Adrian Kinnersley is a founder and expansion expert at In2America, helping international companies establish and grow their U.S. presence with confidence. Drawing from firsthand experience, he understands the real-world challenges of hiring, compliance, and scaling across states. Through In2America’s purpose-built PEO and EOR model, Adrian and his team handle payroll, taxes, benefits, HR, and insurance, allowing overseas-based businesses to focus fully on growth while their U.S. operations run smoothly from day one.
Starting & expanding your business in the United States can feel like the ultimate growth move, and for good reason. The US offers the largest economy in the world, a deep talent pool, and countless opportunities to scale.
But alongside the obvious costs of office space, salaries, and travel, many companies underestimate the hidden costs of entering the US market and these can quickly erode profitability if not planned for.
Here are some of the most common hidden costs to watch out for when expanding to the US and how to avoid them.
Unlike the UK and many other countries, where compliance is fairly centralized, the US has 50 states each with its own rules and costs. Many first-time entrants assume compliance is uniform, which it isn’t.
- We can introduce you to attorneys, accountants and a raft of other advisors that are fully vetted, understand your industry and location. We’ll save you time and ensure you are paying an appropriate price for the services you need.
- We operate as a PEO and EOR, crucially with all our own entities, licenses and advisors.
- All our PEO and EOR services include workers compensation insurance in all states so you are always covered.
- We’ll help you work out your entire EVP including providing employment contracts, and handbooks specific to every location and your industry.
In the UK and many other countries, national healthcare and minimal employer pension obligations keep costs lower and more predictable. In the US, health insurance and benefits are employer-driven and candidates often expect generous packages.
- We can provide accurate, location specific cost estimates before onboarding any employee so you know exactly what you will have to pay.
- We provide corporate-level health insurance and benefit options at vastly reduced market prices and also enable the employer to fully customize their contributions i.e. a fixed amount or percentage of overall costs for each employee which can be varied by level.
- We provide a 401k which is also significantly better than a typical early-stage company could provide giving you a much better EVP
- We also enable your customize EVP to be matched on our PEO and EOR offering so you can blend your strategy across states.
Many companies pick a city because it’s a “tech hub” or “financial capital” without fully exploring alternative locations that offer lower costs and still access to great talent.
We have coverage in all 50 states and a sister recruitment business with comprehensive data on talent availability and cost. We also have office hubs in multiple US locations. We can help you with your location’s strategy based on what’s most important to you and ensure you execute the best possible plan unique to your requirements.
These costs don’t show up on a P&L but they slow down momentum and hurt morale if not managed.
- We’ve felt this pain as founders and built In2America to remove this issue completely. We’ll minimize every forecastable time suck for you and take the strain on executing it on your behalf wherever we legally can / our commercial agreement enables us to.
- We can introduce you to suppliers and partners that understand your industry and location and will act efficiently and cost effectively. As a small company a lot of suppliers and providers might not prioritize you but our partnerships treat our customers differently as we provide an opportunity for significant business. Use the benefit our buying power to your advantage.
US employment law is more litigious and fragmented than most other countries, and the risks aren’t obvious until something goes wrong. The resulting costscan be devastating to an early stage business.
- We understand not only the financial cost but the time burden of these issues. We also understand how alien a lot of this can be for international companies. Whether you are a US or International Founding Team, ensuring you have this right from the outset is a critical part of our advisory service.
The US market is full of opportunity but it rewards companies that prepare properly.
By understanding and planning for these hidden costs, you can avoid nasty surprises, keep your expansion on budget, and focus on what really matters: growing your business.
Quick Checklist to Avoid Hidden Costs:
Use In2America as your launch and scale partner and we’ll make sure you understand everything critical and take the pain and time away from executing a strategy that mitigates your risk. We specialize in supporting early-stage business in the US and international expansion so you can specialize in launching and scaling your business In2America.
Visit In2America’s website to discover how their team helps international businesses hire, stay compliant, and scale confidently in the United States, without getting buried in payroll, taxes, or HR complexity.
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