As we celebrate six years of building our nearshoring service line, we’ve taken a moment to reflect. Not just on what’s gone well, but on the lessons that helped us improve, often through trial, error, and the unexpected.
These are some of the challenges we faced as we grew, many of which we still see across the industry today. By sharing them openly, we hope others—whether clients, peers, or partners—can take something useful from our experience.
6. Overscoping Roles
In the early stages, like many growing companies, we stretched our team across multiple responsibilities. Recruiters handled HR tasks, Success Managers took on commercial roles, and marketing was looped into operations and logistics. At times, a single person would juggle three distinct areas.
While some overlap is still inevitable, we’ve learned the value of focus. Expanding our team to let people concentrate on their core strengths has led to more consistent work, stronger relationships, and clearer accountability across the board.
5. Missing the Signs from Consultants
We’re proud of the engagement we’ve built with our Code Experts community. Still, there were moments when we didn’t move quickly enough on early warning signs. A concern that seemed small turned into a resignation a few weeks later. Motivation dipped without a clear reason, and we found out too late what the real issue had been.
These experiences reminded us that signals matter, even when they’re subtle. Today, we take more care to listen, act early, and follow through. Retaining great talent requires ongoing attention, and the willingness to step in before small issues become big ones.
4. Not Understanding Country Nuances
There’s great talent everywhere, and it’s easy to assume that what works in one country will work in another. But our early efforts to apply Costa Rica–based processes across Latin America didn’t always land as expected. Cultural dynamics, socioeconomic context, and communication styles vary more than we had anticipated.
Now, we take a closer look at each market we work in. Whether it’s how engineers prefer to engage, the maturity of the tech ecosystem, or the practicalities of local infrastructure, understanding these differences helps us make better matches and manage teams more effectively.
3. Getting Picky with Clauses When Things Go South
Contracts exist for protection, and it's important to define clear terms. But when real-world complications arise—budget cuts, delayed decisions, unexpected client challenges—there’s a difference between being in the right and doing what’s right.
We’ve found value in choosing flexibility when it counts. There have been times when enforcing a penalty or pushing a clause might have been justified but would have damaged a long-term relationship. Being willing to negotiate, meet halfway, and offer support in hard moments has often resulted in better outcomes and bigger trust for everyone involved.
2. Overcharging (Or Misjudging Value)
Pricing is a balancing act. In our earlier years, we leaned heavily on fixed rate cards, adding buffers to cover risk, operations, and overhead. While this gave us stability, it didn’t always reflect the specific nature of each engagement.
As we've matured (and grown), we’ve refined our pricing approach. Today, we aim for transparency and alignment—assessing each project and each position based on its scope, risk, growth potential, and structure. It’s not about cutting corners, but about delivering value in a way that’s fair and competitive.
1. Making Assumptions About Contract Types
One of the biggest lessons came from misaligned expectations. A consultant might expect full-time work, while the client’s contract structure allowed for changes, we hadn’t fully prepared for. This created stress for all sides, especially our internal teams trying to adjust quickly and fairly.
We’ve since learned to be much more deliberate in setting expectations up front. We ask better questions, clarify the nature of each engagement, and make sure both consultants and clients understand what’s in play from the get-go. This clarity has made our partnerships smoother and more sustainable.
None of these lessons came easy (or cheap). Each required us to listen more closely, act more intentionally, and rethink how we serve both clients and consultants. But they’ve made us stronger.
We don’t claim to have it all figured out, but we’re proud of the evolution. What we’ve learned in six years has helped us build something more thoughtful, resilient, and adaptable, and we’re just getting started.
Get in touch with us to work with the best technical talent in LATAM.
