Build Your Courage

©2020 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"Creativity takes courage." – Henri Matisse

Hit the Pause Button: We Have a New Trade Deal

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The long-awaited U.S.-China trade deal has arrived.  It's packaged up nicely -- even might have a bow on it.  Sign, sealed, and delivered to us with good tidings from President Trump.  The deal includes some significant changes to the economic relationship between the world’s two largest economies.

Among the biggest questions going in to the negotiations with China was how any agreement would be enforced. Having watched previous agreements with China fail to live up to their promise, many American experts and business executives were skeptical that the Trump administration could get China to keep the commitments it makes.

Take a look at what's in (and not in) the U.S.-China trade deal – brought to you by Peter Eavis, Alan Rappeport and Ana Swanson, the New York Times.

I still say this will be the year of "play it safe" for global small business owners.

The Newly Awakening Entrepreneurship Drive Among Young Chinese Students

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Yuanyuan Zhou, a professor of computer science at the University of California, San Diego, (UCSD) and a serial entrepreneur herself has witnessed from the front lines how much more entrepreneurial young Chinese students in the United States have become.

When Zhou started her first company in 1999 as a Ph.D. student at Princeton University, she was unusual among her peers. So far, she says, only two of the 20 or so Chinese Ph.D. students at Princeton she got to know while she was a student there have created their own companies. By contrast, Zhou says, seven of the 19 Chinese Ph.D. students who have graduated since she became a professor have done so. Last year, Zhou even offered a seminar in entrepreneurship at UCSD. About half of the 25 students who took the class were Chinese.

Nevertheless, read more about how China is trying to convince more young Chinese entrepreneurs to return to China after studying in the United States. 

Registration is OPEN: 5th Annual Global Small Business Forum 4/17/20 held in Chicago

©2020 Global TradeSource, Ltd.  All rights reserved.

Registration is open for our 5th Annual Global Small Business Forum to be held in Chicago Friday, April 17th from 7:30-11:30 AM CT.  The theme this year is “Be a Global Unicorn.”  Hear from 4 CEOs who will share their experience on global business growth, success stories, challenges and lessons learned.  They will also address how impossible expectations and ambitions are driving them to become global unicorns.  To learn more and to register, visit: http://globalsmallbusinessforum.com. Please Like our Facebook Page:  https://www.facebook.com/globalsmallbusinessforum/.  We look forward to your participation!

More information

Sponsors

Gold:  Associated Bank
Bronze:  Multilingual Connections
Host:  Foley & Lardner LLP
Support:  From the International Trade Association of Greater Chicago and others.

Panelists: Lori Novak (moderator), VP Foreign Exchange | Capital Markets, Associated Bank; Danny Park, CEO and Co-founder, RoboTHINK LLC; Aisha Ceballos-Crump, CEO and Founder, Honey Baby Naturals; Heather Acerra, co-founder, LUX Blox; and, Rajiv Khatau, Managing Director, LODAAT Pharma.

Other speakers:  Marc Schulman, President, Eli’s Cheesecake, Richard Paullin, Executive Director, International Association of Greater Chicago, and Laurel Delaney, President, Globetrade.com and Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global®.

Time and location:  8:00 – 11:30 a.m., Foley & Lardner LLP, 321 North Clark Street, Suite 3000, Chicago.

Admission:  $20 (students); $40 (general); Admission + Vendor Table - $400. For more information and to register, please see:  http://globalsmallbusinessforum.com/.

Questions?  Contact Laurel Delaney.

Global News Delivered Twice a Day on Weekdays, Daily at Weekends (Podcast)

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Global News Podcast | 477,463 subscribers | International News | BBC World Service | UK International News.  The day’s top stories from BBC News. Delivered twice a day on weekdays, daily at weekends.

Tune-in.  Listen.

Today in Global Small Business: Facebook's Vision 2030

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

• Global shipping trends for 2020.
• The coolest artificial intelligence announcements from CES 2020. 
• Quote of the week: “People who succeed have momentum. The more they succeed, the more they want to succeed, and the more they find a way to succeed.  Similarly, when someone is failing, the tendency is to get on a downward spiral that can even become a self-fulfilling prophecy." – Tony Robbins
• Unveiling a vision for 2030 – Facebook, and there's no focus on Libra.
• Next frontier?  Drones.
• The chief legal officer of Google parent Alphabet Inc., David Drummond, is leaving the company amid an investigation into his relationships with employees of the global search-engine giant.  New job?  Retirement.

Be Ruled By Your Passions

©2020 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"I've always admitted that I'm ruled by my passions." – Elizabeth Taylor

What Is Your Ultimate Business Goal: Local or Global?

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Small-to-midsize business owners (SMB) are often faced with contradictory advice on whether to go global or stay local. Article after article explains the benefits of buying local and working with homegrown businesses. Yet SMBs are also encouraged to harness technological advances to realize their global aspirations.

As Frederick Crosby, Chief Revenue Officer of Veem says, "when faced with a decision between staying local or expanding to international markets, small business owners need to consider their ultimate business goals, target market/audience, and ultimately, their bandwidth."

Read more about which is best for your business:  local or global?

Steve Strauss Looks at Small Business Trends of 2020

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Our good friend and colleague, Steve Strauss, is an attorney, popular speaker and the best-selling author of 17 books, including "The Small Business Bible."  Let's just say he knows a little something about the small business industry.

For USA Today, Steve provides his annual look at the top trends in business for the coming year. Caveat:

But note — this is not a prediction column, because as it turns out, I [Steve Strauss] am about as good at predictions as I am at losing weight. Instead, let’s look at what is trending in business in 2020 with the intent of helping you navigate these choppy waters. 

Have a look.  Meanwhile, you can learn more about Steve at MrAllBiz.com, get more tips at his site TheSelfEmployed, and connect with him on Twitter @SteveStrauss and on Facebook at TheSelfEmployed.

A Relaunch on Global E-Commerce by Forever 21

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In a statement, Forever 21 [privately held fast-fashion retailer] President Alex Ok said that the retailer has seen ongoing demand from customers in regions where it has plans to exit. "Ecommerce forms a large chunk of the profitable core of our operations and as part of our new global strategy, Forever 21 will leverage Global-e's technology to offer international customers an outstanding online experience," he said.

Hence, Forever 21 is relaunching its international online store to target consumers in Canada, Asia, the Asia-Pacific region and Latin America, in partnership with cross-border e-commerce platform Global-e.

Background –

The U.S.-based, privately held fast-fashion retailer [Forever 21] filed for bankruptcy in September [2019], saying at the time that it would close as many as 178 U.S. stores along with most of its international stores in Europe and Asia, in order to refocus on its U.S. and Latin American businesses.

Learn more about how Forever 21 is relaunching its international e-commerce.

Laurel Delaney's Global Trade Trends Report 2020 (wegginar®)

©Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global®.  All rights reserved.

In today's fast-changing business world, it has never been more important to stay informed about key trends reshaping the global economy and position yourself to maintain a competitive edge.  And that is what Laurel Delaney will be covering in her upcoming Thought Leadership Series (TLS) wegginar® hosted by Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global®.  Not just what’s hot and what’s not but what you should be giving your undivided attention to.  Are you ready?

JOIN us for Laurel Delaney's Global Trade Trends Report 2020, a free wegginar® thanks to wegg®'s sponsors:  Bank of America, FedEx, Associated Bank, Greensfelder, APCO Worldwide, GlobalCare Clinical Trials and Union Pacific Foundation – all companies that generously support women business owners who grow their businesses through exports.

Laurel will unveil:

• Facts on the global small business market
• Growth in the USA economy
• How small is the new big

This will be a high-energy, information-rich presentation that will have you thinking about how to track what is relevant in global trade and position your global small business for success in 2020.

Participants will learn what's in store for 2020 on the following issues relative to global trade:

• U.S. China relations
• Brexit
• Freight
• Payment
• Warehousing
• Tariffs
• Privacy
• Digital trade
• +More

Laurel Delaney's Global Trade Trends Report 2020 will take place LIVE on Wednesday, January 8th at 11AM CT (12PM ET and 9AM PST).  Register NOW:
https://womenentrepreneursgrowglobal.org/2019/12/17/laurel-delaneys-global-trade-trends-report-2020/

Today in Global Small Business: Ways to Fight Global Pollution as a Small Business Owner

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

• Five ways your global small business can help battle global pollution.
• How can your global small business give back to a community and feel good about it. 
• Quote of the week: “We will open the book.  Its pages are blank.  We are going to put words on them ourselves.  The book is called opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day” – Edith Lovejoy Pierce
• How competing in the age of AI requires a new strategy.
• Top 12 business trends for 2020.
• Share your top nine Instagram favs, after all, life is all about experiences.