Today in Global Small Business: Four Women Are Solving Real-World Problems

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What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners:

• Everything you need to know about podcasting to start and grow your global business.
• How to build an international, socially conscious business on a budget.
• Just land a new customer overseas?  Losing sleep over how to get paid?  Attend the next educational WEGGinar™, Wednesday, June 6 at 11:00 a.m. Central Time, "Grow Globally by Offering Competitive Financing Solutions" and presented by Tamara Maxwell, Director, Minority and Women Owned Business & Multiplier Outreach Division, Office of Small Business, Export-Import Bank of the United States.  Tamara will make sure you don't lose a customer as a result of not knowing how to finance the deal. The WEGGinar™ is free of charge, thanks to the generous support of global sponsors: UPS, IBM and Bank of America – go here to register: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/7394069852172520451.
• The road to sustainable world-class universities.
• Meet 4 women who are changing the world and solving real-world problems.
• How e-commerce is accelerating global growth for small businesses.

Best Wishes to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle

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May the years ahead be filled with lasting joy, love and happiness as you begin your new life together.

PayPal Extends Its Global Reach by Buying iZettle

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Holy cow!  PayPal has reached a deal to buy iZettle, Europe’s answer to the mobile payments company Square, for about $2.2 billion.

PayPal’s chief executive, Dan Schulman, says, "Small businesses are the engine of the global economy and we are continuing to expand our platform to help them compete and win online, in-store and via mobile."

The deal is considered the company’s biggest takeover — and would underscore the arms race in the world of payments, especially as digital and mobile transactions are increasingly being adopted across the world.

Read more about PayPal agreeing to the $2.2 billion deal for European payments start-up iZettle.

Produce Pioneers: Importing and Distributing Avocados

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Galen Newhouse and Randy Shoup started West Pak Avocado at a time when avocados where almost unheard of.

From selling fruit to local distributors from their small pack-house in California, the pair have grown the company into what it is today - a multinational distributor with five distribution centers delivering fruit from California, Mexico and South America to customers in North America, Asia and the Middle East. 

Newhouse added that they were successful in the end and credits integrity, honesty and reliability with that success. "We won them over because we always delivered and did what we promised. We always did what we said we were going to do so, and overall we overcame the issue."

Learn more about the West Zak Avocado success journey -- from small avocado company to global business.

A New Era of Global Trade

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Christine Lagarde, IMF Managing Director, talks about the future of trade, especially in Portland, Oregon—which she thinks is a fitting venue for her speech on global trade.

Why? Because global trade has a lot in common with the famous bridges across the Willamette River. Some are old, and some are new. Some are in good shape, while others are creaking. Some are non-descript, while others are exceedingly beautiful.

As Christine goes on to say, "Despite their differences, all these bridges are getting the job done—connecting communities and businesses, and encouraging the flow of products, capital, and ideas. This is, in many ways, the story of global trade."

Read more about Christine Lagarde's speech on creating a better global trade system.

The Nordic Museum: A Celebration of Arts, Culture and Innovation

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The new Nordic Museum, costing about $50 million to build, is based in Seattle and celebrates the city’s many immigrants from Scandinavia and nearby countries.  It includes a soaring Fjord Hall with 20-foot-high glass-walled walkways. The walkways are intended to suggest the immigrant experience.

The museum location, the neighborhood of Ballard, is considered the home to a large Nordic population.

Learn more about the Nordic Museum here.

Today in Global Small Business: From a Small Business to a Global Brand

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What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners:

• Following one simple plan  -- find out what it is -- grew a tiny Hong Kong shop from a small business into a global brand.
• Three winners of the Google video competition -- in partnership with the International Chamber of Commerce and World Trade Organization.
• Consumers can now buy high-end products from airport duty-free shops, department store counters and e-commerce channels; learn which category is ruling the roost.
• Believe it or not, everyone can compete on the global playing field.
• The day after Mother's Day:  lessons from Mom from entrepreneurial leaders.
• Just land a new customer overseas?  Losing sleep over how to get paid?  Attend the next educational WEGGinar™, Wednesday, June 6 at 11:00 a.m. Central Time, "Grow Globally by Offering Competitive Financing Solutions" and presented by Tamara Maxwell, Director, Minority and Women Owned Business & Multiplier Outreach Division, Office of Small Business, Export-Import Bank of the United States.  Tamara will make sure you don't lose a customer as a result of not knowing how to finance the deal. The WEGGinar™ is free of charge, thanks to the generous support of global sponsors: UPS, IBM and Bank of America – go here to register: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/7394069852172520451.

Hello World! Hello Spring!

Spring brings new life into the world around us.

Photos courtesy:  ©2018 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

Establish Sales in Other Countries

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Outside the high-tech realm, pundits say automotive suppliers need to broaden their geographic reach by establishing sales and satellite operations in other countries.  You have to think big.

“This is the way of the future. You have to have a global footprint or representation of some type in other countries,” said Azzopardi [Jonathon Azzopardi, president and CEO of Laval Intl., a mould manufacturer in Tecumseh, Ont.].

Read more about the automotive outlook -- local and global.

E-Commerce Supremacy Goes Global

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The world's largest retailer, Walmart, will acquire a 77% holding in Flipkart Group for $16 billion.

The deal — Walmart's biggest ever — gives it greater access to India's e-commerce market, which Morgan Stanley has estimated will grow to $200 billion in about a decade.

For Walmart, this move enables it to tap into India's retail market without building stores.

Learn more about how Walmart just bought its way into India's e-commerce treasure trove.

Smaller Countries Need to Think Internationally From an Early Stage

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A founder in Sweden or Ireland knows from day one that their business needs to be international, if it is ever going to get really big.  Whereas a founder operating in the United States, India or China, for example, can focus 100 percent on their home market and still build a billion dollar business.

Smaller countries need to think international from an early stage.

According to an article published at Venture Beat:

Startups from countries with a population of less than 50 million go international twice as fast as startups from countries with a population of more than 50 million: 1.4 years as opposed to 2.8 years.

Read more about when your startup should expand internationally.

April 26, 1956: Containerization is Born and Globalization Sets Sail