What It's Like Running a Global Franchise

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Founded in 2011, the Italian coworking venture Talent Garden has become a brand name in Europe with ten locations across the continent, and is looking to expand into new markets.

Co-founder Davide Dattoli talks about his journey starting a company in his native Italy to running a global franchise, along with his vision for the Talent Garden, and coworking as a whole.

When I [Dattoli] started this adventure in 2011 in Brescia, a small city in the north of Italy, my vision was to bring talented professionals within the digital and creative sectors together in one space; to foster an atmosphere of collaboration, where individuals and startups could help each other’s businesses to grow.

Read:  Going Global With Coworking Spaces

Today in Global Small Business: 7 Tips for Developing Your Brand Globally

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

• How to get paid by international customers.
• Seven tips for developing your brand globally.
• The risks and rewards of moving your data offsite.
• Innovative marketing tips to make your global business sizzle.
• Going global impacts Walgreens.
• Expo launchpad for SMEs to go global.

Global Small Businesses Are Hungry For Apps

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Global small businesses offer big opportunity for developers because they are hungry for apps.

And that’s good news for app developers, who have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to feed a massive and hungry market – the 29 million U.S. and 600 million global small businesses who are increasingly running their operations in the cloud.

Read more here.

Techies in Chicago Prepare For Global Expansion

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There are a number of challenges that tech companies face when trying to break into international markets. Developing a strategy to understand what steps to take, what risks to anticipate and what obstacles to prepare for are essential for global expansion.

Join the panel discussion:

Going International: Expanding Into the Global Market
Tuesday, May 12th from 9:00-11:00 a.m. Central at TechNexus
20 N. Wacker Dr., 12th Floor, Chicago, IL 60606
Sponsored by IDA Ireland

For more information and to register, visit here.
Download the event flyer.

Note:  I am trying to stop in at this event.

How to Launch a Successful Online Platform

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According to Benjamin Edelman for Harvard Business Review, the first question an entrepreneur should ask when launching a digital platform is whether they can quickly attract a large group of users.  And that depends on at least one of two conditions being met.

Find out what they are here.

How to Develop Your Brand Globally

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How do you do a shout out the world over to let them know you exist?  Here are a few ideas on how to manage your brand’s reputation and export it the world over.

Read:  7 Tips for Developing Your Brand Globally

Breaking News: We Reached More Than 1 Million Pageviews at The Global Small Business Blog

©2015 GSBB Media LLC.  All rights reserved.

Today (4/14/15), we reached more than 1 million pageviews at our Global Small Business Blog (first post can be found here).  That achievement is due to your loyal readership.  Thank you!  It means the world to us that you take an interest in our posts.  We will continue to provide you with news and information you can use to grow your business beyond borders.

Keep on reading.  Keep on expanding internationally.

How To Simplify Business Registration Processes on a Global Basis

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A new web portal, Global Enterprise Registration or http://www.ger.co has been launched to help companies directly access, and assess the user-friendliness of, business registration websites around the world. It is the brainchild of Ann Low, Deputy Director of the Office of Investment Affairs, at the US Department of State.

Learn more:  New Business-Registration Portal Goes Global

Today in Global Small Business: Is America Strangling Small Businesses?

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

• Snapdeal buyout fails for Alibaba but they are still on the lookout for Indian e-tailers.
• What a world without language barriers would look like.
• The Export-Import Bank of China extends loans to companies going global.
• Have a look at how cheesesteaks and pretzels go global.
• How America is strangling small business.
• Factors to consider on your first import.

You Cannot Keep Spring From Coming

©2015 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

“You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep Spring from coming.” -- Pablo Neruda

Polish Immigrant Starts Small Import Business

See how a shoe purchase led a Polish immigrant to launch her own successful small import business and achieve the American dream.

In Today's World You Can't Stay Local

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“In today’s world you can’t stay local,” says Lindsey Grossman, group manager of Business Development and Partnerships and Intuit Small Business Group. “If you don’t think about going global from day one, you’ll soon be surrounded by global-thinking competitors and you’ll be at a disadvantage.”

In an in-depth Q&A below, Grossman talks about government red tape, how to stay innovative and why all companies should aim to go global from the get-go.

Read:  Going Global From the Get-Go Intuit Labs

KuKuRuZa Popcorn Company Goes Global

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Seattle, Washington-based KuKuRuZa popcorn company expanded their small business through the SBA Small Business Development Center’s Export Readiness Center. Through their assistance, KuKuRuZa was able to open franchise locations in Japan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and South Korea.

Could that be you next?  Read more:  Small businesses reaching global markets

The Second-Highest Number of Exporters in the United States?

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Florida boasts the second-highest number of exporters in the United States, and in 2013, the United Arab Emirates was the state's eighth-highest merchandise export destination.

Exposure to international buyers is crucial to the success of small business owners and allows them to grow and create jobs.

That said, Enterprise Florida Inc. will host Florida small businesses at the Oct. 18-22 GITEX Technology Week in Dubai, an annual event that attracts more than 143,000 professionals from around the world from nearly 150 countries.

Learn more here.

Today in Global Small Business: Get Acquainted with the Worldwide Payments Superhighway

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

• How to identify international opportunities.
• Ten free or nearly free resources for exporting your products.
• Why US family firms should go global to survive.
• Globalization and its consequences, an opinion piece by Dave Joyce, president of GE Aviation.
• Learn about the worldwide payments superhighway for the yuan.
• Nepali exporters realize that it's a whole other country out there.

Thank You Best-Selling Author Jim Collins!

©2015 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

When I contributed to the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council's “must read” books for every entrepreneur who wants to succeed, little did I know that when I mentioned Jim Collins' Beyond Entrepreneurship: Turning Your Business into an Enduring Great Company, he would reach out to me by mail with an autographed copy of his book!

Thank you Jim.  You made my day.

Entrepreneurs Globally Report a Willingness to Start a Business

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In 2015, 2,500 U.S. entrepreneurs participated in the Global Entrepreneur Indicator (GEI), a bi-annual survey conducted by the Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO).  EO member businesses average US $52.3 million in annual revenue and 240 employees. Survey findings revealed the latest near-term economic findings from 5,868 business owners in 46 countries, including:

In 2014, 84 percent of entrepreneurs globally reported a willingness to start a business. In 2015, 88 percent of entrepreneurs globally reported a willingness to start a business in the current economic environment.

Read more:  Global entrepreneurship survey reveals sustained small business growth

The State of SME Finance in the United States

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The 2015 State of SME Finance in the United States reviews trends in lending and equity financing to SMEs, discusses emerging financing sources for SMEs, and assesses the future of SME finance in light of the rise of alternative, online lenders and crowdfunding platforms. The report also analyzes the specific financing issues faced by SMEs that seek growth through exports. 

Download the report here.

The Importance of Entrepreneurship For Global Development

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President Obama announced this week (March 31st) that he will visit Kenya for the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) in July.  It will be his first trip to the country and his fourth to sub-Saharan Africa during his presidency.

The Global Entrepreneurship Summit brings together business owners, educators, policymakers and investors to support the growth of new enterprises in developing regions.  President Obama has supported the annual meetings since 2009.

Entrepreneurship can transform the world by solving problems, creating jobs and boosting economies.

Learn more:  Obama Will Visit Kenya For Global Entrepreneurship Summit in July [2015] 

Tweets about #GES2015 hashtag on Twitter

Bold Moves Are Needed to Enter New Overseas Markets

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Some say Canadians are too complacent about seeking export markets. But not the CEO of Brampton-Ont. based Mirus International Inc.  His firm makes electrical filters for high-powered drilling equipment used in the petroleum industry.

Here's what he did to break through to customers in China.

... he seized the opportunity last year to buy an existing factory in Suzhou, with a loan guaranteed by Canada’s federal Export Development Corp.

That's exactly the kind of bold move needed to enter new overseas markets.

Read more here.

Today in Global Small Business: Why You Don't Need to Be Big to Be Global

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

• Why e-retailers are looking at India as a possible destination for global expansion.
• Why the head of SMB marketing at Facebook believes social media can no longer help small businesses reach customers.
• Why you don't need to be big to be global (according to Oshkosh, Wisconsin companies.)
• Globalization and its consequences (a unique take).
• How to think local by going global when you run an online baby center.
• Factors to consider before putting your expansion plan in motion.

Live Before You Get Too Old

©2015 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"We should all start to live before we get too old." -- Marilyn Monroe

Small and Medium-Sized Practices Are a Part of a Globalization Trend

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Business advisory is emerging as an area of increasing importance to the growth of small and midsize practices.  According to IFAC’s Global SMP Survey, in 2013, advisory ranked third out of the four service areas in terms of the pace of projected growth.  While in 2014, advisory edged out tax (13 percent versus 11 percent) as the area most likely to drive substantial revenue increases in the coming year.

The results also indicated:

Many SMPs [small- and medium-sized practices] are part of the globalization trend, with 44 percent of the total respondents saying at least 5 percent of their clients operate internationally, while 69 percent of the largest SMPs (those with 21 or more partners and staff) said at least 5 percent of their clients are international.

For the complete survey results, click here (might require registration).

Diving Into Cross-Border Trade With SBA and PayPal

SBA and PayPal present a webinar on how to export online.

Taking the Hassles Out of Going Global

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Going global is not a walk in the park and it requires thoughtful planning well in advance. What follows are 12 tips that have worked for my business and my clients’ over the years. I hope these insights will help you progress on the global front with zero headaches.

Read:  Going Global Headache-Free

Go East With Exports Small Businesses!

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According to cu-authors Maria Contreras-Sweet, Karen G. Mills, Steve Preston, Hector Barreto, and Aida Alvarez, in 15 years, the Asian market is projected to be six times larger than the U.S. market. By 2030, for example, more than 2 billion Asian consumers are expected to join the global middle class.  All the more reason why:

Congressional approval of Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) and completing the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) sought by President Obama would constitute a significant victory for America's small businesses.

Read more:  Small Businesses Must Export East to Maintain US Leadership

About the authors:  Contreras-Sweet is the current Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration.  Mills led SBA from 2009 -2013; Preston from 2006-2008, Barreto from 2001-2006; and Alvarez from 1997-2000.

Today in Global Small Business: Is It True That Few Companies Actually Succeed At Going Global?

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

• What are ways to prevent surprises in global e-commerce?
• Is it true that few companies actually succeed at going global?
• Maybe some day you will be a part of the Billion Dollar Startup Club, e.g., lessor known companies from around the globe.
• Have you looked at the global smart watch market size, share, and trend to see how you can play in the space?
• Will Über be a threat to delivery companies?  FedEx CEO says no.
• A new app aims to help small businesses run more efficiently (and profitably) but is it global?

Dreaming of Spring

"If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant:  if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome." -- Ann Bradstreet

Photos courtesy:  ©2015 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

Tips On Mastering Digital Transformation, Entering New Markets and Taking Chances

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What can we learn from a team of Irish lads and ones that happen to run America's Domino's Pizza (DP)?  Plenty.  Here’s a little history on DP along with some tips on mastering digital transformation, entering new overseas markets and taking chances.

What We Can Learn from Domino's Pizza on International Expansion?

Do You Want To Reinvent Your Company? Read On.

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Are you interested in importing?  Exporting?  Outsourcing?  Merging with a competitor?  Striking up a new overseas partnership?

According to Debra Williams, the answer depends on if and how you want to reinvent your company.

Read on:  Think your business is too local to go global?  Think again.

Finding Opportunities For American Small Businesses in Trade and Exports

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For the past five years, the Global Entrepreneurship Congress (GEC) has contributed to the expansion of the global entrepreneurial ecosystem, connecting experts and entrepreneurs across borders to empower innovation and drive economic growth.

What is GEC?

GEC is an entrepreneurial ecosystem that has started to take shape around the world, connecting people across borders to unleash their ideas and transform innovation into reality—in turn growing economies and expanding human welfare.  

This marks the beginning of a new wave of cooperation among Ministers for small business and entrepreneurship in response to increasing public interest around the world in the role government and small and new businesses play in job creation, firm and capital formation, and innovation.

Learn more:  Administrator of U.S. SBA and Foreign Leaders Exchange Innovation Strategies at Global Entrepreneurship Congress in Italy

Happy St. Patrick's Day: Wishing You All the Joy Your Heart Can Hold

©2015 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

©2015 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

©2015 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

My absolute favorite day of the year -- St. Patrick's Day in Chicago -- when the Chicago River is dyed green and local folks put on a fabulous parade.  

As the late Stephen Bailey has said:

... the road from Chicago to Ireland is marked in green. From the Chicago River to the Illinois River, then to the Mississippi, up the Gulf Stream and across the Atlantic you can see the beautiful green enter the Irish Sea, clearly marking the way from Chicago to Ireland.

Have a Happy St. Patrick's Day!  Wishing you all the joy your heart can hold.  Related posts here.

Today in Global Small Business: Start Local and Think Global

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

• How a lousy photo can become a lost opportunity.
• Why small businesses are engaging sustainability.
• Key reasons data driven small businesses are embracing big data.
• How U.S. trade policies fail to account for small businesses.
• A new partnership between Ohio State University and the state government offers export help.
• When creating an online marketplace, start local and think global.

Spring Seems Light Years Away

©2015 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"March is a month of considerable frustration - it is so near spring and yet across a great deal of the country the weather is still so violent and changeable that outdoor activity in our yards seems light years away." -- Thalassa Cruso

How Can a Big City Develop a Global Identity?

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How can a big city develop a global identity?  Partner with think tank Brookings Institute (BI).  According to Brookings, San Diego, for example, has the 17th largest economy in the country, but ranks 61st when it comes to export intensity and 49th in the percentage of jobs at foreign-owned firms.

The think tank said that more than 85 percent of global growth through 2019 is projected to occur outside the U.S., so global engagement is essential if cities want to stimulate their economies and workforce. -- Source:  "Time to Tell the World," Mayor Says in "Go Global" Business Effort

San Diego is not the only city to get the big push by BI.  For instance, my home town Chicago has a metro export plan in place too.  BI has a Global Cities Initiative.

How does a city deliver a successful metropolitan export plan?  Easy.

Related posts.

Wal-Mart Canada Plans to Roll Out 29 New Supercentres

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Wal-Mart Canada is scheduled to open another 29 new supercentres. This is in addition to 11 centers opened earlier this year.  The expansion will bring Wal-Mart Canada’s store count to 396 by the end of January, 2016, consisting of 309 supercentres and 87 discount stores.

The retailer says the expansion is expected to generate about 3,700 construction jobs, 1,000 store jobs and 300 distribution centre jobs across Canada.

Read More:  Wal-Mart Canada to open 29 new supercentres

Splunk Goes After Global Small Businesses

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Enterprise software company Splunk aims to go after global small businesses with its new, cheaper version of its analytics software.  Their belief is -- in order to get big (scale) -- they better go [after]
 small.  Call it a little land-grabbing, if you will.

Here's more news about market potential:

That market could amount to $5 billion to $7 billion in cumulative revenue over the next three years, says Daniel Ives, an analyst for FBR Capital Markets.

Read:  Splunk Targets Small Businesses to Boost Revenue

When It Comes to Advancing Women and Girls, We're Not There Yet

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This year marks the 20th anniversary of the UN Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing (1995) where important people from all over the world gathered together fully committed to ensure that women and girls have the opportunity to participate fully in all aspects of their life.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the No Ceilings initiative of the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation have joined forces to gather 850,000 data points and analyze the gains made for women and girls over the last two decades, as well as the gaps that remain.

Take a good look at the findings but we're not there yet:  No Ceilings:  The Full Participation Project

Today in Global Small Business: Stanford University Takes It Global

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

• The Weekly Roundup over at About.com Import and Export site offers tips you might never find on your own.
• Women Entrepreneurs GROW Global (WEGG) powers up for new growth to help women led-owned business owners and entrepreneurs go global.
• Stanford University takes it global to showcase its research, teaching and learning on campus and abroad - finally.
• Arcadia, Wisconsin based Ashley Furniture ($4 billion in sales 2014) tries to go global.
• Visa adds Global M-Payments as a partners to roll out its new set of mobile payment services for Android phones.
• What makes globalizing companies interesting is that they are also America’s elite SMEs -- find out why.

Snow Provokes Responses, Especially in Chicago

©2015 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"Snow provokes responses that reach right back to childhood."  Andy Goldsworthy

The Global Small Car Launch

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According to IHS, around 88.6 million cars will be sold globally this year, up 2.4 percent from 2014, weighed by an expected contraction in Russia's market.  In this instance, India will be the first market to receive French automobile maker Renault's global small car (priced below 4s4 lakh) this year.

Sumit Sawhney, country CEO and managing director Renault India says:

Renault customises its products for Indian conditions and cited the 37 changes it made in Duster before launching the car in India.

For a product to succeed in India, it must be at the right price, the right product adaptation and the right timing.

Read:  It's India first for Renault's global small car launch

Why Expanding Overseas Is Inevitable

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As co-authors Dennis May and Michael Evans state, "Expanding your business overseas is not for the fainthearted, but for most businesses it will be inevitable as global markets offer greater opportunities for growth. By paying attention to details and outsourcing administrative functions, the difficult job of “going global” can produce great results."

Read their article at Forbes, 10 Key Steps to Expanding Your Business Globally, where they discuss preparing a gap analysis, developing a tactical project plan with commit dates, determining your sales methodology and more.

Can Global Travel Make You a Better Leader?

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Do any of these scenarios sound like you?  You push yourself to visit a customer in Thailand because you know the business will be good.  You must examine a manufacturing facility in China to ensure product quality is maintained.  You have to see first-hand how natives of Japan store ice cream, if at all, in their homes because your next market entry move is Japan and it's to export your latest ice cream flavor, green tea.

What all these scenarios have in common is this:  Once you are on the ground in unknown territory, you are forced to adapt and become a better person in order to get along with folks.  What you bring back home is a new YOU who has transformed into a more effective leader.

Lisa Evans for Fast Company talks straight with us and is spot on:  How Travel Can Make You a Better Leader | Fast Company

Operating Across Borders

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Find out what happened when an Italian retail company wanted to send an employee to the U.S. to oversee the rollout of new locations in the New Jersey region.  Think it was hassle-free?

Read:  Going Global:  International clients create a growing niche

Today in Global Small Business: Capital for Globalizing Firms

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

• Ten years from now, 75 percent of Americans will have Internet access as fast as ...
• How to profit from China's super consumers.
• How to steer a global buyer to a payment site from a tweet.
• Why West Coast ports are no longer the Gateway to America.
• Do your homework if you want to succeed overseas.
• Start up loans for companies and capital for globalizing firms.

Snowwoman in Chicago

©2015 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

Don't ask me how I know it's a snowwoman as opposed to a snowman. She just is.  I took this photograph at Delaware and Michigan Avenue, Chicago.  Somebody was in a creative mood.  Thank goodness!

Watch for Disruption in the Global Accounting Software Space

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Who hasn't heard of American software company Intuit?  They've been around since 1983 doing a great job providing easy and convenient accounting solutions to businesses of all sizes.  Now comes the disruptive part and enough that Intuit better not ignore.  It's clear that Intuit CEO Brad Smith is already on it with his recent article "Intuit's CEO on Building a Design-Driven Company," in the January/February 2015 - Harvard Business Review.

Now there's New Zealand-based software company Xero that develops 'beautiful' cloud-based accounting software for small and medium-sized businesses. The company has offices in New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

And there's accounting software company The Sage Group who just recently announced a global agreement with Salesforce.com that goes like this:

Sage has agreed to start using the Salesforce Customer Success Platform. Implementing the cloud based CRM system shows that Sage want to get close to Salesforce and get some kind of symbiotic partnership with the cloud giant. - Source:  The Sage Group Plc announces global agreement with Salesforce

Watch all these companies for future global competitive activity.  Bring it on as they say for each wants to play in every country!

Take Your Business Global With a Good Trade Finance Strategy (Video)