From Michelin Stars to Italian Beef: Where to Eat in Chicago

©iStock/Anthony Mance

The New York Times staff at the food desk, food journalists and a Chicago restaurant critic scouted Chicago's vast food scene, from renowned Italian beefs to tavern-style pizza to Michelin-starred tasting menus. (And they want your comments.)

Some favorite restaurants in Chicago.

From Bootstrapping to Scaling: What It Really Takes to Build a Brand From the Ground Up (wegginar® 10/7/26)

©2026 Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global®.  All rights reserved.

Every founder dreams of scale. Few talk honestly about what it demands behind the scenes: the margin math, the customer acquisition costs that creep up overnight, the inventory decisions that can make or break a quarter.

That's exactly why I'm excited about our next wegginar.

Meet Isabel De Sousa, founder of Akalia

Isabel launched Akalia, a fashion and lifestyle brand, as a self-funded venture. Today it's an established e-commerce and retail business. Along the way, she has worked through nearly every stage of building and running a product-based brand, and she's ready to share what she learned.

What you'll learn

• How to take a fashion or product idea from concept to a functioning, revenue-generating business
• How to build a diversified sales strategy across your own e-commerce store, retail, social commerce, and platforms
• How to work effectively with influencers and creators, including gifting, affiliate commissions, margins, and partnerships that can actually drive sales
• How to think about profitability when scaling
• How to stay adaptable as a founder

If you're selling a product, or planning to take one global, this session will give you a clear-eyed view of the operational realities that separate brands that scale from those that stall.

Event details

📅 Wednesday, October 7, 2026

🕚 11:00 AM CT (one hour)

🎤 "From Bootstrapping to Scaling: Building a Brand From the Ground Up"

Registration is free, thanks to the generous sponsors of Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global®, but you must register to get access.

👉 Register here: https://womenentrepreneursgrowglobal.org/2026/09/02/from-bootstrapping-to-scaling-building-a-brand-from-the-ground-up/

Join the wegg® team and our community of raving fans for an hour of real-world lessons you can put to work right away.

I'll [Laurel Delaney, founder of Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global] see you there!

Today in Global Small Business: Learn How to Export

©2026 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

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

• Learn how to export.  And wait, there's more.
• Your roadmap to international success in 2026.  And wait, there's still more 😉 !
• Register for the Global Small Business Forum 10/23 at 9:00 AM CT to learn about AI-powered exports and ecommerce. Discover how to create extra value at your global small business (free of charge). Sign up here. I [Laurel Delaney] will be there!
• Quote of the week:  "Exporting is imperative." – Laurel J. Delaney, founder of Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global and author of Exporting:  The Definitive Guide To Selling Abroad Profitably
• A beginner's guide to exporting.
• Export readiness starts here (food and agricultural-related).
• The bible on exporting.

Note:  The Global Small Business Blog has been in operation since 2004 and is ranked number one in the world for entrepreneurs and small businesses interested in going global.  As of May, 2026, we average between 700,000-900,000 readers a month.  Thank you for your engagement!    

Friendliest Flower

©2026 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"Don't you think daisies are the friendliest flower?" – Kathleen Kelly, from the film You've Got Mail

Make China Great Again (MCGA)

©iStock/rudall30

President Trump is hosting China's President Xi Jinping at the White House for a summit featuring three hours of meetings and elaborate ceremony, yet it may yield little progress on the issues dividing the two countries. 

On one side stands MAGA (Make America Great Again); on the other, what might be called MCGA (Make China Great Again), two rival national ambitions competing in the most cordial of manners.

Is the Federal Government Limiting Growth Opportunities for Genuine Small Businesses?

©iStock/boggy22

Small businesses are used to competing against larger companies. They do it every day. But they should not have to compete against those same companies for contracts specifically intended for small businesses.

That could happen under a new rule proposed by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). The proposal would significantly change the standards used to determine which companies qualify as small businesses. In many industries, companies considered mid-sized today would become small businesses tomorrow.

Is the federal government inadvertently limiting growth opportunities for genuine small businesses?

Innovation Without Limits

©iStock/KanawatTH

In Michigan, 75-year-old General Fasteners has watched its business grow rapidly, covering more ground in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Now branded as GF, the company needed to update its cybersecurity infrastructure to fit its new global footprint and stay ahead of modern threats; ultimately, it adopted platformization as a long-term, scalable solution. 

How to adopt a growth mindset and purposefully choose the right mix of solutions to meet our customer's needs – now and for the future – and unlock innovation.  Discover innovation without limits.

Who Is Writing the Rules on AI?

©iStock/nicoletaionescu

Who is writing the rules on AI?

With President Trump downplaying the risk of AI spiraling out of control, Times Opinion asked six people – including a tech founder, a former OpenAI board member, a former national security adviser, and a constitutional lawyer – to fill the gap.

Here's what they proposed.

Note:  The Global Small Business Blog has been in operation since 2004 and is ranked number one in the world for entrepreneurs and small businesses interested in going global.  As of May, 2026, we average between 700,000-900,000 readers a month.  Thank you for your engagement!

Today in Global Small Business: TradeStats Express by State (USA)

©iStock/chuanchai

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

• Explore trade by state, partner, and products – TradeStats Express. 
• International Trade (U.S. Census Bureau) is the official source for U.S. export and import statistics and responsible for issuing regulations governing the reporting of all export shipments from the United States.
• Register for the Global Small Business Forum 10/23 at 9:00 AM CT to learn about AI-powered exports and ecommerce. Discover how to create extra value at your global small business (free of charge). Sign up here. I [Laurel Delaney] will be there!
• Quote of the week:  "The global trading system is in the midst of the most severe period of disruption in 80 years, according to WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
• Navigate the economics of AI (Deloitte).
• U.S. pressures Mexico to box out China’s AI hardware exports.

Note:  The Global Small Business Blog has been in operation since 2004 and is ranked number one in the world for entrepreneurs and small businesses interested in going global.  As of May, 2026, we average between 700,000-900,000 readers a month.  Thank you for your engagement!     

Goodwill Cannot Undersell or Destroy

©2026 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"Goodwill is the only asset that competition cannot undersell or destroy." – Marshall Field

Living Her Best Life

©iStock/Elena Zolotova

Forever Twiggy.  The face of London in the 1960s is living her best life at the age of 77.  

The World's Oldest Hotel

©iStock/takafumi99

In 2011, the Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan (Japanese: 西山温泉慶雲館) was recognized by Guinness World Records as the oldest hotel in the world despite the hotel facilities on site being only a few decades old.

Keiunkan lies at the foot of the Akaishi Mountains. Since its founding, the onsen has had all its hot water sourced directly from the local Hakuho Springs.