Should I improve my English first to pursue higher-paying markets, or can I succeed locally in Ukraine despite lower rates?
English is economically valuable, but the decision is a math equation: compare (your chance of success in the Ukrainian market × the Ukrainian rate) with (your chance of success in an English-speaking market without an advantage × the English rate). If the former is larger, staying local makes sense; otherwise, learn English. Maker School doesn't offer language support, but the same approach works for non-English audiences.
English is a significant factor when you want to work with English‑speaking clients. They naturally expect you to communicate reasonably well, and lower mastery can lead them to mistakenly assume you are less intelligent. Think of your language ability as a straw: the weaker your English, the smaller the straw, limiting how much of your true intelligence can be conveyed. As your language improves, the straw widens and better reflects your actual capabilities. Cultural norms also play a role; different regions have varying expectations around hierarchy, communication, and workplace behavior. You can control cultural understanding by researching the market you’re targeting—learn their work hours, meeting styles, and expectations. While you don’t need perfect fluency in every language, improving English is advisable if you aim to sell to English‑speaking markets.
He explains that the decision comes down to weighing reduced earnings against reduced friction. He ranks markets: US first, British Commonwealth second, EU third, with Luxembourg and Switzerland similar to British Commonwealth. Selling locally yields lower income because of lower earning power, but also less friction if you share the local language and culture. The mental calculus is simple: if the reduction in friction outweighs the reduction in money, it’s worthwhile. For example, earning half as much but finding it three times easier to close deals gives you 1.5× the effective return compared to a high‑ticket, competitive market. He adds that when starting out, high‑ticket coaching beats low‑ticket offers because you need cash flow and proof; personal brand isn’t the real moat—distribution is. Systems beat motivation; clients who have a system stay, those who rely on motivation don’t. To teach money‑making you must be in the top 1% of earners yourself; otherwise you’re wasting time. He advises becoming a specialist rather than a generalist, as the market seems smaller but more focused.
You don’t need to be a native English speaker to run an agency. I was born in Germany and only started speaking English around age 14, and I’ve built my agency without problems. If you can’t hold a fully professional conversation, you can focus on leads in your own country. In Germany, businesses often need services like yours because they’re less familiar with AI and automation. You don’t need extraordinary English to sell, but speaking the client’s preferred language does help. There will always be a slight disadvantage if you’re less comfortable than the client—maybe a 1 % edge case where it even helps—but generally you’ll have a harder time expressing yourself. Learning English expands your market to a wider audience with more money, since most technology and communication are in English and most money is allocated in English‑speaking countries. The trade‑off is the time and energy you must invest in learning and communicating in a language you’re not comfortable with, versus staying in your native market where the audience may have less money and require more education. Overall, I recommend you go for it.
Absolutely. Businesses in the United States would be open to buying your services if you're somebody in England or really anywhere else in the British Commonwealth. You have a significantly higher probability of selling to an American audience than people not in the Commonwealth simply because you share a lot of cultural norms. Even minor aesthetic things like having a British accent will be seen as quite positive and cool by a lot of the people you pitch to. I bet British guys with cool accents are probably closing 5-10% more deals simply by virtue of the fact that they sound more sophisticated. When you sell in a market that is not your own, there are pros and cons. The first pro is you get to arbitrage costs and revenue — cost of living in Bangladesh is much lower than in America, so you can make 10x the money while paying the same cost of living, which is why everybody loves doing this. The downside is you're usually facing a cultural uphill battle — people often stereotype you based on where you're from, and that effect is exaggerated with very culturally diverse audiences. You're going to be fighting that battle no matter what, plus the time zone battle. It's about chalking these up against each other and deciding to move ahead anyway if it makes sense for you, or targeting your local audience if that makes more sense. If you're an Englishman selling to Americans, you're fighting a time zone difference, but your cultural difference is a lot lower, meaning the cost of living difference might make more sense. However, if you live in Central London, good luck, because cost of living there is probably as high if not higher than a lot of places in the United States. Ask me how I know.