FAQ

Can One Person Run Businesses in Multiple Countries Simultaneously?

Multi-Vertical Scaling

Key Takeaways
  • The default assumption in business operations is that each new geography requires local staff.
  • Stealth Labz's dual-geography operation runs on two parallel server ecosystems:
  • Three infrastructure design decisions make solo multi-country operation viable:

Yes. One person can run production businesses in multiple countries simultaneously when the software infrastructure is designed for it. Michael George Keating operates 10 production systems spanning 7 verticals across 2 countries (South Africa and the United States) -- managing 42 hosting accounts, 149,068 transaction logs, and 3.7 million database rows without regional teams, local offices, or dedicated country managers.

Why most people assume this is impossible

The default assumption in business operations is that each new geography requires local staff. A 2023 Deloitte Global Expansion Report found that companies entering a new market typically hire 3-7 employees in the first year just for local operations -- customer support, compliance, vendor management, and market-specific customization. That staffing cost, often $150,000 to $500,000 annually, is the primary barrier that keeps geographic expansion as a funded-company activity.

The assumption holds true when your operations depend on people at every layer. If customer onboarding requires a person, if compliance requires a local consultant, if payment processing requires manual oversight -- then yes, each country multiplies your headcount.

But when those functions are built into the software itself, the calculus changes completely.

How the infrastructure replaces headcount

Stealth Labz's dual-geography operation runs on two parallel server ecosystems:

South Africa United States Combined
Hosting accounts 22 20 42
Transaction logs 71,078 77,990 149,068
Database rows 236,561 3,462,416 3,698,977
Gross processed R15.1M (ZAR) $100K (USD) $939K USD equivalent

Each geography has its own hosting, payment processing, compliance rules, and product configurations. But the underlying architecture -- the lead capture logic, the admin interfaces, the analytics framework, the deployment pipeline -- is shared. The operator manages both countries through the same workflow, not through separate teams.

What makes it work

Three infrastructure design decisions make solo multi-country operation viable:

  1. Geography-agnostic core. Currency, compliance, and locale are configuration settings, not architectural decisions. Switching from ZAR to USD does not require rebuilding the product.

  2. Automated deployment. Both geographies deploy through the same pipeline. Updates push to both ecosystems without manual intervention per country.

  3. Shared admin layer. One set of admin tools governs both operations. The operator does not context-switch between different management interfaces for different countries.

The total build cost for the full 10-system, 2-country portfolio was $65,054. The estimated replacement value is $795,000 to $2.9 million. The operator retained 100% equity throughout -- no investors, no co-founders, no dilution.

Related: How do you expand a digital product to a new country?

References

  1. Deloitte (2023). "Global Expansion Survey." Data on staffing costs and headcount for new-market entry.
  2. Keating, M.G. (2026). "Case Study: Same Product, New Country." Stealth Labz. Read case study
  3. Keating, M.G. (2026). "Case Study: The Full Portfolio." Stealth Labz. Read case study
  4. Keating, M.G. (2026). "The Compounding Execution Method: Complete Technical Documentation." Stealth Labz. Browse papers