A "competitive edge" for an offshore development company?

I am an American with (a bit of) a marketing background, though currently I live in Minsk, Belarus. I recently met the CEO of a very tiny Software Development start-up, and we developed a friendly relationship and I agreed that I would try to help their company as best I could.

Their portfolio consists mostly of enterprise/logistical software for local clients, and they work solely off of outsourced projects. PHP, .NET, and they are about to get an iOS expert whose apps have an approximate user-base of 2,000,000 (so i see some hope in our prospects).

However, I am not a tech guy at all; I saw this opportunity as a challenge (and it seems that it is certainly going to be just that).

Now that I run into the marketing end of things, we are trying to find a promising U.S.-based client so we can get our foot in the border.

The only edge I see us having for the US market at the moment is that I am of the same culture and language, so it can make communication a good deal simpler--and possibly make potential clients more at ease to work with us. Am I correct in this, though? Is this an edge at all for an offshore development firm?

What's the best way for us to establish partnership with a U.S.-based firm?

Any advice you could offer would be great.

Thanks,

David Morgan

I see 2 questions:

I am of the same culture and ... ease to work with us. Am I correct in
this, though? Is this an edge at all for an offshore development firm?

Certainly. People do business with other people they relate their principles/culture with. But that'll simply level the playing field, not tilt it in your favor since there are US s/w shops here with development extensions across the planet.

What's the best way for us to establish partnership with a U.S.-based
firm?

For us it's been referrals. You need to have an wide network to see who is doing what work. Spread the word in your network that you've got resources to take on extra projects in XYZ domain. Get active on LinkedIn. I've always favored outsourced shops that were referred to me by someone than searching via Google or something. And from what I've gathered from many other companies, it's the ONLY way to operate because without a referral you risk of getting screwed by someone on another continent is much higher. It's a controllable risk, so most companies DO control it via referrals.

Having a US presence(forming a LLC in US) will have higher chances of landing a project then trying to contact from Belarus. As mentioned by sid having a referral and network in US can cut your time in finding projects.