As a Small Business, How Can You Go Global?

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We will help you cut to the chase:

For a small-business owner, dealing with language barriers, cultural differences and all that red tape is daunting. The good news is that there is an entire government agency, the U.S. Commercial Service, dedicated to smoothing the way for companies that want to make that leap, with offices in more than 100 cities offering services specifically targeted to small businesses.

Are you ready?

Read the entire article here. It's worth it.  Heather Ranck, office director for the U.S. Commercial Service in North Dakota offers some great advice.

Related articles:

• The Gold Key Service:  How to Find Customers the World Over
• How to Find and Pre-Qualify Importing Wholesalers For Your Product Line Overseas

World: Bird's Eye View of Chicago

©2012 Laurel J. Delaney, "Bird's Eye View of Chicago"

Our photo above (taken at Fullerton and the Chicago lakefront) was featured on NBC Channel 5 last night and in the weather section of the Chicago Sun Times (9/25).  Enjoy!

Expand Internationally, Find Customers and Get Paid

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I authored this three-part series for The Knowledge Center - American Express.  I hope it helps you prepare for international expansion, find customers and get paid by customers all over the world.

International Expansion Part 1 of 3:  Are You Ready for International Expansion?

International Expansion Part 2 of 3:  How to Find International Customers

International Expansion Part 3 of 3:  How to Get Paid By International Customers

If you have any questions, feel free to email me.  Or, if you have additional tips to share, please comment, thanks.

Come Take A Look at the Rising Breed of Global Business Leaders

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A new book, Fusion Entrepreneurs: Cross-Cultural Execs & Companies Revolutionizing the Global Economy (cover shown), authored by our esteemed colleague, journalist, blogger and friend, Edward Iwata (9/21):

I'm pleased to announce that my new independent e-book, Fusion Entrepreneurs: Cross-Cultural Execs & Companies Revolutionizing the Global Economy, is live now in the Amazon Kindle Store and on Smashwords, a leading e-book distributor in Silicon Valley. (If you don't have Amazon's Kindle e-reader or Barnes & Noble's Nook e-reader, you can download a free Kindle app or Nook app to read their books on your computer or mobile device.) Fusion Entrepreneurs also will appear in a few days in Apple's iBookstore, Barnes & Noble, Sony Reader Store, Diesel and other e-book retailers.

Fusion Entrepreneurs explores the rising breed of diverse global business leaders and the powerful economic megatrends sweeping the world. There are profiles and interviews of AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega, Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn, IBM Venture Capital Group's Claudia Fan Munce, Azul Airline founder David Neeleman, rapper and Internet entrepreneur MC Hammer, the Pi Brothers mixed-martial-arts sports entrepreneurs, and others.

His blog is:  CoolGlobalBIZ.com

Get your book here.

Posted by:  The Global Small Business Blog

Get Cultured

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Are you familiar with the Culture-ist Magazine?

Culture-ist is an online magazine for people who are passionate about being active members of a global society. Our mission is to spread the word about innovators, entrepreneurs, artisans and philanthropists who spend their days making life just a little bit better for others.

They even have a small business section.

Get cultured here.  Related post:  Designing across cultures.

Think Export: Supply and Demand

Tools like Google can make exports come alive.

QuickBooks Goes Global

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Now small businesses can work smarter from any place in the world.  For the first time, small businesses globally can easily create localized invoices, pay bills and track expenses with the availability of QuickBooks Online from Intuit Inc.

Check it out here to make it work for your business - in your country.

Beacon of Hope For the World: Small Businesses

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Is America’s preeminence in the world endangered?

The American Dream has become an inspiration and a beacon of hope not only for America, but for the entire world. As an entrepreneur who has benefitted greatly from the American Dream, I am personally ...

Read the entire opinion piece here: Preserving the American Dream Through Small Businesses

Small Businesses Are Part of Solution to the World's Economic Slowdown

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ISBC, International Small Business Congress, opens in South Africa, the next growth frontier after Asia.

What is ISBC?

The International Small Business Congress (ISBC) gathers individuals from governments (policymakers), small business support agencies, entrepreneurs, business membership organizations, academia, financial institutions, international development agencies and various others with an interest in entrepreneurship and small business development around the world to discuss issues pertinent to the promotion of entrepreneurship and small business worldwide.

 South African Minister of Trade and Industry Rob Davies says:

"Small enterprises do not only provide economic opportunities for the runners and operators of those small and medium enterprises, but also many of the new jobs that are created in expanding economies come from small enterprises.

Learn more about what's happening here.

World, We Are Out to Expand Your Mind

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According to edudemic:

6 Videos On Globalization and Technology That Will Blow Your Mind

Worth a watch.

Posted by:  The Global Small Business Blog

Benefits to International Trading, a UK Perspective

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Lloyds TSB -- supporting UK businesses -- provides the benefits of international trading, then takes you through the stages of assessing your own company's suitability for exporting.

• Key considerations
• Minimising risk
• Exporting cashflow calculator
• Exporting decision tool
• Real stories
• Trading for growth

Learn more here.  For an American perspective, visit here.

Condolences to the United States and Victims' Families

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We express our deepest condolences to the families of the victims of this week's attack on the U.S. compound in Libya. Those victims are: Ambassador Chris Stevens, Glen A. Doherty, Sean Smith and Tyrone S. Woods.

An Online SME Portal For the World

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I have been pitched on a new tool for small and medium-sized businesses who are interested in navigating the complexities of exporting and participating in the global market.

Feel free to explore and give it a test drive:  WebPort Global (in partnership with Export.gov)

America's Best: Allen Edmonds Poised for Export Growth

Meet Kermit Lynch: Wine Importer for 40 Years

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When Kermit Lynch first started out, he imported wines from all over the world.  Now, he focuses on small, family-owned estates in Italy and France.

As Mr. Lynch says:

"You can't really dig too deeply if you try to cover the world."

He estimates that he imports wines from 150 producers, and is always looking for more. For every 100 producers he visits, Mr. Lynch might only add a single one to his portfolio.

Read more about Kermit Lynch here and learn about a book he wrote, Adventures on the Wine Route (as shown above), that is considered one of the best on the wine business.

Netrepreneurs Will Drive Growth in China

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Netrepreneurs will drive forward progress in China, says Alibaba Group founder and chairman Jack Ma at the company’s annual AliFest gathering in its home city of Hangzhou.

“I’m confident and optimistic,” Ma said, telling the audience that they were like immigrants who would build a new era in China. “Transparency and sharing will be the cornerstone of our value system,” he said. “On this basis, netrepreneurs will drive forward progress in China.”

Read all about what's going on with Jack Ma, China-based Alibaba (where consumers will buy more than $157 billion worth of merchandise) and the netrepreneurs in China here.

Singapore Opens Doors For African Partners

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Have you heard this?  African leaders say they want to become the Singapore of Africa.  That's according to Singapore's minister of state for foreign affairs, Masagos Zulkifli.

The Singapore-Africa relationship is not new, but much of it is happening under the radar of the respective national authorities. The Singaporean high commissioner to Nigeria, Shabbir Hassanbhai, explains that he was surprised to learn about a Singaporean company with offices in Nigeria that imports auto parts and has a turnover of $2m per month. "We would never have even known about them if they hadn't approached us to help with a payment issue," says Hassanbhai.

Learn more about what's happening ... Can Singapore Drive Africa's Growth?

The Wrigley Building Chicago at Night

©2012 Laurel Delaney, "Wrigley Building At Night"

The Wrigley Building Chicago at night ... a Chicago original.  Related Wrigley posts here.

Looking for Disruptive Ideas? Try the Developing World

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Where will the next game changing idea take place?

We Americans may think of poorer nations as hotbeds of war and disease, a place to send our charity checks. But emerging economies are actually an invaluable breeding ground for innovations that could change lives in the U.S.

Think along the lines of what is called "reverse innovation" or a Lab For the World.

Discover more here.

Learn, Grow and Prepare for Global Business

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A good read can get you thinking about how to become a great global citizen.  Here are fourteen (14) books about global education.  It's a good follow on to our What's the Key to the World? post.

14 Best Books About Global Education

Bloopers and Blunders in the World Marketplace

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Does it really matter how or what you communicate to your customers around the world, especially when it involves your brand?  If so, then read these fourteen examples of funny mistranslations that could have been avoided had the companies cared enough to hire a professional translator or translation agency.

Funny Mistranslations From Around the World

The Global Small Business Depot: Your Store for Great Global Gifts

Looking for items that promote going global?  Look no further.

Visit:   The Global Small Business Depot -- a store for entrepreneurs and small businesses interested in going global.

You will find caps, shirts (as shown -- I just bought to wear!), pins and stamps.  Take a look!

Full disclosure:  We create these products for fun and to promote going global.

Building a Business in the Arab World

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The Wall Street Journal talks with Aramex co-founder Fadi Ghandou about expanding into the Arab world.  Here's one of the questions addressed.

WSJ: How important is it for new companies starting out to think regionally—or even globally?
 
Mr. Ghandour: You need to think of the neighborhood. How do I sell my product or services? The Levant (Lebanon, Syria and Jordan) and the GCC (the Gulf Cooperation Council, which comprises Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates) are a must [for companies in the region]. You can't scale up unless these markets open. Eventually, going global is another story altogether. It takes more time and capital

Read the entire interview here.

Here's another good article on doing business in the Middle East and this one involves the Cheesecake Factory.

For the World to See: Sunrise in Chicago

©Laurel Delaney 2012, "Sunrise in Chicago 1"

©Laurel Delaney 2012, "Sunrise in Chicago 2"

©Laurel Delaney 2012, "Sunrise in Chicago 3"

Enjoy your weekend!

Posted by:  Laurel Delaney, for The Global Small Business Blog

What's the Key to the World?

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Top-notch education is the key to the world and the best-kept secret to landing a job in global trade.

International Business Schools: Your Key to the World

Russia's Accession to the WTO: Ready To Become Global Leader

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Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization was a watershed moment for the country.

In simple monetary terms, studies by the World Bank show that Russia's economy will become wealthier by about $162 billion per year, which is about 11 percent of gross domestic product. At the same time, the structural changes that are necessary to deliver this injection of growth and wealth are equally, if not more, significant.

Read the entire article here.

Related article, "A Rocky Start to Russian WTO Membership"

Posted by:  The Global Small Business Blog

Tory Burch's Global Reach

Fashion designer and entrepreneur Tory Burch talks with Bloomberg's Margaret Brennan about the global outlook for her namesake line of clothing and accessories.

Japan's First Encounter with Globalization: Sex Labourers

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The following article draws on and is adapted material from chapter one of Bill Mihalopoulos's book, "Sex in Japan's Globalization, 1870-1930:  Prostitutes, Emigration and Nation Building" (Perspectives in Economics and Social History).

The book deals with poor rural women who migrated overseas to work as sex labourers. The core of the book is a historical study of the gendered and class impact of Japan’s first encounter with globalization that began in the 1860s.

Read the entire chapter here.

The Global Economy Is Shaped By Us

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A social science project work.

Slideshare:

The making of a global world
by Mukul Kumar

Chicago Air and Water Show 2012

©2012 Laurel Delaney.  All rights reserved  "Chicago Air & Water Show 2012"

I snapped the photo above just before the Chicago Air and Water show began on Saturday, August 18th.  No one had claimed this wonderful spot at around 9:00 a.m. CDT.  With the exception of about ten people, I had it all to myself.  An hour later, two million folks joined me along the lakefront to see one of the largest free shows of its kind in the United States.  And what a show it was.

Chicago Air and Water Show 2012:  Highlights (Huffington Post)

Air and Water Show history (Wikipedia)

Disruptive Coursera: Helping the World Access Education

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Two Stanford computer science professors -- Daphne Koller and Andrew Ng -- are offering higher-level online education courses for FREE at Coursera.  Yes, you read that right.

What is Coursera?

We are a social entrepreneurship company that partners with the top universities (refer to illustration) in the world to offer courses online for anyone to take, for free. We envision a future where the top universities are educating not only thousands of students, but millions. Our technology enables the best professors to teach tens or hundreds of thousands of students.

Through this, we hope to give everyone access to the world-class education that has so far been available only to a select few. We want to empower people with education that will improve their lives, the lives of their families, and the communities they live in.

Wake-up world.  Learning just got a whole heck of a lot easier.  Join 1,136,787+ Courserians here.  By the time you visit the site, notice the growth in Courserians.

Note:  I've already signed up for a course starting January 2013. 

Does Globalization Cause Income Slowdown?

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David Leonhardt, Washington bureau chief of the The New York Times references Derek Thompson's response in The Atlantic to David's list of 14 potential causes of the great American income slowdown.

Check it out here.

What Online Payment Methods Are Accepted in Foreign Countries?

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CyberSource, claiming to simplify payment management, may not cover the world yet but this report is a decent start with Brazil, Canada, France, Denmark, Norway, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Sweden and the U.K.

Download report (PDF) file:

GLOBAL PAYMENT OPTIONS - CyberSource

Russia: An Amazing Country to Be An Entrepreneur

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According to Ms. Maelle Gavet, CEO of Russia's largest e-commerce company, Ozon Holdings, "If you have an idea here, chances are it hasn't been done well.  Russia is an amazing country to be an entrepreneur!" 

Gavet has succeeded by taking the other side of this bet. "It's happening now," she says. "E-commerce is at a tipping point." She points to Russians' soaring incomes: Per-capita purchasing power has tripled, to $19,000, since 2000. (Compare that with Brazil, where per-capita income is still under $12,000, despite a high-growth economy.) Russians are also enjoying a newfound embrace of the Internet. The country now boasts roughly 70 million Internet users, more than any other European country.

Based on the article below, Russia is considered the world's last great untapped Internet market.

As in the case of Ms. Gavet, you never know what direction our lives will take until one is well on their way. Oftentimes, even by default, we can find our greatest treasures in life. Hard work helps.  So does smarts. Regardless, the next global opportunity could be right in front of you.

Is This the Jeff Bezos of Russia?

Start Making Sense of Work Visas For Foreigners

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In some cases, hiring foreigners can foster global goodwill.  I like to think so.  Interesting interview transcript here offering many different perspectives. 

There are a lot of employers who take no interest in their cultural experience, and just want to get the work out of them. And the kids are happy, in many instances, to work 12 hours a day, because if you're from Moldova and you're making $8 an hour, that's a lot of money. It's like an American kid going overseas and making $60 an hour. That's the differential.

With High Youth Unemployment, Making Sense of Summer Work Visas For Foreigners | PBS NewsHour | Transcript interview plus video.

Comments are insightful -- 36 thus far at this writing and still going strong.

Related piece:  Making Sen$e with Paul Solman
The Unemployment Paradox:  Why Job Seekers, Employers Aren't Connecting

Loyola University Chicago Lake Shore Campus

©2012 Laurel Delaney, "Loyola University Chicago Lake Shore Campus Library"

One of my favorite places to hang out, Loyola University Chicago Lake Shore Campus.

Stories On Expanding Globally

Best Practices in Global Supply Chain Management

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How do you expand your operations globally, while bringing your customers along for the adventurous ride?

Executives at Flextronics, Lubrizol and A. Schulman show you HOW.

Read the entire article: How to Manage a Global Supply Chain

Everything Global Mobile: mobiThinking

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Are you ready for the explosive growth in mobile?  If so, that means you have raised the bar to set new marketing standards for your global small business.

Read on to see how and what others are doing in the mobile space - from mobile sites to click-to-call campaigns -- get your global mobile marketing fix here.

mobiThinking

And while you are here, grab your insider's guide to mobile Web marketing:  France, Japan, Canada, Germany, USA, India, UK Australia, Spain, South Africa and Brazil here.

One of the Most Important Trends of Our Day: Globalization

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According to the article, Scholars, Spies, and Global Studies, globalization is one of the most important trends of our day.

As American universities expand their global footprint with branch campuses in Singapore, Abu Dhabi, and elsewhere, many faculty are concerned about oppressive governance, human-rights violations, and lack of academic freedom abroad. Meanwhile administrators grapple with how these new ventures—and globalization in general—will change teaching and research in the United States.

What does "global" really mean?

Find out here.

A Checklist for Hiring an Overseas Distributor

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How do you know for sure when you have found the perfect distributor?  The only way to find out is to ask a lot of questions – 50 to be exact.

Below we’ve created a checklist of all the questions you should ask to pre-screen overseas distributors. To better accommodate your needs organize the list any way you desire to.  Then print it out and take it with you the next time you interview a candidate.

Good luck.  And if we missed any questions, let us know!

Pre-Screening Overseas Distributors:  50 Questions to Ask

Globalization: Rule Breaker

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The world according to the many changes taking place, including globalization.

Until quite recently, globalization was seen as a one-way street. American companies, which led the charge four decades or so ago into growing global markets, were its ambassadors — and American workers, whose wages and upward mobility were flattened, were the victims. The core idea was that globalization, technological innovation and unfettered free trade would erase historical and geographic boundaries, making the world ever more economically interconnected and alike. (Foreign-affairs writer Tom Friedman famously shorthanded this notion with the title of his book The World Is Flat.)

Read the entire article here.

Related article:  Embrace Globalization!

The Attacks on Outsourcing

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Is there a policy on outsourcing?

Americans’ fear of foreign trade has grown sharply in the last 20 years, in tandem with a rising tide of globalization that has exposed American workers to overwhelming competition from laborers in developing countries. 

Is globalization good or bad?

Find out here.

Globalization in 2008

Social Media Translation Issues

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As the article below points out, the Internet has dissolved racial, religious and cultural boundaries - uniting us in a way to form one interconnected world.

Now, language barrier is not a big issue in the Internet. It has been possible because of language translation, which has made Internet content universal and understandable to unlimited number of people. That is why the demand for translators online is rapidly increasing. A huge number of websites now search for skilled translators to increase and improve their visibility and traffic in the Internet world.

As the article goes on to say, "not all can become a skilled online translator. One needs to ..."

Read the entire article: Importance of Translation in Social Media

Related article here.

A Remarkable Global Event; A Religious Obligation

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Celebrating the completion of the study of the Talmud:

The 12th cycle of the daily study of the Talmud, the Siyum HaShas, had come to an end, and hundreds of thousands of Jews (mostly, but not exclusively, orthodox) have gathered to mark the joyous occasion. The irony was not lost on the organizers – for years they fought fiercely against the construction of a sports stadium in Jerusalem, while they view all forms of competitive sport as part of a Hellenization process which is directly contrasted with the world of “holiness.” And here they are, having filled up the major sports stadiums in North America and Israel, to celebrate the completion of the study of the Talmud.

 Learn more here and here.

The Globalization of Sports

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I call it the globalization of talent, period.  E.g., Lady Gaga, for one. But it also works in sports.  The Olympics prove it.

If you practice hard and have the talent, people will respect you for what you do on the court. It’s a competition of your abilities, not anything else. It also goes to show that at the heart of it, kids born and raised in different countries are not so different after all.

The globalization of sports in one Nike commercial

A Spiritual Center at The University of Chicago

©2012 Laurel Delaney, "Rockefeller Chapel, The University of Chicago"

Rockefeller Chapel, The University of Chicago. 

Unrelated, last chance to vote on this:

Laurel Delaney, Small Business Influencer Award 2012

We Made the Top Ten Small Business Blogs By Google PR

The Global Small Business Blog is No. 10 (click photo to enlarge)

The Global Small Business Blog is No. 8 (click photo to enlarge)

Thank you Google!  Source: Blog Rank


Posted by:  Laurel Delaney, The Global Small Business Blog

A Recipe For Digital Global Success

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What do you get when you mix a mobile phone with e-commerce capabilities?   A recipe for digital success.  Here's how.

The Next Digital Revolution: Mobile Phones Plus eCommerce Equals Digital Success

Why Become an Entrepreneur?

Thick or Built as BRICS?

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Welcome new member South Africa into the BRIC club.

The four-nation group — Brazil, Russia, India and China — is a collection of what many economists see as the world’s most important emerging markets. Each has a gross domestic product well above $1 trillion and together they make up almost half the world’s population.

To match up with even the smallest BRIC country, Russia, South Africa would have to quadruple its economy.

Is South Africa a good investment destination -- the next new frontier?  Read the entire article here.

Domestic Markets Will Not Sustain Job Creation or Revenue Growth

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What do you get when you combine the services of Pennsylvania’s SBDC and those of the U.S. Commercial Service?

Enable small businesses in the commonwealth to learn more about the benefits and challenges of exporting their products from the United States.

Learn more here.