Cultivating a Strong Level of Entrepreneurship Globally

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Dell is one company that shares in the common goal that young people aged 18-35 years old believe job creation and entrepreneurship should be the no. 1 priority for the United Nations going forward, and to date has been working with the UN to cultivate a strong level of entrepreneurship globally. For instance, Dell founder Michael Dell was named the UN's first global advocate for entrepreneurship in 2014.

Learn more:  Dell invests millions to support global startups and women entrepreneurs

Creating the Next Billion Global Jobs

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At the 2014 Social Good Summit last year, Dell provided a strategy for achieving the next billion global jobs through a program known as Goal 8, which has been suggested as a goal for the 2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) created by the United Nations.

Goal 8 is focused on achieving specific agenda items that will work toward ending poverty by increasing lending for small businesses, offering access to more technology, eliminating child and slave labor, enabling equal opportunity employment and pay, fostering green initiatives and improving working conditions.  

To help ensure that Goal 8 makes the final cut, Dell formed a community to champion it.  Go to Entrepreneurs UNite (https://entrepreneursunite.com) to sign up. #EntrepreneursUNite

In Search of Global Excellence

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How can you better serve worldwide customers in 2009? By applying and hopefully winning the 2009 Dell Global Small Business Excellence Award.

In its sixth year in the United States and second year globally, the award gives small businesses applying technology in innovative ways to better serve customers a chance at up to U.S. $50,000 in Dell solutions and a meeting with Dell Chairman and CEO Michael Dell.

Call for entries have already started with the first round of submissions due by Friday, April 3, 2009. Ten national finalists per country will be announced in mid-June and the 13 national winners will be announced in September 2009.

India is the newest country to participate in the global award and recognize local small businesses for technology leadership. Additional countries participating include Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

For a description of the award criteria, rules, award levels, partners and judges and to complete an application, visit here and good luck!

Use Social Media To Grow Global

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We've been saying this all along ... Wiggly Wigglers, a rural England-based natural gardening company, was awarded (U.S. $50,000!) by Dell and its global partners for its innovation and leadership in social media. Using tools like Facebook, podcasting and blogging, Wiggly Wigglers:

Serves 90,000 customers worldwide and delivers its products across Europe; Cut its advertising budget by 80 percent when the company turned to social media over traditional advertising; Facebook fans currently stand at 898, with over 170 discussion topics; Hosts podcasts from the “Wiggly sofa” reaching thousands of listeners per week, and Built its catalogue based on Wiki ideas generated on its Facebook page by experts and customers.

Read more about the Dell/NFIB Small Business Excellence in Customer Experience Award here.

What a wonderful example of how to use social media to grow your business globally. Congratulations to Wiggly Wigglers and all the other award recipients!

Disruptive Innovator: Is That You?

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Calling all global small business owners!

If you are an owner (and disruptive innovator on technology), president, or chief executive of a company with 100 employees or less that has driven a significant change and/or developed a competitive advantage in delivering superior customer value and experience, Dell wants to hear your story. In addition, they want you to share customer testimonials to show how technology has helped you improve customer relationships.

The International Council for Small Business (ICSB) (www.icsb.org) announced that it is partnering with Dell and Endeavor (www.endeavor.org) to expand the Dell Small Business Excellence Award internationally (www.dell.com/ceaward). Small businesses in countries around the world will be eligible to compete by demonstrating how they use information technology in innovative ways to better serve customers. Additional countries participating in the award program will be announced in the coming weeks.
Winners will receive ... up to $50,000 in Dell solutions, a lifetime ICSB membership and the opportunity to engage with Endeavor's network of business leaders and high-impact entrepreneurs in emerging-market countries world-wide.

Get ready, get set, go here.

Deadline: February 29, 2008!

Is Anyone Not Looking at China?

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HP and Dell are exporting their rivalry and starting to challenge Lenovo. What about you? Are you looking at China for business opportunities?