China Pulse e-Newsletter

China Pulse is Commercial Service China’s official e-newsletter, highlighting latest business news, exciting export opportunities, and inside strategies to help you maximize your success in the China market.

Current issue and to submit an article for possible publication: China Pulse June 2007

Go Global Without Waiting to Grow Up

Fellow blogger Anita Campbell (not pictured) who writes all about Small Business Trends has an interesting post on micro-multinational businesses going global right from the start. I refer to it as born global. Check it out here. What's your take on it?

Please Choose Your Country

Think this company wants to do business with the world?

Citizens of the World

Second Life: Make An Impact on the World

65-year-old Leonard Liu is a rare breed of entrepreneur.

The former IBM executive was born and raised in China and Taiwan, and educated at Princeton University. He's a cross-cultural businessman with decades of experience in the USA and Asia. And at an age when many CEOs retire to the golf links, Liu has launched a promising outsourcing start-up called Augmentum.

Liu, who came out of a brief retirement to start Augmentum in 2003, says: "Would you rather sit on the beach and watch the sun set, or build something that will have a lasting impact on the world?"

Read more about Leonard and the impact he is making on the world here.

Take Your Business Local?

Interesting. Some companies just want to stay a certain size and become exceptional at what they do versus extend themselves too far -- say go global -- and not compete or sustain very well locally or globally for that matter. Here are two compelling snapshots taken from the article:

Although the latest US Census Bureau statistics for small businesses in Erie County don’t specify whether they are locally owned, the data shows that 94 percent of the more than 27,000 businesses in the Buffalo Niagara region have fewer than 50 employees and a little less than half of those businesses have between one and four workers.

And another:

Supporting small-scale local business does not necessarily mean shunning larger or non-local ones, he adds. The BALLE philosophy, for instance, acknowledges that it’s often very difficult to know how (and where) to shop locally, and certain goods, like tropical produce or auto parts, must be imported. Instead, BALLE supports a balance between large and small, global and local, but in a way that puts the local owners on a more even playing field. It goes back to the multiplier, says Shuman. “The more times a dollar circulates within a defined geographic area and the faster it circulates without leaving that area, the more income, wealth, and jobs it generates.”

See what you think -- article is here -- and I welcome your comments.

Also, of relevance, the co-founder of BALLE is Michael Shuman who wrote:
The Small-Mart Revolution: How Local Businesses Are Beating the Global Competition. I wonder if he would have co-founded this organization had he not written the book? I'm all for supporting local, independent businesses, especially ones who are global. The bottom line: This is all about competing effectively locally and globally.

Take Your Business Global

Everybody is focusing on going global these days. Looks like we are on to something!

Read CNN's article here.

And most of the guidelines mentioned for expanding your business internationally have been featured in Entrepreneur magazine's Global Village column. We've covered the World Bank's website (see Easy Street, June, 2007), Export Assistance Center and U.S. Department of Commerce (Study Abroad, May, 2006) and the World Citizen's Guide (American Outcast, February, 2006) -- so we're on it!

SPECIAL Report from BusinessWeek on Going Global

And all with a focus on small business -- what fun!

Getting Started Overseas

Online, a Global Strategy Starts at Home

UPS: From Local Startup to Global Titan

Twenty Countries to Consider

Avoiding Faux Pas When Exporting

Global Trade Toolkit

Thinking of exporting or expanding into new markets? It's a great time to get started! Ninety-six percent of the world's consumers live outside of the United States and free trade agreements are opening new markets for U.S. businesses everyday.

Here's a GREAT way to get started in the trade export process.

And listen in on this interview about strategies small businesses can implement to go global.

Cultural Wisdom At Your Fingertips

Tools for global managers. Tools for global team members. Tools for business travelers. Tools for international assignees. Did I leave anything out?

Get acquainted here.

Agility is Global

Interesting post by Michael Hugos in Best Practices for CIO ...

My colleagues and I are leaving today to do a 30-Day Blitz in India. The blitz we launched in May with a global electronics and software company was a real success and they’ve decided to follow it up with a sequence of three more blitzes, one at their development center in Hyderabad and two more in the States.

I’ve got butterflies in my stomach. My mind is racing with questions and concerns about how things will work out. The last time I was in India I was seven years old; my father was there on business and my family and I spent a month in New Delhi. India made a strong impression on me then and ever since it has always been an iconic place, evoking images of history and mystery. Now my work is bringing me back.

Find out why Michael has butterflies in his stomach and what's in store for him in India, here.

Photo credit: Laurel Delaney, Chicago (7/5/07) ... magnificent cloud formation hovering over downtown Chicago.

Center for Global Development

Keeping an eye on practical ideas for global prosperity.

Photo credit: Laurel Delaney, Chicago, July 4, 2007.

7 Myths About Outsourcing

In recent years, there's been a seemingly endless boom in offshore outsourcing. But companies that think handing off an operation to an overseas provider is easy can get a rude awakening by reading Seven Myths About Outsourcing.

View video on what it takes to outsource effectively.