Tariffs: A Nightmare for Global Small Businesses

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Global small businesses know that tariff rates remain sky high by historical levels and will keep pressuring profits. The 90-day window for a pause on goods from China while negotiations continue offers little clarity on where the levies will ultimately settle, and Trump has warned they could soar again.

Data from the American Bankruptcy Institute showed an April uptick in a type of bankruptcy filing typically used by small businesses, which it said “signals persistent distress.” At the same time, slumping import volumes at the Port of Los Angeles — the nation’s busiest — had warned of a brewing supply shock.

Small businesses that import from China are taking a beating.  Yet, despite this, Trump and his administration write this glorified piece (total misinformation) about how Trump is fixing problems and unleashing a new era of opportunity for small businesses.  If you believe that, then you believe that Pope Leo XIV is not Catholic.

Global Small Businesses Are Feeling the Greatest Pain Right Now From Tariffs

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Bill Ackman wrote in a Sunday post on X that the U.S. risks fueling an “economic nuclear war” should the administration’s onslaught of tariffs proceed against dozens of countries.

Ackman, who runs the New York City-based hedge fund Pershing Square, suggested that President Trump consider a 90-day pause of the policy to allow time for negotiations, and he underscored how the country’s [global] small businesses “will experience much greater pain” compared with larger companies.

SBA Turns 70

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For seven decades, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has been a driving force behind the success of countless enterprises, from America’s Main Streets to manufacturing centers and innovation hubs, helping entrepreneurs turn good ideas into thriving global small businesses.

Delivering the American dream of business ownership to more Americans – SBA has punched above its weight in advancing American innovation, competition and economic growth.

Let's raise our hands to applaud the SBA and celebrate all of its successes and successes afforded to American entrepreneurs.  When entrepreneurs succeed, our economy and our nation succeeds.

Heat Waves Cause American Global Small Businesses to Close Early

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Hundreds of millions Americans dealt with extreme heat waves in the past two weeks, as temperatures across the South and Southwest hit historic highs. These hazardous conditions have kept consumers inside and forced small businesses to close early – cutting into paid hours for employees – according to a report by the small business payroll company Homebase. 

Main Street is feeling the heat.  Learn more.

The Local Economy Is Going Global

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Small businesses and solopreneurs have access to tools that enable them to “punch above their weight” like never before. We are in an era of massive growth in creation tools and services—not to mention a booming distribution ecosystem. The creator economy has increased by 119% since 2020, with creators making up 23% of people worldwide.

Find out how global small businesses can reach global audiences.  

Global Small Businesses Are Essential to American Supply Chains

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Global small businesses are essential to American supply chains, but they lag in productivity and technology adoption. If government and industry can help these smaller supply chain firms upgrade their technology, it would make supply chains significantly more resilient by enabling data-sharing and collaboration. 

Read more about how global small businesses play a big role in supply-chain resilience.

Wage Growth Is Rising for Global Small Businesses

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Some say that wage growth tends to be a compelling sign that inflation is rising.

The pace of wage increases at small businesses in the U.S. continues to escalate, as August saw average hourly earnings growth hit 5.18 percent, compared with 5.03 percent in July 2022, according to the latest Paychex & IHS Markit Small Business Employment Watch report. At $30.71 per hour, average hourly earnings at small businesses have risen by $1.51 over the last 12 months.

Despite recession concerns amid resilient inflation, the labor market remains tight, causing small businesses in the U.S. to avoid salary reductions and layoffs.

Read on about how, despite challenges, global small businesses are dedicated to their employees.

Today in Global Small Business: Why Small Businesses Must Cross Borders

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

• Why small businesses must cross borders.
• One of the fastest growing banks in the US is on a mission to rewire the industry. It has also touched some nerves.
• The small factories in the western Japanese city of Higashiosaka for decades fuelled the thundering rise of the country's biggest brands - but a weak yen and rising costs have accelerated a slow decline, and are reshaping the industrial heartland.
• Quote of the week: "A good story can travel in time and borders; it hits you no matter where you are." – Hakan Nesser
• After two years of shutdowns and restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic, America's global small businesses are straining to keep up with price increases without losing customers to larger competitors.
• Learn tips from SCORE on whether leaders are made or born.

Global Small Businesses Should Become Future Ready

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Olivier M. Schwab, Managing Director, World Economic Forum says:

SMEs - small- and medium-sized enterprises- represent about 90% of all firms globally and about 70% of employment and of GDP, according to some estimates. So at an aggregate level, these businesses play a significant role in enabling and shaping the nature of growth, innovation and sustainability of our global, regional and local economies. It's therefore essential that small businesses and medium-sized businesses are future-ready. In other words, they simultaneously are able to achieve high levels of growth, but also positive social impact.

Read more to learn what others have to say about China's household services industry, remote work, the Metaverse, digital world, nature financing, protecting biodiversity, nature, interconnected challenges, rebuilding resiliency, global supply chains, globalization, innovation for impact, learning from the past, equitable access to healthcare, technology in healthcare, global food crisis, China's dairy industry, sustainable development of energy, reducing emissions, renewal energy, China's economic outlook and investment opportunities.

Global Small Businesses Are Feeling the Squeeze With the Global Supply Chain Crisis

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The timing couldn’t be worse. With the winter holiday in full swing, late shipments and bare shelves could be disastrous for the busiest sales season of the year for global small businesses.

The outcome could be even more grim for companies that were counting on this period to help them rebound from COVID-19 closures and even stave off bankruptcy.

Read on to learn how small businesses are feeling the squeeze left by the global supply chain crisis.

Bringing Global Small Businesses, Including Global Women Entrepreneurs, Into the Digital Economy

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Mastercard’s Digital Doors curriculum helps businesses get online and stay protected, ensuring they have the right tools to maximize their digital presence and integrate e-commerce seamlessly, including the free Small Business Digital Readiness Diagnostic. 

Most recently, Mastercard committed $25 million to help more than five million micro and SMBs digitize through the Strive initiative.

Learn more how supporting small business owners is a continued priority for Mastercard, which pledged to bring 50 million small businesses and 25 million women entrepreneurs into the digital economy by 2025.

What Do Plumbers and Gen Zers Have in Common?

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Both are spending money right now.  That is, plumbers and Gen Zers.

AmEx said that card acquisitions hit a record level in the third quarter for U.S. small-business and consumer Platinum and Gold cards. The company noted that goods-and-services spending by global small- and medium-size enterprises in the third quarter was 21% above the same period in 2019, before the pandemic, compared with a 4% currency-adjusted rise for billed business overall.

There is going to be a big race to capture spending and borrowing as travel bounces back, both among card companies and upstart rivals like installment lenders.

Read more here.

A Global Wakeup Call to Social Media Influencers and Global Small Businesses

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Is it time to diversify away from Facebook products and any legacy social media app where you’re making money on content, or using it as a shingle to your business?

Last week’s Facebook blackout serves as yet another reminder. It doesn’t matter where you are. These things go down, if you’re reliant on them for revenue, it’s a day off without pay.

Learn about the Instagram blackout and more.

Shipping Delays and High Freight Rates Hurt All Businesses, Especially Global Small Businesses

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An average of 30 container ships a day have been stuck outside the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach just waiting to deliver their goods. The backlog is part of a global supply-chain mess spurred by the pandemic that means consumers could see delivery delays for weeks.

The net result?  Everybody loses, especially global small businesses. 

Small Businesses Play An Outsized Role in the Global Economy

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Small businesses play an outsized role in the global economy. In fact, they represent 90% of all businesses and employ roughly 70% of all workers globally. 

Governments can and must play a part in helping global small businesses stay competitive in an increasingly global economy.

Read about four ways governments can help small businesses flourish in a post-COVID-world.

How Global Small Businesses Stepped Up Their International Sales To Survive the Global Pandemic

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Due to the global pandemic, more small businesses spread their wings to sell around the world, new research from the UK shows.

• Two thirds of SMEs (66%) recorded an increase in online sales from overseas
• Three quarters (73%) said the ability to transact business abroad was a financial lifeline
• Most (68%) expect to continue selling abroad – more than before the pandemic
• But it's still a tough environment for SMEs as overall earnings drop by 43%

A rapid acceleration of digital online sales helped drive this, but the shift online also helped open up conversations that people were now willing to have remotely. 

There is increased optimism in spite of challenges.  Read more here.

The Backbone of Our Economy: Global Small Businesses

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Global small businesses are vital to the USA recovery from the global pandemic yet micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) can power an even stronger recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, due to their innovative and opportunity-seeking nature, but they need more support.

Such support should be aligned with the priorities of the post-COVID-19 social and economic recovery, said the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Acting Secretary-General Isabelle Durant.

Read on to find out how supporting small businesses is critical for COVID-19 recovery.

Global Small Businesses: The Heart and Soul of Our Economy

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When Fiverr looked at services that have seen a significant increase in search over the past six months, five major global themes emerged. It is evident that these are areas where global small businesses and entrepreneurs are focusing their efforts in order to rebuild, to pivot and for some, to even start fresh.

Check it out.  Review the Small Business Need Index to find out what is important, what is trending, and what is next for global small businesses.

Did the $500 Billion in USA Aid Help Global Small Businesses?

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Some economists say the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) has not proved as useful as other aid.  Academic economists who have studied the program have concluded that it has saved relatively few jobs and that, at a cost of more than half a trillion dollars, it has been far less efficient than other government efforts to help the economy. 

On the other hand, there are global small business owners who if they hadn't received a PPP loan, they would have been out of business.

The debate could sway the new Biden administration’s plans.  The question becomes:  Are we about saving jobs or saving businesses? 

Read on to discover whether the $500 billion in USA aid helped save global small businesses during the onslaught of the global pandemic.

The Little Engine That Could Save the Global Economy: Global Small Businesses

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According to the World Bank, SMEs globally represent about 90 percent of all businesses.

They also account for some 70 percent of global employment and 50 percent of global GDP, the International Labour Organization found. 

That means an increase in small-business failure rates would be crushing for many millions of people.

Learn more about the little engine that could save the global economy:  global small businesses.