Table of Contents
- Why Global Expansion Is Back on the Table for SMBs
- What Most Leaders Discover Too Late — The Legal Maze Behind Entity Setup
- Entity Setup vs. Employer of Record — What’s the Real Cost and Timeline?
- How Smart Companies Are Hiring Without Creating a Legal Entity
- Inside Hexa Business — The Partner Behind Fast, Compliant Expansion
- Global Growth Doesn’t Require a Local Entity — Just Global Clarity
It started with a win.
A spike in customer sign-ups from Singapore.
A distribution partner in Malaysia reaching out.
An investor suggesting a team on the ground in the Philippines.
For many growing companies, Southeast Asia looks like the next logical move. Demand is rising. The middle class is growing. Countries like Malaysia, Vietnam, and the Philippines are becoming hubs for tech, talent, and opportunity.
So the leadership team gives the green light: Let’s expand into ASEAN.
That’s when reality hits.
What looked like a straightforward process — “just set up a local entity” — turns into a legal maze. Labor laws vary wildly. Registration can take months. Hiring freezes while tax codes are deciphered. And suddenly, the expansion plan feels less like growth and more like risk.
They didn’t want to launch a regional HQ.
They just wanted to hire two sales managers in Manila and an account lead in Kuala Lumpur.
Turns out, in ASEAN markets, you don’t need to build a legal entity from scratch to grow.
You just need the right partner
ALSO READ: GUIDE: The Role Of An Employer Of Record And Everything You Should Know About
Why Global Expansion Is Back on the Table for SMBs
For a long time, expanding into new countries felt out of reach for smaller companies.
It was something the multinationals did — backed by legal teams, seven-figure budgets, and time to spare.
But post-COVID, the rules changed.
Markets reopened. Borders blurred. Digital tools made global workforces not just possible, but normal. And suddenly, mid-sized companies started asking: “Why not us?”
Here’s why global expansion — especially into Southeast Asia — is back on the strategic radar for SMBs:
ASEAN is booming:
- The ASEAN region is projected to become the world’s fourth-largest economy by 2030. (World Economic Forum)
- Countries like Vietnam and the Philippines are becoming global BPO and tech hubs.
- Indonesia also has a million new digital consumers each month.
Talent is high-quality and cost-efficient:
- English proficiency, STEM education, and cultural alignment make ASEAN talent competitive for global roles.
- Hiring a developer in Manila or a marketer in Kuala Lumpur can reduce talent spend by up to 70% compared to Western markets — without sacrificing quality.
Speed is now survival:
- SMBs can’t wait 6–12 months to enter new markets.
- They need leaner, faster models to test, validate, and scale — or risk losing their edge.
The barrier isn’t vision. It’s execution — legal, compliance, and operational complexity.
But that’s exactly what new models like EOR (Employer of Record) solve. And that’s where smart founders are shifting their focus.
ALSO READ: How To Get A Work Visa In Malaysia In 2025 (Without Getting Buried In Bureaucracy)
What Most Leaders Discover Too Late — The Legal Maze Behind Entity Setup
The plan was to set up quickly. Hire fast. Start selling in-market within the quarter.
Instead, the leadership team found themselves buried in paperwork, compliance confusion, and three different law firms saying three different things.
That’s when it became clear: Setting up a legal entity in Southeast Asia isn’t just complicated — it’s chaotic.
Every country in the ASEAN region has its own rules:
🇸🇬 Singapore — streamlined, but expensive setup fees and strict reporting requirements.
🇮🇩 Indonesia — requires local shareholders and several government approvals.
🇵🇭 Philippines — mandates minimum capital, local director representation, and BIR registration.
🇻🇳 Vietnam — complex licensing for foreign businesses and notoriously slow processing times.
🇲🇾 Malaysia — favorable to foreign investors but demands local office presence and tax prep.
That’s five countries. Five sets of laws. Five different bureaucracies.
And here’s what founders often underestimate:
Hidden Risks of Entity Setup in ASEAN:
- You’re legally liable for local labor law compliance from day one.
- Hiring without registration can trigger steep fines or legal action.
- Tax misclassification can result in double taxation — or worse, corporate blacklisting.
Estimated Setup Costs (per country):
- Legal + consulting: est. $15,000–$30,000
- Entity registration: est. $5,000–$10,000
- Time to go operational: 3 to 9 months
For SMBs, that’s a serious burn — just to test a market.
And if the market doesn’t work out? You still have to pay to dissolve the entity
ALSO READ: How To Get A Work Visa In The Philippines In 2025 (Without Setting Up A Local Entity)
Entity Setup vs. Employer of Record — What’s the Real Cost and Timeline?
When companies plan to expand internationally, most default to the traditional route: set up a local entity, then hire.
It sounds logical — until the cost, complexity, and time delays kick in.
That’s where the Employer of Record (EOR) model flips the script.
Instead of spending months establishing a legal presence in each country, an EOR enables businesses to hire locally — fast, legally, and without owning the administrative burden.
Let’s break it down:
Entity Setup vs. Employer of Record (EOR)
| Factor | Local Entity | Employer of Record (EOR) |
| Time to Hire | 3–9 months | 7–14 days |
| Upfront Cost | est $20K–$50K+ per country | Minimal |
| Compliance Ownership | Your company | EOR partner (like Hexa) |
| Legal Risk | High (missteps = penalties) | Mitigated by EOR expertise |
| Flexibility | Low (hard to scale up/down) | High (scale fast, exit fast) |
| Ongoing Admin | Tax filings, payroll, HR ops | EOR handles it all |
| Market Testing | Expensive and risky | Agile and low-commitment |
A great EOR provider doesn’t just “hire on your behalf” — it becomes your legal employer of record in each country, handling payroll, benefits, tax compliance, contracts, and labor law nuances.
You stay focused on strategy. They handle the bureaucracy.
Real-World Use Case:
A US-based SaaS company wanted to test market demand in the Philippines. Instead of spending six months registering a local entity, they partnered with an EOR and hired two customer success managers in Manila — in under two weeks. Result? They validated the market in 90 days, expanded to Malaysia, and avoided additional setup costs.
ALSO READ: Global Payroll Compliance Isn’t Optional: It’s A Lawsuit Waiting To Happen
How Smart Companies Are Hiring Without Creating a Legal Entity
Global expansion no longer starts with a legal entity.
It starts with a job offer.
That’s the shift happening across growth-stage businesses: instead of spending months setting up an office, companies are using Employer of Record (EOR) partners to go directly to market — hiring remote talent legally and instantly, without waiting for incorporation papers.
Here’s how it works:
- Identify the market opportunity
Is demand growing in the Philippines? Is Vietnam a rising support hub? Instead of launching a full-scale entity, founders test the waters by hiring 1–3 key people through an EOR.
- EOR becomes the legal employer
The EOR (like Hexa Business) handles all employment contracts, payroll, benefits, and compliance in the local market — all under local labor law. - You manage the team day-to-day
The team members are embedded in your culture, tools, and workflows — just like any other employee. The only difference? You didn’t have to open a local office or deal with the bureaucracy. - Scale or pivot fast
If the market performs, you scale. If it doesn’t, you exit without the cost or liability of dissolving a legal entity.
Common Roles Hired via EOR in ASEAN:
- Regional Account Managers
- Customer Support Teams
- Marketing & Content Specialists
- Business Development Reps
Without EOR, these same hires would require:
- Setting up a registered entity
- Appointing a local director
- Paying local taxes and benefits from day one
- Filing quarterly compliance reports
- Preparing for potential audits
With EOR, all of that disappears. You hire faster, pay compliantly, and reduce your global footprint — without reducing your global ambition.
ALSO READ: Outsourcing Talent: Solving the Global Hiring Crunch
Inside Hexa Business — The Partner Behind Fast, Compliant Expansion
For many founders, the realization hits late: they don’t need more headcount or internal resources to expand globally — they just need a partner who already understands the rules of the game.
That’s what Hexa Business was built for.
We help companies expand across Southeast Asia without the need to establish a local entity — and without the legal, financial, or operational burden that comes with it.
What Hexa Business Does:
- Acts as your Employer of Record (EOR) across ASEAN
- Onboards your team in-country in as little as 7–10 business days
- Handles payroll, benefits, compliance, and employment contracts
- Monitors labor law changes so you never fall out of step
- Provides real-time support for both employer and employee
Whether you’re hiring your first account manager in Manila or building a 12-person support team in Kuala Lumpur, we take care of the legal foundation so you can stay focused on performance, culture, and growth.
Companies work with Hexa to:
- Enter new ASEAN markets 5x faster
- Avoid the heavy setup costs per country
- Stay compliant in complex labor environments like Indonesia or Vietnam
- Scale and exit markets with zero local liabilities
Real Use Case:
One of our clients — a scaling fintech company based in the US — wanted to test customer support in the Philippines without committing to an entity. We onboarded three reps in two weeks. They’re now hiring in Malaysia and Vietnam, with zero setup delays or compliance issues.
With Hexa, ASEAN expansion stops being a legal risk. It becomes a competitive advantage.
Global Growth Doesn’t Require a Local Entity — Just Global Clarity
The rules of growth have changed.
In the past, international expansion meant setting up shop, hiring legal counsel, and navigating months of red tape — before you could even make your first hire.
Now? Bold companies are scaling smarter.
They’re hiring in ASEAN without setting up a local entity.
They’re testing new markets without legal risk.
They’re gaining traction, learning fast — and leaving their slower competitors behind.
This isn’t about cutting corners.
It’s about cutting friction.
Because when leaders remove the operational drag, growth accelerates.
Today’s global playbook isn’t built on paperwork. It’s built on partnerships.
And the first move? Partnering with an Employer of Record like Hexa Business — to scale fast, stay compliant, and focus where it matters most. Talk to Hexa Business today and discover how fast, compliant, and cost-effective global hiring can be. Speak to us here.