take offshore and get done. “
Once you know what needs to happen offshore, you can define the roles clearly. Sales admin, service delivery, technical support, marketing operations, and accounting support.
The roles will depend on your business, but the thinking behind them should always connect back to your goals.
2. Choose the right offshoring partner
Not all offshoring providers work the same way. Some take a hands-off approach. Others will guide you through the entire process, from finding candidates to setting up your team’s workspace.
What you want in a partner is someone who understands your industry, operates transparently, and treats your offshore team as an extension of your business, not a product they are selling you.
At TGT Global, we do not control your team’s time or training – you do. That is intentional.
As Peter puts it, TGT handles the infrastructure, the hiring process, and employment. But your offshore team represents your brand, not ours.
You do the interview. You manage the day-to-day – but our dedicated support team is here to assist you in meeting your and your staff’s needs.
That distinction matters more than most people realize when they are first starting.
When evaluating any offshoring partner, ask about their hiring process, how they handle turnover, what support they provide during onboarding, and whether they are willing to be transparent about costs and timelines from the start.
3. Meet with the sales team to shape your plan
This is where real planning begins. A good offshoring partner will not just hand you a pricing sheet. They will want to understand your business before they recommend anything.
When you connect with TGT Global, you will be working directly with a dedicated team member, like Allan Amil, our Business Development Manager for AsiaPacfic who has been helping businesses build offshore teams for more than 5 years. His job is to help you grow revenue through offshoring.
“I work closely with prospects to help build and grow their teams, handle contracts and renewals, and coordinate with our internal support team to make sure that every offshoring program runs smoothly from start to finish,” he shared.
You have someone who stays involved through the full process, from your first conversation to your first hire and well beyond.
Allan and the team will walk you through timelines, pricing, and what the early stages of building your offshore team actually looks like in practice.
This is also your chance to ask questions that matter. You should be asking
- What does the hiring process look like?
- How long does it take to get someone started?
- What happens if a hire does not work out?
A good sales conversation answers all of these questions before you sign a contract.
4. Build a strong hiring and onboarding process
Here is where a lot of companies get it wrong. They either rush the hiring process or treat onboarding as someone else’s job.
When you work with TGT Global, you are involved in candidate selection.
The team sources and screens candidates, but you do the final interview and make the call. Hire for culture first. You can teach skills, but you cannot teach someone to be a good fit.
Once someone is hired, the real work begins. Sheryann Tayco, Operations Manager at TGT Global, puts it plainly:
“Onboarding must answer one question for every new hire: Did I make the right choice? The first 90 days are where trust is either built or lost. Employees are forming impressions about leadership, culture, and their place in the organization during that window.”
That means going beyond paperwork and task lists. Include your new offshore team members in regular huddles, recognize small wins early, and check in on how they are adjusting, not just how they are performing. The more connected they feel from day one, the faster they ramp up and the longer they stay.
5. Foster engagement and long-term growth
Building an offshore team is not a set-and-forget strategy. It requires ongoing investment, and that investment pays over time in ways that are hard to quantify at first.
Peter’s IT business in Melbourne, Australia has an average staff tenure of 18 years. His offshore team in Manila has had members on board for more than a decade.
That kind of retention does not happen by accident. It happens because he treated his team like they actually belonged to the organization.
“You’ve got to actually let them join your team huddles, be part of your organization. The key to getting longevity out of a staff member in another country is making them feel as though they belong.”
Practically speaking, that means regular check-ins, recognition programs that include your offshore team, clear paths for growth and development, and honest communication about how the business is doing.
An engaged offshore team will not just do the work. They will take the initiative, flag problems early, and (if externally facing) become people your customers will really want to talk to.
Take the first step with a custom savings report
Building an offshore team in the right way takes planning, the right partner, and a real commitment to treating your offshore staff like the team members they are.
But when it works, it works well. Lower costs, better margins, extended hours, and a team that grows with your business instead of turning over every two years.
TGT Global has helped hundreds of companies build offshore teams in the Philippines and Sri Lanka that do exactly that.
If you are ready to see what it could look like for your business, request a custom savings report. It will show you your potential cost savings, the roles that make sense to offshore first, and a realistic picture of what building your team with TGT Global could look like.
