Two Tips to Avoid on the Import Process

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There are many questions you need to address before you begin an import process.  Details such as, which country should you import from; how do you find a reputable supplier; and how do you know what you don’t know when it comes to compliance issues?

Here are two tips that oftentimes go under the radar:  Stay Clear of These Two Import Landmines

Note:  This is a new article I wrote for the About.com Import-Export Business site, which is now under The Balance brand.

The Works on CETA

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Here’s what you need to know to fully understand the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), a EU-Canada treaty, and its benefits.

Read more:  The EU-Canada Trade Deal:  CETA

The News That Rattled the World: Brexit

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The UK has left the European Union.  They are looking for a better future.  This is an outcome many of us are shocked over.  What does it mean?

Learn more:  Stunned:  UK Votes to Remove Itself From EU

Worried About Whether You Need to Set Up an Overseas Distributor Agreement?

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Every business owner who wants to expand internationally through a distributorship relationship faces these questions:  Why is it important to have a written agreement with a party you are about to conduct business with? What language should a business owner draft her contract in? Does a business owner have to give away the farm to get a distributor to sell his product in an overseas market?  How long should you set up an agreement with a distributor?

These and many other questions are addressed in an interview I conducted with international trade expert Doris Nagel, who runs Chicago-based Blue Sky Consulting Services.

Read the entire interview:  Best Practices For Setting Up a Winning Overseas Distributor Agreement

Make a Date to Innovate in International Trade

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Here's an article I wrote for the About.com Import/Export site where I serve as their expert.  It's on "Learning to Innovate in International Trade," where I talk about what companies do wrong on innovation, what companies do right, and how to ensure your ideas are worth pursing.

Read more:  Learning to Innovate in International Trade

Want to spread the good word?  T-shirts available for purchase here.

Today in Global Small Business: Lessons in Going Global

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

• China's new import regulations.
• Seven (7) ways to turn your cross-cultural understanding into a global competitive advantage (webinar 5/4; no charge).
• What is the Clover Online Store and how can it benefit you with an online presence?
• Manage your corporate relocation process with global relocation software, tax compliance and expense management services.
• Tip of the week:  a tool to manage your international growth.
• Youths get hands-on lessons in going global.

Should Britain Remain in the European Union?

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UK Prime Minister David Cameron recently announced a referendum to take place Thursday, June 23, 2016 on whether Britain should remain in the European Union.

In the article below I cover why the vote is about to be held, who wants the UK to leave the EU and how the outcome of the vote might impact small and big businesses.

Read the entire article:  What Happens to SME Trade if Britain Leaves the European Union (EU)?

The Age of the Mobile Global Customer: Trends to Watch in 2016

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With more than a third of global online transactions now mobile, three key trends will become explosive growth drivers in 2016. Here they are.

3 Global Mobile Trends to Watch in 2016

How Do You Know If Your Business Is In the Decline Stage?

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Whether you run a PR consultancy, manufacturing enterprise or international trade company, there are early warning signs that get ignored yet indicate right in your face your business is moving toward the slow road to deterioration.

What are the signs?  You know it when you experience it:  Customers complain, everyone focuses on the past and so forth.  See if I'm right.  And if I've missed any, send me an email and I'll add to the post!

The 7 Signs of Import/Export Business Deterioration

How to Overcome Six Obstacles to Going Global

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In an article I wrote for About.com Import and Export site, I talk about six, basic reasons for not going global and how to overcome them.  It's based on more than a hundred interviews over the years, where media reporters repeatedly ask me: What’s stopping small business owners and entrepreneurs from going global? Is it really that hard?

Find out:  Six Biggest Stumbling Blocks to Going Global and How to Overcome Them

Exporting Should Be Job No. 1 At Your Company

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Let's appreciate and applaud those who export.  These people – all of them – add value to and enhance our lives. They push everything that comes into their hands out into the world for others to appreciate and enjoy too. They create jobs and make our world a better place to live. A big salute to exporters!

Read more:  Let's Appreciate and Applaud Those Who Export!

How to Develop Your Brand Globally

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How do you do a shout out the world over to let them know you exist?  Here are a few ideas on how to manage your brand’s reputation and export it the world over.

Read:  7 Tips for Developing Your Brand Globally

Tips On Mastering Digital Transformation, Entering New Markets and Taking Chances

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What can we learn from a team of Irish lads and ones that happen to run America's Domino's Pizza (DP)?  Plenty.  Here’s a little history on DP along with some tips on mastering digital transformation, entering new overseas markets and taking chances.

What We Can Learn from Domino's Pizza on International Expansion?

What Challenges Do Importers Face?

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What is the one thing that will throw everything off on an import? Mistakes!  In this article, I talk about seven other critical issues affecting importers today and what you can do to avoid them.

Read:  8 Big Import Compliance Challenges

Are You Running Your Business in the Dark or Digital Age?

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In the dark age, you scramble to find customers.  In the digital age, customers from around the world should find you.  Which are you operating in?  There's only one way to find out.

How to Bring Your Business Into the Digital Age

What Happens When Dimensional Weight of a Box is Greater Than the Actual Weight?

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There's a new dimensional weight factor that affects pricing on shipping boxes in the USA.  Whether you elect to ship feathers in a small or big box, just remember to multiply the box length by its height and width, and then divide that by 166 to reach its dimensional weight. Oh, and don’t forget to weigh the box, too. Make sure your measurements and weights are accurate. The new pricing method will apply to any package if the dimensional weight is greater than the actual weight.

Read:  The New Wrinkle Affecting Your Shipping Costs

Dream It. Source It.

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Are you dreaming about a great product idea that you'd like to import? That's 99 percent of the most difficult part of the import process - coming up with something nobody else has thought of yet everybody wants.  The other 1 percent involves sourcing it.  How do you find a manufacturer who makes the product you have in mind?

Here are some ideas that will inspire an import product revolution!

What's in Store for World Trade in 2015?

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Who knows what's in store for world trade in the new year.  A lot depends on economic factors, your will, your way and other wildly speculative factors.

But somebody has to come up with something that leads the way to our future.  So I curated a couple of pieces that make sense and I even threw in a couple of my own forecasts for 2015 as they relate to global trade.

The Year Ahead:  From Laurel Delaney, Import and Export Expert

To Go Global, What's Your First Country to Enter and Why?

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I've been a member of LinkedIn for a number of years and one group out of many that I joined is International Trade Network.  Recently, member Bill Elmer posted a question to the group:  If you were to expand overseas, which country would be your first choice and why?

The article below highlights twelve of the answers. I have intentionally left out the members’ name attributed to a comment to protect their interests. If you would like to review the more than 225 comments to date, I highly recommend you join the group; I’ll see you there.

Read:  If you were to expand overseas, which country would be your first choice and why?

Today in Global Small Business: What We Would Lose Without Collective Mourning

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

• If you love wine and you love business, perhaps setting up a wine import business is for you.
• Why we should not reduce human tragedy to a retweet and how collective mourning on a global basis is more important than you think.
• Do you know what the chief technology officer of a country does?
• And the global student entrepreneur award goes to FiberFix.
• Retro:  Make 2007 your year to go global (why Peter Drucker was on target).