Hiring an overseas web developer is a normal way for a US or Canadian business to get senior work without a local agency’s overhead. The risk is not the distance. The risk is a vague scope, accounts you do not own, and money paid before anything exists.
What to check before you start
Who owns the domain, the host, the Shopify store, the ad account, and the GoHighLevel subscription. All of them should be yours. What “done” means for the first milestone, in sentences a non-developer can test. How revisions work. What happens if the delivery misses that scope. Whether you can speak to the same studio next month, or whether the work is being handed to a stranger after the sale.
A studio that cannot say who will do the work is a marketplace. Uplaps is one team in Lahore. The client can be in Toronto or Texas. The hours are 24 hours, so a review does not wait for a single afternoon of overlap.
How the money should move
Pay when the milestone is delivered and you have approved it in writing. Do not pay a large deposit for a promise. The rule is written on guarantees. The service you are actually buying might be WordPress, Shopify, or GoHighLevel. Start with the problem, not with a job title.
Questions
Should the Shopify, Google, and hosting accounts be in the agency’s name?
No. Those accounts should be in the business’s name. The studio is a user, and that access can be removed.
How do time zones work with a team in Pakistan?
Uplaps is available 24 hours. Overlap with US and Canadian business hours is normal. The scope does not depend on someone being in your city.
What is the payment risk?
A deposit to a stranger is the risk. A milestone you pay after delivery, with a written scope, is the control. Uplaps does not take an advance.