In China, No Mood to Shop

©iStock/Derek Yung

In recent years, China has become the biggest market for a range of industries, from luxury goods to automobiles.  But last month due to China’s “zero Covid” policy, the world’s second-largest economy slowed sharply, hitting not only consumer spending but also employment.

Estée Lauder, which is home to Bobbi Brown and MAC cosmetics, now expects its global sales to grow between 7% and 9% year-on-year, down from a previous range of 13% to 16% outlined in February.

The crisis is a stark reminder of China’s outsized importance to global companies.  Read more about how China's lockdowns are taking a toll on global companies.

Today in Global Small Business: Future of Food Summit

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

• Chicago to host future of food Summit (May 25-26, 2022).
• How a better globalization could rise from hyper-globalization's ashes.
• Keep U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports?
• Quote of the week: “There is no sincerer love than the love of food." – George Bernard Shaw
• Helping women expand into global markets through Access Abu Dhabi Program.
• Building irresistible food and beverage brands that are better for people, kinder to animals, and easier on the planet.

Decide Ukraine's Future

©2022 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"It is not all right for Russia to decide Ukraine's future." – Antony Blinken

Just Like That: Open a US Bank Account, Remotely, From Any Continent, With No US Social Security Number Required

©iStock/Blue Planet Studio

What if you could find a banking product for your global business that will allow you, as the founder, to open a US bank account, remotely, from any continent, with no US Social Security Number required?

Discover fintech company doola, which does just that.  

This is a new banking product that supports founders on every continent, with no US SSN required, and no visit to the US required.  US monthly business applications are over 400,000 per month (on track for 5M+ in 2022) and there are 50M+ independent creators globally.

Meet 300 Visionaries Who Have Transformed Business and Society

©iStock/Helin Loik-Tomson

While the ongoing global pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine have taken a toll on the European market, these 300 honorees remain positive:  Some 80% of listees believe the European economy is ripe for entrepreneurship, and collectively they’ve raised more than $2 billion in funding for their ventures—more than double the amount raised by last year’s honorees. 

These entrepreneurs join past Under 30 game-changers including singer-songwriter Adele, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek, actress Cynthia Erivo and athlete Marcus Rashford. Some of this year’s listers are already household names, like Simone Ashley, who played Kate Sharma in the second season of Netflix’s hit series Bridgerton. 

The list?  Here you go.

Is Your Business Export Ready?

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Want to grow your business beyond borders?  Here's a sample of how Michigan Small Business Development Center determines if a business is ready for export.

We provide an early export online assessment to determine where your company is in starting the export journey. We've developed an online training module packed with resources to help businesses explore and get a better grasp of what's involved in getting their company involved in exporting. The training module is packed with good templates and resources. From there we connect you with one of our 10 export certified consultants, and help you start developing a business plan and a marketing plan to get you ready.

Best piece of advice?  When people sit down and dedicate a certain amount of time to work on their business [not in their business], they're a whole lot more successful. 

Read the full interview here.

The Best Kept Secret For Powering Your Cross-Border Business: Foreign Exchange (wegginar® 5/11/22)

©2022 Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global®.  All rights reserved.

Why waste a second?  Register immediately: https://bit.ly/3xn3rrT.  We'll answer the following questions:  Are your sales denominated in foreign currency? Are you purchasing anything abroad in foreign currency? Are you clueless about how to manage foreign currency?  We've got your back!  At least wegg® does when it comes to their next wegginar®.

Register free of charge for the upcoming wegginar tomorrow, Wednesday, May 11, 2022 at 11AM CT, to learn the answers to the questions above and discover the secret to powering your cross border business: https://bit.ly/3xn3rrT

Hear from top experts – Lori Novak, VP Foreign Exchange | Capital Markets, Associated Bank and Angie Kappel, VP Foreign Exchange | Capital Markets, Associated Bank – who live and breathe foreign currency and are pros working with business owners who wish to learn the ropes about foreign currency management. They will be joined by their special guest Yasmin Stuffer-Hong, founder ad CEO, Share US, Inc., to discuss the ins and outs to foreign exchange.

What to expect from the wegginar:

• Gain knowledge of exchange rates
• Recognize the main causes of FX volatility
• Learn how to invoice your client in their local currency
• Increase your margins by paying or selling in local currencies
• Understand your FX risk management options

To learn more and to register (n/c), visit: https://bit.ly/3xn3rrT. We are breaking records on registrations yet, fortunately, we have plenty of seats and they are comfortable too :-). See you there.

Program hosted by Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global®.

Today in Global Small Business: 9 Translation Books You Never Heard About

©iStock/FabrikaCr

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

• 9 translation books you never heard about.
• Mother-daughter duo Pratiksha and Vama Sangoi building a global soap brand, as well as the journeys of other small businesses.
• From a national business to a global success.
• Quote of the week: “Words travel worlds.  Translators do the driving.” – Anna Rusconi
• How to take an 'always on' approach to global marketing.
• Some serious knowledge on what to do – and what not to do – when scaling-up globally.

Pass Violets Looking For Roses

©2022 Laurel J, Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"We may pass violets looking for roses. We may pass contentment looking for victory." – Bernard Williams

Finding Global Brand Desirability

©iStock/Nattakorn Maneerat

Finding global brand desirability, according to Lisa Shiqi Yu, Genlab CEO and former digital transformation head of L’Oreal China and Elijah Whaley, VP of Marketing at Gainfluence, comes from combining superior product quality with defining your brand purpose, delivered through extraordinary customer experiences.

When it comes to long-term brand building, the local beauty brands can learn a lot from foreign brands.  See what the future brings.

Seriously, What Does Metaverse Mean?

©iStock/KanawatTH

Mentally replace the phrase “the metaverse” in a sentence with “cyberspace.”  That's what the folks at Wired magazine wants you to do.

Ninety percent of the time, the meaning won't substantially change. That's because the term doesn't really refer to any one specific type of technology, but rather a broad (and often speculative) shift in how we interact with technology. And it's entirely possible that the term itself will eventually become just as antiquated, even as the specific technology it once described becomes commonplace. 

CEOs like Mark Zuckerberg or Satya Nadella talk about the metaverse as the future of the internet. Or it's a video game. Or maybe it's a deeply uncomfortable, worse version of Zoom?

So, with all this in mind.  Seriously, what does Metaverse mean?

Roe v. Wade: Women Have a Right To Choose

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A woman has a right to choose.  I have a right to choose.  Simple is that.  Yet, the Supreme Court has voted to strike down the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, according to an initial draft majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito circulated inside the court and obtained by POLITICO.

“We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled,” he [Alito] writes in the document, labeled as the “Opinion of the Court.” “It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.”

David Axelrod has it right:  "This is a wholesale withdrawal of a basic right."

Women deserve better.  We decide and no one else does. "Women's rights are human rights and human rights are women's rights," says Hillary Clinton.

Legal information.  LIVE updates.  14th Amendment.