There's Plenty of Room For Improvement On Small Businesses Selling Abroad

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In Jeff Kearn's article published by Bloomberg Businessweek, "Wine-Infused Ice Cream Boosts U.S. Small Company Exports," he talks about how small companies build global brands, why there's plenty of room for improvement to help small businesses sell abroad and how skepticism is the main challenge in working with small firms to expand beyond the nation’s borders.

A hat tip to Jeff for including my comments:

Some business owners have doubts about repayment, a consideration when one big unpaid bill can threaten their future, said Laurel Delaney, the Chicago-based founder of GlobeTrade who’s been helping entrepreneurs sell abroad since 1985. Still, she says insurance can cut risk.

‘Growth Potential’

“They’re just not realizing their growth potential,” she said. “You need to develop a global mindset.” 

Read the article:  "Wine-Infused Ice Cream Boosts U.S. Small Company Exports"

The Countdown Begins on the Release of "Exporting: The Definitive Guide to Selling Abroad Profitably"

Photo courtesy:  Apress

We are getting closer to the publication date on Exporting:  The Definitive Guide to Selling Abroad Profitably.  Meanwhile, here's a clip on an interview my esteemed colleague John Tozzi conducted with me for Bloomberg Businessweek:

What U.S. Entrepreneurs Should Know About Exporting Now

Here's a clip from the interview:

What made you want to write this [book] now?

Not enough entrepreneurs and small businesses really know how to export. The Internet has been a game changer for anyone who wants to do business internationally. How do you reach customers? What do you do as a small business owner to have the world find you? Once you find those customers, how do you get paid? Once you get paid, how do you get the merchandise or the service in the hands of a potential customer? Sign-up to be notified when Exporting is published!

Aging Population in BRIC

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According to a December 7th report by Goldman analysts, as the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China) slow down, global growth probably will peak at about 4.3 percent this decade and fall to 3.9 percent in the 2020s.

The number of people older than 65 in Brazil, Russia, India and China will rise 46 percent to 295 million by 2020 and to 412 million by 2030, according to United Nations projections. The pool of 15 to 24-year-olds, the mainstay for factories will fall by 61 million by 2030 or about the population of Italy.

Read the entire article here.

Note:  Goldman Sachs Asset Management Chairman Jim O’Neill, who coined the BRICs acronym a decade ago, said other emerging economies may now be better investments -- especially Indonesia, Turkey, Egypt and Mexico.

What about MIST (Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea and Turkey)?

Globalization is Apparent

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But I am not so sure according to this blog entry. Very confusing ...

Many companies tend to categorize sales by regions or markets, while others segregate government sales. Additionally, intra-company sales, and hence profits, are sometimes structured to take advantage of trade, tax and regulatory polices. The resulting reported data available for shareholders is therefore significantly less than the desired level for analysis.

Read more here: Foreign Sales - Love'em or Leave'em (Bloomberg Businessweek)

Note: I could not get the referenced PDF file report to open.

KFC's Parent Company Conquers the World

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What's mightier or bigger than McDonald's? KFC's parent company, Yum! Brands, which also owns Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, has earned the exclamation mark on which it insists as the world's largest restaurant company -- is poised to grow fast in China, Russia and India.

With 37,000 restaurants in 110 countries, Yum! even eclipses that more famous icon of American colonization, McDonald's, to rank as the world's largest restaurant chain in terms of numbers of outlets.

Read more here.

Posted by: The Global Small Business Blog

The Power of Entrepreneurship Spreads Globally

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For those who missed the World Entrepreneur of the Year awards ceremony in Monaco recently:

The 42 countries represented at the event included China and several former Soviet-bloc nations - places where starting a private business was illegal not so long ago. In other countries, the weakening of traditional business structures, such as Korean chaebol, have created opportunities for smaller players. Tax and regulatory reform, the lowering of protectionist barriers, technological advances and the rise of the Internet, all have made it easier — though certainly not easy - to create and build a business.

Ernst & Young started the competition in the U.S. in 1986 and expanded it worldwide 10 years ago.

Read more here about how entrepreneurship goes global.

And don't forget about the World Entrepreneurship Forum (full disclosure: I am a member) which is the first international think-tank devoted to global entrepreneurship.

Posted by: The Global Small Business Blog