Decide with confidence
Employer of Record or your own Venezuelan entity?
This is the first structural decision most companies face in Venezuela, and it is usually taken too early — before anyone has established how many people, for how long, and doing what.
Employer of Record
A third party is the legal employer of your worker and handles the employment administration, while you direct the day-to-day work.
Suits
- A small number of people, especially a first hire
- Testing a market before committing capital to a structure
- A defined project period with a clear end
- Situations where you need someone employed before an entity could realistically exist
What it costs you
- A per-employee service fee on top of compensation and applicable employer costs
- Less direct control over employment administration and documentation
- Availability and suitability have to be confirmed case by case — it is not automatically an option for every role
Your own entity
You incorporate locally, employ people directly, and own the whole compliance and administration burden yourself.
Suits
- A sustained operation with a growing headcount
- Businesses that must contract, invoice or hold assets locally
- Operations where direct control of employment terms is strategically important
- Long-term presence where the fixed cost is amortised over many employees
What it costs you
- Setup time and professional fees before anyone can be hired
- Ongoing accounting, reporting and administration whether or not you are busy
- An exit is a real project if the operation is later wound down
Side by side
| Criterion | Employer of Record | Your own entity |
|---|---|---|
| Time before your first person can start | Shorter — no incorporation step | Longer — setup must complete first |
| Cost shape | Per-employee fee; scales with headcount | Fixed overhead; better per head at scale |
| Control over employment terms | Shared with the employer of record | Fully yours |
| Ability to contract and invoice locally | Not provided by the arrangement | Yes |
| Exit | End the engagements | A wind-down project |
| Suits headcount of | A few people, or a fixed project team | A sustained and growing team |
Our recommendation
The honest answer is that this depends on headcount, duration and whether you need to trade locally. We will give you a written recommendation for your specific case, including whether an EOR arrangement is appropriate and available for the roles you have in mind — and we will tell you when the answer is that you should set up properly instead.
Questions buyers ask
- Can we start with an EOR and move to our own entity later?
- That is a common path. The move has to be planned rather than improvised — each person's transfer is reviewed individually, and continuity of pay is the first priority.
- Does SIVEN need us to have a Venezuelan entity to work with us?
- No. Contracting and invoicing run through the Gracemark group's US company, and we work with whatever structure you have or are putting in place.
- Do you give legal advice on which structure to use?
- No. We are a workforce partner. We set out the operational and workforce implications and tell you clearly where a question belongs with your own legal and tax advisers.
Want this answered for your specific case?
Send the roles, the headcount and the timeframe. You will get a written recommendation on the structure, not a sales pitch for the most expensive one.