Doing Business With The World

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While you build your global business, you mine as well stay at the world's best hotels. Here are a few below. Take a virtual tour. It's like tip-toeing through the pages of National Geographic.

1. Oberoi Udaivilas, Udaipur, India
2. Singita Sabi Sand/Kruger National Park, South Africa
3. The Oriental, Bangkok
4. Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet
5. The Milestone, London
6. Relais II Falconiere, Cortona, Italy (English portal available)
7. Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve, Sabi Sands, South Africa
8. Mandarin Oriental, Munich
9. Four Seasons Resort Hualalai, Hawaii
10. Oberoi Rajvilas, Jaipur, India (pictured)

Source: Travel + Leisure's 2007 readers' poll.

Redefining Global Strategy

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Award-winning author, Pankaj Ghemawat, writes a book about businesses competing globally and how companies must reckon with cross-border differences. It's due out September 27th. Read up about it here.

All Fun Things India

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Relax, take a tour. You might discover something you didn't already know about New Delhi, India.

Grow Global

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You may think that export business is dominated by larger companies. But consider these statistics from the U.S. Department of Commerce: Small and medium-size enterprises (fewer than 500 workers) accounted for 97% of all U.S. exporters, and very small companies (defined as fewer than 20 employees) made up 70% of America’s exporters in 2002 (the last year for which figures are available). Small and medium-size businesses had $158 billion in export revenues that year, up from $103 billion 10 years before.

Selling internationally presents fantastic growth opportunities — if you can find and recognize them. This article I wrote highlights seven strategies to develop or find new or hidden markets in the world marketplace. Use these ideas to find new customers and new uses for your products and to fuel greater sales growth and profitability for your business. Hope you like it.

Grow global.

Abridged Borderbuster: 8/6/07

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CONTENTS

If you are not a subscriber to Borderbuster, here's a glimpse of what you missed this month:

1. Welcome From The Publisher
2. Update to our Readers
3. Thought Leader: Connected Markets*
4. Business and Cultural Tips: Have Some Fun!*
5. Hire and Fire: Regional Labor Laws*
6. How I Went Global: Ongoing Series // Manoj Vohra, India*
7. A Reader Asks: Q&A
8. Everybody Loves a Freebie -- repeat: FREE OFFER*
9. Toeing the Line*
10. Expat Entrepreneurs Indulge a Wanderlust*
11. Go global, Chidambaram tells India Inc.*
12. Blog World: Singapore Entrepreneurs*
13. Laurel’s e-Book: “GODZILLA Global Marketing!”
14. Take A Walk On The Wild Side (TAWOTWS)
15. Wind Behind Your Sail*
16. Miscellany*
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

*Indicates exclusive to Borderbuster subscribers only.

Sample section:

8. TOEING THE LINE
*Subscriber Exclusive*

What's the difference between a bribe and a gift? There's no clear standard, but prosecutors often take local culture into account. Here is a guide to culturally appropriate gifts, and how to present them, in five emerging markets, according to Vital Wave, a global consulting firm based in Palo Alto, California.

Read more here at Inc.

###

To subscribe to Borderbuster, visit:
Sign Up For Borderbuster!

SME Toolkit: International Business Section

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The SME Toolkit is a project of the International Finance Corporation. Since its inception in 2002, the SME Toolkit program has deployed more than 25 regional and sector-specific Web sites in collaboration with strategic partners in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. SME Toolkit content has been translated into 12 languages. The program has seen dramatic growth in recent months and SME Toolkit sites now collectively receive more than 2.4 million visits per year from users around the world. The Toolkit aims to address the three main impediments that SMEs face in utilizing technology for their business: access, lack of awareness/skills, and lack of locally applicable business applications/information.

IBM has dedicated more than $1.6 million to transform the Toolkit and rebuild it on an innovative open source platform using top talent in IBM research. The Toolkit now includes new Web 2.0 features such as live chat, online forums, business directories and survey capabilities to create a community where small and medium sized business can collaborate - anywhere around the world. For example, a group of small businesses could gather in an online forum to devise a strategy to bid on a large supply contract rather than as separate bids. The community tools also create an opportunity for peer learning.

The SME Toolkit is a free program. It's an amazing resource.

I was honored to be a part of this project by partnering with the Women Presidents' Organization (where I serve as a facilitator for WPO in the Chicago market) and providing global small business content. Check out the International Business Overview here. You can also jump to it on the home page under Go Global: Begin Exporting Now.

Press Release Headline: IBM and International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank, launch a small business toolkit to create jobs and fuel growth in the underserved and emerging markets.

Exporting Made Easy

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The 2007 National Export Strategy examines how the combination of declining trade barriers and advancing technologies has made exporting easier than ever. American businesses should look at the global economy as a major sales opportunity as well as a source of competition.

The goals of this report are to raise awareness in the American business community about the advantages of exporting, to convince businesses that are not exporting to consider exporting, and to get those businesses that are exporting to enter more overseas markets.
All the good stuff (resources) starts on Page 175.

China Pulse e-Newsletter

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China Pulse is Commercial Service China’s official e-newsletter, highlighting latest business news, exciting export opportunities, and inside strategies to help you maximize your success in the China market.

Current issue and to submit an article for possible publication: China Pulse June 2007

Go Global Without Waiting to Grow Up

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Fellow blogger Anita Campbell (not pictured) who writes all about Small Business Trends has an interesting post on micro-multinational businesses going global right from the start. I refer to it as born global. Check it out here. What's your take on it?

Please Choose Your Country

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Think this company wants to do business with the world?

Citizens of the World

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Citizens of the World Charter Schools create a national network of high-achieving, community-based public schools that reflect the abundant socioeconomic, racial and cultural diversity of their surroundings.
Citizens of the World Charter Schools

Second Life: Make An Impact on the World

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65-year-old Leonard Liu is a rare breed of entrepreneur.

The former IBM executive was born and raised in China and Taiwan, and educated at Princeton University. He's a cross-cultural businessman with decades of experience in the USA and Asia. And at an age when many CEOs retire to the golf links, Liu has launched a promising outsourcing start-up called Augmentum.

Liu, who came out of a brief retirement to start Augmentum in 2003, says: "Would you rather sit on the beach and watch the sun set, or build something that will have a lasting impact on the world?"

Read more about Leonard and the impact he is making on the world here.

Take Your Business Local?

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Interesting. Some companies just want to stay a certain size and become exceptional at what they do versus extend themselves too far -- say go global -- and not compete or sustain very well locally or globally for that matter. Here are two compelling snapshots taken from the article:

Although the latest US Census Bureau statistics for small businesses in Erie County don’t specify whether they are locally owned, the data shows that 94 percent of the more than 27,000 businesses in the Buffalo Niagara region have fewer than 50 employees and a little less than half of those businesses have between one and four workers.

And another:

Supporting small-scale local business does not necessarily mean shunning larger or non-local ones, he adds. The BALLE philosophy, for instance, acknowledges that it’s often very difficult to know how (and where) to shop locally, and certain goods, like tropical produce or auto parts, must be imported. Instead, BALLE supports a balance between large and small, global and local, but in a way that puts the local owners on a more even playing field. It goes back to the multiplier, says Shuman. “The more times a dollar circulates within a defined geographic area and the faster it circulates without leaving that area, the more income, wealth, and jobs it generates.”

See what you think -- article is here -- and I welcome your comments.

Also, of relevance, the co-founder of BALLE is Michael Shuman who wrote:
The Small-Mart Revolution: How Local Businesses Are Beating the Global Competition. I wonder if he would have co-founded this organization had he not written the book? I'm all for supporting local, independent businesses, especially ones who are global. The bottom line: This is all about competing effectively locally and globally.

Take Your Business Global

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Everybody is focusing on going global these days. Looks like we are on to something!

Read CNN's article here.

And most of the guidelines mentioned for expanding your business internationally have been featured in Entrepreneur magazine's Global Village column. We've covered the World Bank's website (see Easy Street, June, 2007), Export Assistance Center and U.S. Department of Commerce (Study Abroad, May, 2006) and the World Citizen's Guide (American Outcast, February, 2006) -- so we're on it!

SPECIAL Report from BusinessWeek on Going Global

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And all with a focus on small business -- what fun!

Getting Started Overseas

Online, a Global Strategy Starts at Home

UPS: From Local Startup to Global Titan
Twenty Countries to Consider

Avoiding Faux Pas When Exporting

Global Trade Toolkit

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Thinking of exporting or expanding into new markets? It's a great time to get started! Ninety-six percent of the world's consumers live outside of the United States and free trade agreements are opening new markets for U.S. businesses everyday.

Here's a GREAT way to get started in the trade export process.

And listen in on this interview about strategies small businesses can implement to go global.

Cultural Wisdom At Your Fingertips

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Tools for global managers. Tools for global team members. Tools for business travelers. Tools for international assignees. Did I leave anything out?

Get acquainted here.

Agility is Global

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Interesting post by Michael Hugos in Best Practices for CIO ...

My colleagues and I are leaving today to do a 30-Day Blitz in India. The blitz we launched in May with a global electronics and software company was a real success and they’ve decided to follow it up with a sequence of three more blitzes, one at their development center in Hyderabad and two more in the States.

I’ve got butterflies in my stomach. My mind is racing with questions and concerns about how things will work out. The last time I was in India I was seven years old; my father was there on business and my family and I spent a month in New Delhi. India made a strong impression on me then and ever since it has always been an iconic place, evoking images of history and mystery. Now my work is bringing me back.

Find out why Michael has butterflies in his stomach and what's in store for him in India, here.

Photo credit: Laurel Delaney, Chicago (7/5/07) ... magnificent cloud formation hovering over downtown Chicago.

Center for Global Development

Keeping an eye on practical ideas for global prosperity.

Photo credit: Laurel Delaney, Chicago, July 4, 2007.

7 Myths About Outsourcing

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In recent years, there's been a seemingly endless boom in offshore outsourcing. But companies that think handing off an operation to an overseas provider is easy can get a rude awakening by reading Seven Myths About Outsourcing.

View video on what it takes to outsource effectively.