Two Powerhouse CEOs Have a Conversation About the Importance of Global Small Businesses

©2015 Laurel Delaney.  All rights reserved.  Jack Ma, Founder &
Executive Chairman, Alibaba Group (second from left)

©2015 Laurel Delaney.  All rights reserved.

Jack Ma, Founder & Executive Chairman, Alibaba Group (R)

©2015 Laurel Delaney.  All rights reserved.

Jack Ma, Founder & Executive Chairman, Alibaba Group (R)

©2015 Laurel Delaney.  All rights reserved.
Ken Chenault, Chairman & CEO, American Express (L) and Jack Ma, Founder & Executive Chairman, Alibaba Group (R)

I had the great honor and privilege to listen to Ken Chenault, Chairman & CEO, American Express and Jack Ma, Founder & Executive Chairman, Alibaba Group have a conversation on building and supporting the small business community and the opportunities and challenges facing them.

Small businesses are making a big impact.  From local restauranteurs to online shop owners, entrepreneurs are helping shape and enhance their communities around the world.

• Read Jack Ma's latest commentary published in the Wall Street Journal (6/9/15).
• Read the Chicago Tribune news article (6/10/15) about the event.
• Watch the CNBC (LIVE Chicago) interview with Jack Ma talking about Alibaba's international strategy.
• Learn more about the Alibaba Group's story (video) here.
• Internet Retailer's coverage by Nona Tepper here.

Is Alibaba a Global Company?

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In "A Short Course on Alibaba," I discuss some of the more prominent businesses within China-based Alibaba, but the questions posed today shortly before their IPO are these:  Is Alibaba truly a global company? Can it expand efficiently beyond China?

CNBC's Cadie Thompson writes a provocative take on those very same questions:  "For Alibaba, going global means new frontiers."

Related article:  Is Alibaba coming to America?

Alibaba Goes From a 1 Million Goal to 2,000 Small U.S. Businesses Per Year

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Alibaba is going through a major transformation – transformation these days means cutting budgets, firing people and running a much leaner ship.  Also with the transformation comes a more realistic goal on their future performance.

History:  Alibaba launched its B2B eCommerce site, Alibaba.com, in the U.S. three years ago and set a goal of adding 1 million local businesses and global reach, but the company has fallen short of those targets in the ensuing years, the report said, citing three people familiar with the operations.

The majority of U.S. sellers cancel their subscriptions after a year, past and current employees said in the report. One person said Alibaba.com is now looking to sign up 2,000 small U.S. businesses per year rather than the 1 million goal.

Read on to see how the efforts of Alibaba to rival Amazon are falling a bit short.

Trouble Ahead: China's eBay, Alibaba

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Alibaba announced two of its most senior representatives, David Wei, the chief executive, and Elvis Lee, the chief operating officer, would resign to accept responsibility for the company having granted "golden status" to 2,236 dealers who it says had subsequently defrauded buyers.

Although the two executives were not personally implicated, the company had little choice than to accept their resignations and make a public disclosure about what happened.

Read all about it:

An online-fraud scandal in China:  Alibaba and the 2,236 thieves
The Economist (check out this December 2010 article as well)

Why Alibaba's CEO had to go
Fortune Tech

Alibaba.com CEO Resigns in Wake of Fraud by Sellers
WSJ.com

David Wei and Elvis Lee Quit Alibaba Amid Fraud Inquiry
NYTimes.com

I think this is only the tip of an iceberg ... watch it closely.

How Much Can a Company Sell Online in 90 Minutes?

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China-based Alibaba Group Holding Limited announced that USD 5 billion (approximately RMB 31.8 billion) of gross merchandise volume (GMV) was settled through Alipay on Alibaba’s China and international retail marketplaces in the first 90 minutes of the November 11, 2015 Global Shopping Festival.

According to Alibaba Group, this year’s November 11 Global Shopping Festival features more than six million products from more than 30,000 brands sold by over 40,000 merchants.

Learn more:  Alibaba Defined | Alibaba Annual Report 2015

Note:  GMV is the total amount settled through Alipay on Alibaba’s China and international retail marketplaces. All November 11, 2015 GMV and other figures are subject to final auditing following conclusion of the event.

Alibaba's Jack Ma Promises to Help Australian Small Businesses Grow

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Jack Ma, CEO of Alibaba and considered China's richest tech boss, with a net worth of about $US28 billion, promises to use funds he received from the Australian government to help Australian small business grow and expand offshore.  He just cut the ribbon on a brand new Alibaba HQ in Australia.

It's understood the Daniel Andrews state government has provided a number of "incentives" to Alibaba to set up its Australia-New Zealand headquarters in Melbourne but the ecommerce giant refused to reveal the exact nature of these concessions or the size of the investment.

Read more here.

Alibaba Courts the U.S. and Europe to Get Global Growth

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Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba is ramping up its global expansion with new services aimed at attracting small businesses in the U.S. and Europe.

Alibaba.com — the company’s business-to-business platform which sells to companies outside China — is launching “Alibaba Guaranteed.”  The new service will provide buyers with greater certainty on delivery, payments and dispute settlement.

What It's Like to Shop a Local Main Street Online

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11Main.com, a new U.S.-based e-marketplace owned by Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd., launched yesterday (6/11/14) with hundreds (okay ... possibly a thousand or two) boutiques designed to replicate shopping a local Main Street.  We reported on this March 14, 2014.

What is the key differentiator on 11Main?  You don't sign up on your own.  11Main finds, recruits and approves stores to sell on its site.  What does that protect or ward off?  Dishonest sellers.  Ouch or maybe Cool, depending on who you are and how you look at it.

Read the entire news article:  Alibaba launches 11main.com in the U.S.

We've been reporting on Alibaba since 2005.  Review the history here, especially in view of the upcoming Alibaba IPO.

Startup Entrepreneurs Take On The World

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Are you a relatively new entrepreneur (newpreneur)? Do you have a start-up story to tell that will blow people's mind because it's that amazing and important?

Then you should take a look at Alibaba's (microsite here) Newpreneur of the Year program which affords you a chance to take home a share of $100,000 in business grants.

It's simple: share your story in a short essay on why you should be the Newpreneur of the Year; join Alibaba for an inspiring discussion and dialogue among experts (e.g, Tom Peters) and peers and celebrate the excitement around entrepreneurship. Top Grant=$50,000, Second Grant=$25,000. Third Grant=$15,000 and two Fourth Grants=$5,000.

Alibaba (China-based) claims it is the world's largest online B2B marketplace.

Deadline for the contest: August 14, 2009.

Apply here.

阿里巴巴正在通過英語門戶實現其全球抱負

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Alibaba is fulfilling its global ambitions with an English-language portal (阿里巴巴正在通過英語門戶實現其全球抱負) on Tmall, one of the single largest online retailers in China’s $1 trillion e-commerce arena.

The e-commerce giant began offering an English-language portal on Tmall for the first tim to entice more merchants from around the world to sell to Chinese consumers. 

Alibaba is seeking new growth engines to offset a cooling economy at home as the trade war rages on, while fending off increasingly aggressive competitors locally and globally.

Read more about how Alibaba aims to double global brands with its new English site.

The Beginning of a New Global Trading System

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China has more than a billion people and is tapping into markets such as India and Africa -- capturing markets that account for more like three to four billion users, in places with fast emerging middle classes.

"If you are banker and you are in transaction banking, you are foolish if you think in five years' time the majority of your customers' transactions will be conventional supply chain transactions, or conventional trade transactions. They and a growing host of new businesses, often global SMEs, will be trading through platforms like Alibaba. So the banking side of the business will gravitate towards Alibaba, and there may be one or two other platforms competing alongside them."

For example, if we are leaning toward a platform-based global commerce economy, what about Google, Facebook, eBay and Amazon?  Don't underestimate their capabilities.

Read more:  Alibaba advances:  How China is using fin tech to take control of global trade

Today in Global Small Business: Small Table Maker Vintage Industrial Takes on Alibaba's Fakes

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

• Learn five takeaways from the ICC World Trade Agenda Day.
• Jack Ma's bold promise—that Alibaba would help create 1 million jobs in the U.S. over five years.
• Souq.com — which sells health and beauty products and electronic goods — has become the highest-valued internet company in the Middle East.
• Why should you export?
• The financial and cultural considerations to importing for small businesses.
• How a small table maker Vintage Industrial takes on Alibaba's flood of fakes.

Wine and Fruit Are the Answers to Better Relations Between USA and China

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American president-elect Donald Trump met yesterday (1/9) to discuss Alibaba executive chairman Jack Ma's plans to create 1 million U.S. jobs by growing trade between U.S. small businesses and Chinese consumers.

According to Scott Kennedy, director of the Project on Chinese Business & Political Economy at the Center for Strategic & International Studies, Ma intended to set the structure of Alibaba’s business with the U.S. in a framework Donald Trump understands, as an innovative company that is creating jobs for both Chinese and Americans.

"It was a very productive meeting," Ma told reporters. "The door is open to discuss the relationship on trade issues."
Ma specifically mentioned agricultural products such as wine and fruit that could be sold through Alibaba to consumers in China and Asia.

Read more here.  And then there are other issues which must be overcome first, namely pirated and counterfeit goods.

Today in Global Small Business: Should You Care About the Global Minimum Tax?

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

• With International MSMEs Day, China vows more support for small businesses.
• Changes in global tax structure – the Global Minimum Tax – will affect even global small businesses. Here's how to prepare.
• In the midst of a global pandemic, no matter how hard-working, creative, patient or resilient the local small business owner may be, the odds of achieving success are slim.  Yet they manage to survive and thrive.  Here's how.
• Quote of the week:  "I call Alibaba '1,001 mistakes.' We expanded too fast, and then in the dot-com bubble, we had to have layoffs. By 2002, we had only enough cash to survive for 18 months. We had a lot of free members using our site, and we didn't know how we'd make money. So we developed a product for China exporters to meet U.S. buyers online. This model saved us." – Jack Ma, co-founder and former executive chairman of Alibaba Group
• The resale market is booming.  Here's how global small businesses can benefit.
• Trade experts take stock on USMC's first anniversary.

Alibaba Restructures

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The Jack Ma-founded conglomerate, which includes Alibaba, said on Tuesday, March 28, 2023 it was planning to split into six units and explore fundraisings or listings for most of them, marking the biggest restructuring in its 24-year history.

This might be a signal that Beijing’s regulatory crackdown on corporates is ending, propelling the conglomerate's shares higher and boosting investor confidence in prospects for Chinese tech firms.

Today in Global Small Business: The State of the World According to Bill Clinton

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

• Is Alibaba's stock (NYSE:BABA) a long-term buy?
• Why entrepreneurs worldwide have reasons to be optimistic.
• What is Alibaba?
• Why folks in Utah are interested in increasing exports.
• Are Americans incoherent on foreign policy?
• The state of the world according to Bill Clinton. 

More on "It's the economy stupid! ..."

Reboot Global Trade Talks

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Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba Group wants to reboot global trade talks.

“WTO 2.0,” he said in a speech at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Manila last week. “We should be using WTO to support small guys.” It’s the big buys that currently control the global trading system. They built it, as they alone had the resources to spread out around the globe."

He goes on to say that trade is a freedom, trade is human right and trade should not be used as a tool against other nations.

Mighty powerful words.  Besides Alibaba, who else benefits from small-business commerce?  Are we on the verge of a new trade agenda -- beyond Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)?

Read more:  Why the future of global trade deals could be small business

Where's the Bright Light?

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There's an expectation of a slowdown in export growth ...

Asian companies have been on a tear, but this may be as good as it gets. Despite a stellar round of earnings for the last quarter, the outlook for many of the region’s companies — household names around the world — is dimming.

And a snippet from Alibaba.com:

“We continue to take a cautious view on the global economy and small-business development,” said David Wei, Alibaba’s chief executive, “and expect a slowdown in export growth for the following quarters.”

Read more here:
Pessimism in Asia Despite a Solid Earnings Season

Posted by: The Global Small Business Blog

Netrepreneurs Will Drive Growth in China

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Netrepreneurs will drive forward progress in China, says Alibaba Group founder and chairman Jack Ma at the company’s annual AliFest gathering in its home city of Hangzhou.

“I’m confident and optimistic,” Ma said, telling the audience that they were like immigrants who would build a new era in China. “Transparency and sharing will be the cornerstone of our value system,” he said. “On this basis, netrepreneurs will drive forward progress in China.”

Read all about what's going on with Jack Ma, China-based Alibaba (where consumers will buy more than $157 billion worth of merchandise) and the netrepreneurs in China here.

Chinese Companies to Watch: Tencent, Huawei and Xiaomi

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Step aside Alibaba. There's bigger fish to fry in 2015 when it comes to Chinese companies looking to become as big or bigger than Alibaba and known worldwide.

Chinese tech companies are poised to make a huge splash this year as they push beyond their borders and invest heavily in international expansion.  

Here are three Chinese tech companies to watch in 2015.