Big Global Ambitions: TikTok, Temu and Shein

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China has been “the world’s factory” for decades, with made-in-China goods reaching global consumers through foreign brands, shops, or sites like Amazon. And the country has had a vibrant domestic e-commerce sector, with companies like Alibaba and JD.com growing into juggernauts.

Now see how Chinese e-commerce platforms like Shein, Temu, and TikTok Shop are causing a stir and going global with big ambitions. 

Today in Global Small Business: Betting on a Lifestyle Brand to Go Global

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

• The Italian Made in Italy apparel and accessory brand Vicario Cinque is ready to further expand globally through a series of strategies in-keeping with its own identity, expertise, love for the environment, quality, savoir-faire.  It's a bet on a lifestyle brand.
• A triple-shot reinvention strategy with multiple paths for long-term [global] growth.
• Full-blown gym Everlast plans for global expansion.
• Quote of the week:  "My guiding principle is that prosperity can be shared. We can create wealth together. The global economy is not a zero-sum game." – Julia Gillard
  
• Global economic growth will slow in 2024, say banks.
• A different perspective than from above says that the global economy will perform better than many expect in 2024.

Speak Your Mind

©2023 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"Speak your mind even if your voice shakes." –  Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Lessons Learned About Gratitude

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This is the perfect time of year to practice gratitude.  Jessica Stallman, contributor for Inc.com, looks back at surveys, studies, and personal anecdotes she's dug through, and questions what she has learned about gratitude and how it impacts our brains, our emotions, and our teams. 

Are some forms of gratitude more effective than others, for instance?  What are the big, headline takeaways about gratitude she wishes everyone understood post Thanksgiving? 

Read on to discover Jessica's insights.

On a related note, thank you all for your readership.  Grateful.

From Our House to Yours, Happy Thanksgiving

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Why Ireland Matters for Security Reasons

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Against the background of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and changes in the global security environment, Ireland is undertaking a much-needed national debate on security policy.

Ireland has real maritime and cyber vulnerabilities that could have important impacts beyond the country. The EU, NATO, and other European states need to work with Ireland in addressing these threats.

Find out why Ireland matters for European security.

AI Translation Software and Tools

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Before diving into AI translation software and tools, it’s important to define machine translation. The automated conversion of one language to another, machine translation works by converting text from a source language and producing the equivalent in the target language.

Many translation services combine machine translations with human support to ensure the translation is specific to the target location. This also allows the content to use specific expressions, social references, and more. 

Here are some AI translation software and tools on the market.  

Today in Global Small Business: China, the New Globalization and Its Ongoing Transition

 

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

• China, the new globalization and its ongoing transition.
• Is the U.S. trying try to shape a “new economic world order” around protecting workers?
• What is the Global South?
• Quote of the week:  “Globalisation has made us more vulnerable. It creates a world without borders, and makes us painfully aware of the limitations of our present instruments, and of politics, to meet its challenges." – Anna Lindh
• What comes after globalization?
• A look at re-globalization for a secure, inclusive and sustainable future.

A Chance to Chill

©2023 Laurel Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"A holiday is an opportunity to journey within. It is also a chance to chill, to relax. It is when I switch on my rest mode." –  Prabhas 

Small Global Companies Are Hidden Champions

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Smaller technology companies are Europe’s “hidden champions” that need to be connected to develop alternative solutions to the big tech companies, Secretary General of the European DIGITAL SME Alliance Sebastiano Toffaletti told Euractiv.

For Toffaletti, there is a misconception that everything is owned and invented by Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and other Big Tech companies. But “the reality is that, if not all but many of the innovations do not come from those companies.  

Read on to learn how Europe has thousands of hidden champions, smaller companies, which are at the top of innovation in their small niches.  Something you can achieve too whether you are located in Europe, USA or Latin America. for example.

Build a Reputation Beyond Your Local Market

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Labels that get their start outside of major fashion hubs are leveraging their local identities and a strategic approach to wholesale to gain international followings.

Key insights:

• Brands outside of cities like Paris and New York often struggle to build a reputation beyond their local markets.
• Post-pandemic digitalisation, including the proliferation of Zoom and online shopping, has made it easier for designers to reach buyers, VIP clients and other tastemakers.
• Other effective strategies include targeting influential wholesale accounts and building a strong social media presence.

Learn how regional brands go global (full article requires payment).

Own the Change

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Business leaders know that it’s one thing to have an idea that works and can produce results, and quite another matter to get that idea adopted at a scale so that it can create impact. 

By empowering people to achieve their own goals, leaders can overcome great skepticism—and achieve great results. What worked for cookstoves in Guatemala can work for corporate cloud adoption.

Want people to embrace transformation?  Allow them to own the change.

Globalization Puts The World On Your Plate

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Want an example of how globalization puts the world on your plate?

When people hear the word “globalization” they probably think of giant container ships, wonky economic terms like “offshoring” and “trade deficit,” or geopolitical tensions and agreements. And, to be sure, Cato’s Defending Globalization project covers all of that stuff and more. Yet, as we explain in a new essay for the project, there may be no better symbol of real globalization—and its many benefits—than the restaurant down the street.

Access the essay here.

Today in Global Small Business: Changing How We See The World

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

• Changing how we see the world in all its beauty and bizarreness.
• Kylie Jenner:  from successful global beauty empire to soon to be fashion empire.
• Globalization is a funny thing, and McDonald’s today is a many-tentacled entity that morphs to fit the politics of the moment and the regions that franchises operate in.
• Quote of the week:  “Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world." – Archimedes
• Birkenstock has gotta get the growth after its IPO so China it is.
• Tory Burch has redefined American preppy with a global point of view, so it makes sense that her eponymous brand is now focused on expanding its global footprint.

The Bird Is Powered By Its Own Life

©2023 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"The bird is powered by its own life and by its motivation." –  A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

SMBs Level Up with AI

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November 2022 marked a mainstream shift in the release and adoption of various generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools and products. ChatGPT became the buzzword in the world’s boardrooms, on social media and at dinner parties, ushering in an AI divide, where a segment of the population fully embraced this technology, another was wary, and everyone else unsure.

As Sasan Goodarzi, president and CEO of Intuit, puts it, “AI presents the next tectonic shift in technology and will be the greatest driver of innovation since electricity and the internet—and generative AI is transforming the way humans interact with computers.” 

GenAI has democratized access to this information, and by using this technology, small businesses now have a resource that provides them with precise information collected from vast amounts of data that they can use to propel their business forward.

Global small business is the lifeblood of most economies, and as technology evolves, SMB’s need to become more competitive in order to drive growth in a digitally enabled landscape.  AI might just take them there.

Magical Morning To You (Jazz Music)

Collaboration Across Borders (Online Course)

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Gain the tools to set your global virtual teams up for success as you work through the weekly modules of this free online program offered by Yale School of Management (SOM) Executive Education. 

Guided by Program Convener Amy Wrzesniewski, an expert in how people experience work and make meaning of their work in challenging contexts, you’ll focus on the opportunities and challenges that global, virtual teams present. 

Here's the curriculum:

1. Orientation
2. Welcome to your Online Campus 
3. Designing teams and processes for virtual work 
4. Decision-making in virtual contexts 
5. Collaboration across borders
6. Power dynamics in global virtual teams
7. Creating connection and working sustainably
8. Working as a global virtual team

To register and learn more, visit here.

To Achieve Positive Export and Import Growth, We Must Remain Vigilant

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Economic impacts on global trade date back a few years, suggests Anthony Landry, a Wharton adjunct full professor of finance and deputy vice dean of the Wharton MBA program. “Until COVID, I would say that global trade was an efficient way in which companies, especially multinationals, were expanding,” says Landry, who specializes in macroeconomics and has worked as a senior economist and economic policy advisor. 

While the current trade slowdown may threaten the living standards of people around the world, a rebound is expected. Said WTO chief economist Ralph Ossa: “Positive export and import volume growth should resume in 2024, but we must remain vigilant.” 

Read more here.

Today in Global Small Business: Is Globalization In Decline?

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

• Is globalization in decline?
• Are you an American solipsist, blaming U.S. leaders for everything bad that happens in the world, denying foreigners any agency?
• Israeli-hostage families fear abandonment.
• Quote of the week:  “It is true that we have won all our wars, but we have paid for them.” – Golda Meir
• Why Israel must fight on (requires subscription).
• Bernie Sanders rejects calls to cease fire in Gaza.

Polish Independence Day Race in Chicago 10/29/23

The U.S. Economy's Vulnerabilities

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America’s smallest companies tell us a lot about the economy’s vulnerabilities. So far, they have been resilient in the face of rising borrowing costs.

Recession watchers should be careful about jumping to conclusions over the rise in small-business bankruptcy activity. 

Smaller firms' exposure to variable-rate debt may well make them a leading indicator for the American economy, but so far they're mostly sending a message of resilience. And that may well mean that the US economy can continue to stay afloat as well.

Read the entire article here.

The Beatles – Now and Then – The Last Beatles Song (Short Film)

IP Assets Are the Heart of a Tech Company's Competitive Advantage

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It goes without saying that intellectual property assets are the heart of a tech company's competitive advantage. So, you have to value them accurately to make informed decisions during global expansion.

Before scaling, you need to conduct a thorough IP audit first. By assessing the strength, uniqueness, and market potential of your IP assets, you can determine your value in a global marketplace. This should include, for example, new product designs, manufacturing equipment, and process recipes for making your new products.

The bottom line in any such analysis is to determine the financial benefits that your IP assets are expected to deliver to a new venture that you may license or otherwise partner with. 

As young tech companies set their sights on global expansion, the wisdom and guidance of an experienced IP investor can make all the difference.