This Is How We Do Blended Shore
At Breakaway, we define scalability not as “grow as fast as you can,” but as the ability to grow or maintain your practice in a way that aligns with your personal goals and lifestyle.
This week, we're diving into one of our most powerful levers for sustainable growth: Blended Shore Teams. We’re writing this with the accounting firm owner in mind, but this advice really does work for many different industries.
First, let’s be real. There’s a lot of generic advice out there about “how to hire overseas talent.” Most of it sounds the same: “check for English fluency,” “set clear expectations,” “be mindful of time zones.”
It’s not wrong. But it’s incomplete.
If you want international team members to truly move your business forward—not just check boxes—you have to go deeper.
To begin, let’s discuss the basics.
A Blended Shore Team is a flexible staffing model that combines:
Offshore (e.g. India)
Nearshore (e.g. Mexico, Latin America)
Onshore (U.S.-based contractors or employees)
We use this model ourselves at Breakaway HQ with amazing results. Our global team includes experts from India, Mexico, and across the U.S., and we couldn’t do what we do without them.
“Blended Shore helped me double my revenue and reduce my working hours.” — Nicole, Breakaway Advisor
When should you consider hiring help?
You’ve maxed out your time but want to grow revenue
You want to focus on higher-level work (like CFO or controller services)
You’re interested in mentoring or succession planning
You need flexibility—whether for travel, health, or just sanity
But here’s the catch: Blended Shore is not a plug-and-play solution. Success requires strong documentation, clear communication, and intentional training. That’s why we coach all Breakaway advisors to:
Document your processes (Asana, Loom, or Scribe are great tools)
Maintain detailed client notes (personal preferences matter!)
Review your own firm’s finances—can you afford to grow now?
Plan ahead and onboard intentionally.
Pro tip: Don’t wait until you're desperate to hire. Start documenting and preparing now so you're ready when the opportunity (or the overwhelm!) hits.
Okay, now that we have the “how-to” out of the way, here’s the most important part:
At Breakaway, we believe in fully integrating international workers into your team. Even if they’re part-time or contractors, they’re still your team. That means:
1. Give them meaningful work. Not just tasks you don’t want to do, but real projects they can own. Everyone deserves to work toward a sense of accomplishment, and it takes actual workload off your plate, instead of adding micromanagement.
2. Invest in their growth. Mentorship, training, skill-building. This is how you build a smarter, more capable team that can grow with your business over time.
3. Solicit feedback from your team. Innovation doesn’t have a ZIP code and those closest to the work often have great ideas their managers haven’t thought of yet.
4. Be transparent with your clients. If you’re proud of your team, show it. Advisors that work with an international team are upfront with their clients about it, and they’re an integral part of delivering great service.
Hiring internationally can save you money. But when done right, it also makes your business smarter, more resilient, and more human.
If you're ready to build a team but not sure where to start, reach out. Breakaway advisors have instant access to a fully vetted, trained accounting staff from day one.
Learn more about the advantages of becoming an advisor at breakawayba.com/become-an-advisor.
