Cheers to a New Year!

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"Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right." – Oprah Winfrey

Ditch the Sh*^t in 2026

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If you want to give people something to talk about in the New Year, make it your newly enhanced communication skills. Almost every aspect of your life will benefit.

If you want to ditch the sh*^t in 2026, work on your communication style.  

Here, experts were asked what common habits need to be left in the past – and why.

Today in Global Small Business: Times Square New Year's Eve Ball Will Be Looking Gorgeous!

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

• New 2026 Waterford crystals installed on Times Square New Year’s Eve Ball celebrating holidays around the world.
• Tech trends that small businesses will focus on in 2026.
• Quote of the week:  "Approach the New Year with resolve to find the opportunities hidden in each new day." – Michael Josephson
  
• Ten New Year's resolutions for small businesses by the BBB.
• 10 crucial insights for small business owners to succeed in 2026—and beyond.
• How your startup or small business can succeed in 2026.
• For all the women business owners out there, let's go global!
• Oh my, to all my Global Small Business Blog readers, collectively, we've hit more than a half-million of you reading this blog every month!  Thank you! 👏

Merry Rest of the Year!

©2025 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"Even after Christmas has come and gone, we can still bask in the warm glow of its joy – sweet cookies, treasured memories, loving family and friends, thoughtful gifts, and moments of reflection. Enjoy!" – Laurel J. Delaney, founder, The Global Small Business Blog

Hope, Forgiveness and New Life

©2025 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

Today we celebrate that Jesus, the Son of God, was born to bring us hope, forgiveness, and new life.  He is God’s greatest gift to us.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays Around the World!

©2025 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"Wishing you peace, joy and love this Christmas, wherever you are in the world." – Laurel J. Delaney, founder, The Global Small Business Blog

Joy To Your World

Dubai Is Serving as a Springboard for Global Business Expansion

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Is there such a thing as the ideal location for global business expansion? Dubai’s transformation from a regional business center to one of the world’s most dynamic startup hubs is accelerating fast, and the ripple effects are now being felt far beyond the Gulf. With capital, talent, and regulatory support converging at speed, the city is no longer just attracting founders; it is serving as an international springboard for breaking into new overseas markets.

Here, three Dubai-based entrepreneurs shared some insights into their burgeoning global expansion journeys.

Today in Global Small Business: Holidays Around the World

©2025 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

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

• Nine fun facts about holidays around the world.
• Celebrating holidays around the world.
• Quote of the week:  "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
  
• Holidays around the world bringing good cheer.
• Around the world in holiday celebrations.
• 12 fascinating traditions from around the world.
• Merry Christmas to all!

Merry Christmas and Happy 2026 From the Global Small Business Blog

©2025 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"Merry Christmas and Happy 2026 from the Global Small Business Blog.  Thank you for being you and thank you for your readership.  We get you and appreciate you."  – Laurel J. Delaney, founder of the Global Small Business Blog

Have a Listen to AccuRadio

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AccuRadio is a station by music lovers, for music lovers – all 100% free. Delightful.  Several of the stations are curated by the famous 2X GRAMMY nominated author and gospel music historian Bob Marovich.  Give it a listen when you want to chill. 

When Is a Good Time to Go Global?

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From timing and location strategy to banking relationships, learn key considerations for international expansion.

What is essential is to follow global gateways to grow your business. Expanding internationally is a major milestone for any growing business.

Laurel Delaney's Global Trade Trends Report 2026 (wegginar® 1/7)

©2025 Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global®.  All rights reserved.

What should we all be focusing on for next year beyond AI?  Find out by joining me [Laurel Delaney] when I present the Global Trade Trends Report 2026 on January 7, 2026 at 11 AM CT.

To learn more and to register free of charge, visit:  https://womenentrepreneursgrowglobal.org/2025/12/03/laurel-delaneys-global-trade-trends-report-2026/

Winter Wellness Travel Experiences Around the World

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The stretch between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day has a way of compressing time, turning weeks into a blur of deadlines, obligations, and expectations. 

Yet this season doesn’t have to be defined by exhaustion. Winter, with its quieter rhythms and natural pull inward, can be the perfect moment to pause, reset, and intentionally invest in well-being.

That’s where winter wellness travel comes in.

Today in Global Small Business: The Selfless MacKenzie Scott Does It Again With Her Philanthropy

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

• The selfless MacKenzie Scott does it again with her philanthropy.  Feeling inspired and want to donate to an impactful nonprofit before the year end?  Do it here (it's a nonprofit I founded in 2015).
• The columnist David Brooks sits down with Thomas L. Friedman to make sense of what the modern world’s cascading crises mean for the future.
• Quote of the week:  "Christmas is a season which almost all Christians observe in one way or another. Some keep it as a religious season. Some keep it as a holiday. But all over the world, wherever there are Christians, in one way or another Christmas is kept." – J. C. Ryle
• How does Costco keep nailing it?  It's one simple holiday staple.
• Melinda Gates says everyone should read this book.
• Key financial lessons from "It's a Wonderful Life."

Maybe Christmas Doesn't Come From a Store

©2025 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas... perhaps... means a little bit more!" – Dr. Seuss

What Can GlobalEDGE Do For You?

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Funded in part by the U.S. Department of Education Title VI B grant, globalEDGE delivers a comprehensive research tool for academics, students and businesspeople. Connect with over 47,000 people using the gE Network while tapping into a directory of over 5000 quality resources. globalEDGE provides tools and resources to efficiently research nearly any international business question you may have.

Read more about globalEDGE.

Fighting Culture Wars

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The Trump administration wants to be: withdrawing from the military’s conventional arenas, like preparing for possible conflict with rival great powers and instead fighting, with overwhelming shows of swaggering force, the kinds of battles prioritized by online reactionaries. It wants to be fighting those culture wars in other theaters as well, promoting right-wing politics across Europe and encouraging a clampdown on migration not just in the United States but globally.

It's a sad place we are in.  

As David Wallace-Wells's opinion piece for The New York Times (12/10) says:  "Hence a “president of peace” presiding over 22 attacks (and counting) on boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, unilaterally pushing regime change in Venezuela and treating migrants living peacefully and for decades within the borders of the United States with such violence and cruel indifference that it has inspired rebukes from the new American pope and the conference of American bishops, long seen as an implacably conservative force in U.S. politics."

A Look Back on the Professional Achievements of Trailblazer Dr. Marsha Firestone, Founder of the Women Presidents Organization

Founder of the Women Presidents Organization, Dr. Marsha Firestone, passed away peacefully in her home on December 7, 2025.  I extend my condolences to her son Daren, daughter-in-law Nicole, her two grandkids and other extended family members.

Dr. Marsha Firestone founded the WPO in 1997 after previously serving as Vice President of Women Inc. and as Vice President of Training and Counseling at the American Woman’s Economic Development Corporation (AWED). In 2003, she was appointed to the National Women's Business Council.  She is the author of The Busy Woman’s Guide to Successful Self-Employment, has published research in business and educational journals, and is a frequent guest speaker.  Dr. Firestone earned her PhD in Communication from Columbia University and is an expert in adult learning theory, nonverbal communication, and managerial competency.

Having served on the WPO Board years ago and as WPO's Chapter Chair since 2003, I came to know Marsha very well. She truly embodied everything others have fondly recalled – a fearless leader, visionary, trailblazer, tireless worker, and passionate advocate for women business owners.

Writing a blog for WPO Chicago since 2003, I was able to search Marsha's name to see how many times I wrote about her.  This gives you a sampling here – certainly worth the journey.  A couple of the links no longer are active because they go back to 2005, when many media companies scrub old articles.  

And the CEO of WPO, Camille Burns, writes a beautiful tribute about Marsha on LinkedIn here.  

Her legacy will live on in all of us.  I am grateful to have known her. Rest in peace Marsha, deservedly so. 

There Is No Christmas Without Classics (Music)

Today in Global Small Business: S.N.L. Explains 'Operation Kill Everybody'

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

• I just love these Saturday Night Live (S.N.L.) skits and this one does not disappoint.  Colin Jost plays Pete Hegseth.  Check it out.
• How global supply chains could become weaponized.
• Quote of the week:  "The past is in your head.  The future is in your hand." – The MindsJournal (Happy Bodhi Day).
• There's always rooms for another player ... Swap Commerce, where you can sell anything, anywhere, from one platform.
• World Bank Scorecard updates and outcomes.
• UCLA Anderson School of Management - Center for Global Management.

The Irish Donkey

©2025 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

Martin O'Hara:  His poem about "The Irish Donkey" describes a solitary, wise old donkey, blessed with a cross on its back (a nod to the biblical story) and find joy in the simple act of scaring flies and enjoying tourists.

How Small Businesses Can Navigate Global Trade in An Era of Polycrisis

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Micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) account for 95% of all businesses and 60% of global employment, forming the backbone of the global economy. Yet they face persistent barriers to fully benefiting from international trade, including limited access to finance, complex regulations and poor digital infrastructure.

These challenges are exacerbated by the current polycrisis of economic shocks, supply chain disruptions, climate change and geopolitical uncertainty.

With support, small businesses can compete globally and drive inclusive economic development.

Discover how small businesses can navigate global trade in an era of polycrisis.

A Guide For Leading Through Chaos, Without Losing Direction

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Today’s business environment is unpredictable, and the challenges leaders face are fast-changing and interconnected. In this world, executives must learn how to “pivot with purpose”: to constantly and courageously remain anchored in their values while adjusting to meet new realities. 

Here are five principles to follow in order to do so.

Here's What Everyone Is Reading According to the Staff of the New York Times Book Review

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The staff of The New York Times Book Review chose the year’s top fiction and nonfiction.  And the envelope, please. 

John Yunker Is Back By Popular Demand for a wegginar® 12/3 on Deglobalization and AI: The Calm Before the Storm

©2025 Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global®.  All rights reserved.

Register free of charge for the LIVE wegginar® on Wednesday, 12/3 at 11 AM CT.  Here's what John Yunker, Co-Founder of Byte Level Research will cover:

• Deglobalization is suppressing growth
• AI promises a new wave of global growth
• Smaller companies are best positioned to leverage AI

To learn more and to register, visit: https://womenentrepreneursgrowglobal.org/2025/11/05/deglobalization-ai-the-calm-before-the-storm/

See you there!

Today in Global Small Business: 'Ugly' Fees On Chinese Ships Concern US Ag Exporters

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

• 'Ugly’ fees on Chinese ships concern US ag exporters.
• US strikes trade deals across Latin America, lowers tariffs on Argentina’s beef.
• Quote of the week:  "It is the function of the Navy to carry the war to the enemy so that it is not fought on U.S. soil.” Is now “Who cares that we have no merchant ships left to carry supplies overseas.” – Naval quote
• As we look ahead to 2026, the global supply chain enters a chapter defined by relative stability but underscored by persistent uncertainty. 
• OECD finds growing transparency efforts among leading AI developers.
• Learn how to research and select overseas markets confidently.