How do CS teams handle their first hire in a country where they don’t have an entity?

I’m interested in how CS teams have handled this when expanding into a new region. Say you want a CSM based in another country because you’re starting to build a customer base there, but the company doesn’t have a local entity yet. A contractor might work for some roles, although it seems less suitable when the person is really joining the team as a normal full-time employee.

I’ve also been looking at the employer of record route, specifically Globalization Partners, as a way of handling the local employment side without opening an entity straight away.

I’m particularly interested in whether using an EOR changes anything meaningful for the CSM or their manager, or whether it mostly sits in the background while the employee works like everyone else on the team.

For anyone who has scaled a CS team internationally, how did you approach the first few hires?