Today in Global Small Business: China is a Viable Digital Commerce Opportunity

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

• Think you don't have a chance selling in China?  Guess again.  Learn how a pro, Jennifer Bayon, VP, Business Development, PPI Beauty makes doing business in China a viable digital commerce opportunity on July 8th at 11AM CT (n/c) via Women Entrepreneur Global Global's wegginar.
• Are you operating in the brand licensing sector?  Then you might be qualified to apply for the Small Business Global Grants Fund. 
• Quote of the week:  "Asking the question 'are we doing enough' [concerning COVID-19] regularly and repeatedly is critical." – Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, technical lead, World Health Organization, infectious disease epidemiologist
• The Covid-19 pandemic has required leaders to make decisions under considerable pressure. Many CEOs have been acting as the “chief crisis officer” as they work to ensure their firm’s survival and to manage the physical, mental, and social well-being of their employees.  See if you are functioning with any bias.
• Resilience.  Recovery.  Renewal.  Here's a roadmap to recovering.
• According to OECD, the world economy is on a tightrope.  

Happy 244th Birthday, America. We Love You!

Create Competitive Advantages by Hiring Globally

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The biggest takeaway from Jeff Barrett's article for Entrepreneur, "Why Small Businesses Should Be Thinking (and Hiring) Globally During Covid-19 Isolation," is that even though we are going to be globally isolated for a while, there is still a lot of opportunity out there and the technology to allow us to make things happen. He goes on to say, "Everyone has to pivot. Top global talent will be temporarily looking for different avenues and that will benefit the entrepreneurs willing to think beyond isolation."

Read his entire article here.

How Do Doctors During a Global Pandemic Relax? Playing a Board Game Called Pandemic

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What's your favorite board game?  How about Pandemic?  For doctors, that's their board game of choice.  Why?

Players try to stop diseases from spreading across the world while racing for cures. “It’s stress relief,” said Dr. [Sonali] Advani [associate medical director of the Duke Infection Control Outreach Network in North Carolina], who plays over Zoom video calls with her friends—other infectious-disease doctors.

Learn a little more about how and why Pandemic was created via Wikipedia (surprise, surprise) but here's a snippet:

Pandemic is based on the premise that four diseases have broken out in the world, each threatening to wipe out a region. The game accommodates two to four players, each playing one of seven possible roles: dispatcher, medic, scientist, researcher, operations expert, Contingency Planner, or quarantine specialist.

Tricky to be selling a board game called Pandemic considering we are living it right now.  But just think, it's similar to what it must be like to sell Corona beer right now.

Oh, see if you can save humanity.

For Small Business Owners in Mexico, Going Global Just Got Easier

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According to a news release published by GlobeNewswire:

UPS and Estafeta Mexicana, S.A. de C.V. announced a commercial agreement between the two brands to provide Mexican businesses with international shipping services to help them reach more than 220 countries and territories around the world.

The agreement will also make it possible for Mexican companies to reach their customers in the U.S. within one business day.

Learn more to see how you might benefit from this new partnership.

Own Your Future

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Small businesses, hit by the economic impact of the coronavirus, have had to pivot, pivot, pivot to survive.  I call that resilience.

But their goal is the same: to continue their dream, to do what they had been doing on their own terms before the world changed abruptly. They want to own their future as they had owned their past.

These entrepreneurs share their story and it's all about the power to pivot.

Today in Global Small Business: 'Black is King' by Beyonce

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

• Basey banig weavers build a name for Filipino export products.
• LIVE updates from The New York Times on COVID-19 
• Quote of the week:  "It is easy to hate and it is difficult to love. This is how the whole scheme of things works. All good things are difficult to achieve; and bad things are very easy to get." – Confucius
• The upside to embracing your own madness.
• 'Black Is King,' a new album by Beyonce, will celebrate Black resilience and culture, and premiere globally on Disney+ on July 31, according to a press release. 
• Whoa, look out, Starbucks says it will pause advertising on social media platforms including Facebook.  They are not the only one starting to take this path.  Could be impactful.

I Just Stuck With It

©2013 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"My father left his piano at the house when he left, and I wasn't allowed to play it when he was there because I wasn't as good as him. So when he left, I was determined to get as good as him, and I taught myself how to play music, and I just stuck with it, and I did it all the time." – Prince

Worldometer

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World population?  Government and economics?  Society and media?  Environment?  Food?  Water? Health?

Say you want to know how many births we had this year, how much public military expenditure, number of television sets sold worldwide today and the number of tons of toxic chemicals released in the environment.

We've got you covered.  Enlighten yourself.  Worldometers.info – it's a reference website that provides counters and real-time statistics for diverse topics.

Chill with Alecia Keys (Music Video)

Lessons from the Great Recession in 2008

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"Flexibility — both in product lines and operational structure — will help vulnerable businesses survive," says Michael Chow, lead data analyst and economist at the National Federation of Independent Business (N.F.I.B.). The key is listening to customers and anticipating their needs, both today and after the pandemic.

Now is the time to scale up in the spirit of collaboration.

Read more about how small businesses today must focus on adaptability and prepare for timid consumers going forward.

Which Global Small Businesses Are Most Vulnerable Right Now Due to COVID-19?

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According to McKinsey & Company, before the crisis, small businesses accounted for nearly half of all private-sector jobs. Widespread business exits wreak longer-lasting unemployment and economic damage than temporary shutdowns do, so it’s important to understand which small businesses may remain shuttered permanently.

McKinsey & Company goes on to say that that knowledge can help business leaders and policy makers develop interventions to protect small businesses in the short term, ensure that they can participate in the recovery, and put more of them on a more resilient footing in the years to come.

Discover which sectors are most at risk, and which global small businesses might close permanently.

Today in Global Small Business: Cross-Cultural Marketing in a Pandemic

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

• COVID-19 has destroyed 41% of Black small businesses. 
• SMEs remain the backbone of our economy.
• Quote of the week:  “Together with a culture of work, there must be a culture of leisure as gratification. To put it another way: people who work must take the time to relax, to be with their families, to enjoy themselves, read, listen to music, play a sport." – Pope Francis
• COVID-19 metrics matter.  Check some robust ones out here and provided by Bloomberg Philanthropies.
• Building resilience in a world disrupted.
• Cross-cultural marketing in a pandemic:  key tents for business leaders.

The Abstract Wrong of Slavery

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"You know I dislike slavery; and you fully admit the abstract wrong of it." – August 24, 1855 Letter to Joshua Speed by Abraham Lincoln

Juneteenth

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Join the worldwide celebration of Juneteenth – a time to appreciate and celebrate Black history and together, take one giant step toward greater racial equality.

Update Your Cyber-Security Risk Assessment

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The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated a remote working culture that started when high-speed internet became available at home and in coffee shops.

It’s now obvious that many more jobs can be done remotely than previously thought. COVID-19 also accelerated distance learning and telehealth services. Compliance policies written for the workplace, the classroom, and the doctor’s office will need to be rewritten to reflect this new remote reality. 

Here are five ways any organization can improve its cyber-security compliance.

The Wayfair Decision and What It Means for Small Businesses

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The rise of e-commerce platforms and online marketplaces has radically changed the expectations that buyers have when it comes to shopping, leading to a steady decline in traditional retail shopping, and an uptick in online commerce. As a result of these shifts, we all now live and operate in an increasingly digital economy.

Now, bring in the Wayfair decision that has changed the landscape of state sales tax and made compliance much more difficult for all sizes of businesses.  Not familiar with the June 21, 2018 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in South Dakota v. Wayfair?  Get background info here.
 
Learn how the case compelled businesses to adopt digital solutions to address not only their sales tax needs but other tax reporting obligations as well.

How Female Founders Can Innovate and Disrupt the World of Business (SCORE webinar TODAY]

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The world of business is wide open to everyone who has an internet connection and the bravado to take it on.

In this SCORE webinar this morning, four exceptional women entrepreneurs Laurel Delaney (wegg®), Betsy Mikesell (Beddy's), Angie White (Beddy's) and Dr. Sonat Birnecker Hart (KOVAL Distillery) will provide insights for women who want to innovate and disrupt the world of business – to grow faster, stronger, and soar globally for a better tomorrow.

Join this webinar to learn:

• How to pivot a business in a crisis
• Why women rule in the global marketplace
• How to follow your passion and turn a family business into a global powerhouse
• What a Kickstarter campaign can do and why is it important to consider
• Who might be your next best partner in business
• How setting up an ecommerce platform can take a business global
• Why good design makes a strong first impression and establishing patents safeguards your invention

To learn more and to register TODAY, 6/16/20, at 11AM EDT (free of charge), visit:
https://www.score.org/event/how-female-founders-can-innovate-and-disrupt-world-business

Today in Global Small Business: You Gotta Start Collaborating

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

• Guys and gals – you gotta start collaborating, if you haven't already! 
• The US and China must learn to balance competition and collaboration in the coming era.
• Quote of the week:  “I always talk to all the crew. I always make it pleasant. I always nurture a relationship that makes people feel like they're important, like they're a part of the collaboration. I feel that way about the young actors on set. I don't talk to them like I'm the mentor; I talk to them like they're my peers. And I learned that from Meryl Streep.” – Viola Davis
• Looking to boost innovation?  Want to identify a problem to solve?  Partner or collaborate with a startup.
• This article is brought to you thanks to the collaboration of The European Sting with the World Economic Forum: The Great Reset needs great leaders to help the most vulnerable.
• Oh, just some fun and nothing to do with collaboration: Kris and Kate's ice cream.

Skate Your Troubles Away (Video)

Being Closed Is Overwhelming: You Just Don't Know When This Is Going To End

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A small business owner in Leslieville, a neighborhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, released a video to social media pleading to reopen her shop, and it has since gained a lot of traction online. As Caryn Lieberman of GlobalNews reports, her message is resonating with others in a similar situation.  After all, Yael Malkin, the owner, is losing $15,000 a month while closed.

“I just had a full on breakdown because I heard we’re not allowed to reopen in Ontario. Every single person that I talk to feels the same way,” said Yael Malkin [owner of Brows by Yael Shop] in the video, tears streaming down her face.

Read more.

Diversification Is Key: China or Mexico?

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Global small business owners get it.

If there is one thing the pandemic taught the world, it was that we are over-reliant on China for everything from the key ingredients used to make cleaning agents to pharmaceuticals, surgical masks to personal protection equipment. That’s not diversification of risks. 

So where are people turning to?  Mexico.  And according to Foley & Lardner, many U.S. executives are pretty enthusiastic about it.

Push to Reset the World

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Is it time for a great reset?  According to the World Economic Forum COVID Action Platform:

To achieve a better outcome, the world must act jointly and swiftly to revamp all aspects of our societies and economies, from education to social contracts and working conditions. Every country, from the United States to China, must participate, and every industry, from oil and gas to tech, must be transformed. In short, we need a “Great Reset” of capitalism.

Read more ... and visit the Great Reset microsite.  Working together, we can emerge from this crisis to create a better world.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)

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According to the global law firm Baker McKenzie:

"The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a historic marshalling of capital and a remarkable geopolitical foray into establishing and strengthening multinational trade corridors. With over US $440 billion of funding provided by Chinese financial institutions for BRI projects so far, it's an enterprise unlike anything seen on this scale for decades and holds tremendous opportunities for business. The BRI continues to evolve and expand with more than 130 countries now reported to have signed BRI agreements, far beyond the traditional Silk Road routes."

Learn more and develop an understanding of how COVID-19 alters BRI.

Today in Global Small Business: Black Lives Matter

©iStock/Andrei Stancescu

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

• Think white privilege doesn't exist?  Wakeup.  Basic analysis here (from 2001). 
• The official #BlackLivesMatter Global Network builds power to bring justice, healing, and freedom to Black people across the globe.
• Quote of the week:  “Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Peaceful protests and demonstrations about the death of George Floyd go global.
• The enormous scale of this important movement.
• Are Americans letting their guard down to protest the killing of George Floyd by police?

Your World for a Moment

©2020 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it's your world for the moment. I want to give that world to someone else. Most people in the city rush around so, they have no time to look at a flower. I want them to see it whether they want to or not." – Georgia O'Keeffe

Speak Out

Empower Global Small Businesses' Presence Online

With support of global commerce company Shopify and the Louisiana Economic Development, Louisiana business owners will become more competitive during the pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged businesses across the nation to find new ways to connect with customers. Louisiana Economic Development (LED) partnered with e-commerce platforms to provide Louisiana small business owners with enhanced customer service and special resources to make setting up or expanding your e-commerce capabilities as easy as possible.

What's in store?  Plenty.  With the website noted below, Louisiana business owners gain access to a 14-day free trial with Shopify and enhanced one-on-one support.

More details can be found online by visiting the website: https://www.lasmallbizonline.com/

Will this opportunity be available to everyone at some point?  Sure looks like it already exists on Shopify's website (perhaps sans the enhanced one-on-one support).  Click on upper right hand corner – Start Free Trial.

SME10X and UPS Unveil Highlights from Joint SME E-commerce Survey

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UPS intended to evaluate the current shipping behaviors among Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) businesses in the UAE and to gain perspective on their shipping and logistics needs in the near future.

SME10X covered a large sample of over 5,000 SMEs across identified sectors such as Manufacturing, Services and Trading, and has completed 1,153 surveys at the time of this report.

Read the report to gain useful insights for your business.

SEE SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS ->

Note:  Study conducted August – December, 2019 (pre-global pandemic)

Are You Ready to Risk Your Life to Go Back to Business as Usual?

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Paul Krugman, a Distinguished Professor at the City University of New York Graduate Center and 2008 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences winner says that America is now engaged in a vast, dangerous experiment. "Although social distancing has limited the spread of the coronavirus, it is far from contained. Yet despite warnings from epidemiologists, much of the country is moving to open up for business as usual."

What, after all, is the economy’s purpose? If your answer is something like, “To generate incomes that let people buy things,” you’re getting it wrong — money isn’t the ultimate goal; it’s just a means to an end, namely, improving the quality of life.

Now, as Krugman puts it, to money matters.  Read the entire Opinion column here.

Today in Global Small Business: Unrest in America

©iStock/Julian J Rossig

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

• Tens of thousands of people took to the streets for a fifth night on Saturday to protest the death of George Floyd and other African Americans at the hands of the police, resulting in violent clashes between law enforcement and demonstrators while fires raged across the country. Tragic.  Heartbreaking.  Unnecessary. 
• George Floyd protests spread nationwide.
• Quote of the week:  “A riot is the language of the unheard.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
• George Floyd protests timeline (might require registration).
• George Floyd couldn't breathe.  Now all black America can't either.
• What George Floyd deserves.

30 Seconds of Calm (Video)

Reopening Business USA

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As America’s businesses look to reopen safely and keep employees and customers healthy and informed, employers are facing countless new questions and unprecedented new challenges.

As part of the Path Forward initiative through the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, this Digital Resources Center provides the latest state guidelines, sector-specific guidance, small business advice, and other tools and resources to help employers and employees return to work safely and successfully.

How to MacGyver Your First Export

©2020 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

My [Laurel Delaney's] latest creation.  Feel free to read, learn, and share.

How to MacGyver Your First Export

FedEx Helps Global Small Businesses Stay Afloat During COVID-19 With a Grants Program

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FedEx Corp. recently announced the launch of the company’s #SupportSmall Grants program, awarding grants and services to 200 business owners across the U.S. struggling to stay afloat during the COVID-19 global pandemic.

Each grantee will receive a $5,000 check as well as a $500 credit for FedEx Office® print and business services to help support their small business.

The #SupportSmall Grants program is open to U.S. based small businesses that have fewer than 50 employees and have been in business and selling for more than one year. Applicants must have less than $5 million in annual sales revenue in 2019 and have shipped in the last 12 months and/or plan to ship in the coming 12 months as part of their business.

Learn more and apply here.

Changing the Small Business Ecosystem to Support Global Entrepreneurs

©iStock/Sergil Tverdokhlibov

Updated daily, with real-world funding, resources, and support for small business owners adapting to the impacts of coronavirus. Hello Alice is a small business community helping owners launch and grow.

Learn more here.  This particular page show a commitment to Hispanic entrepreneurs.

About Alice:

Alice began with a conversation. Founders Carolyn Rodz and Elizabeth Gore were discussing the social and economic opportunity that women, minority, immigrant and veteran business owners offer to the world. Inclusivity and accessibility came up time and time again. So, both women made a commitment to do everything in their power to change the existing small business ecosystem to support these entrepreneurs.

Today in Global Small Business: Honoring Those Who Have Sacrificed For Us

©2020 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

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

• "Today we are putting flags on graves of our veterans who have given everything for our nation.  We bring the young people out on Memorial Day to be sure they really understand the sacrifice of war."
• Why we observe Memorial Day.
• Quote of the week: “Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it." – Mark Twain
• Memorial Day:  traditions and activities.
• The obstacles many face on observing Memorial Day 2020.
• Memorial Day 2020 is different this year but don't forget why we observe in the first place: to honor and mourn the military personnel who have lost their lives during service in the United States Armed Forces. 

Honor and Thank the Brave Men and Women Who Served This Country

©2020 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

Contributing to a Global Effort on the Coronavirus

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What are the impacts and consequences of the coronavirus pandemic on our lives and our societies – and what are some of the solutions we can find to boost our healthcare systems, secure our businesses, maintain our jobs and education, and stabilize financial markets and economies?  Find ourtmore from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD):

• Policy response – Supporting livelihoods during the COVID‑19 crisis: Closing the gaps in safety nets.
• Data – International trade outlook points to sharp deterioration in April.
• Perspective – The only way to beat the COVID-19 crisis is if we come together and commit to science.
• Webinar – Global Deal webinar on managing the pandemic: Approaches taken by Global Deal partners.
• Perspective – One World: Global solidarity for recovery and resilience.
• Perspective – Global container shipping and the corona crisis.

Read a full perspective here.

For Revenue Growth Management: CPG Companies Should Be Proactive and Pivot

©iStock/Vladimir Obradovic

The fundamentals of revenue growth management (RGM) remain, but global CPG companies will need to pivot fast to respond to the crisis and lay the groundwork for the next phase.

Plan for the new normal, and that's whether you are running a consumer product goods (CPG) company or any other type of company.  Lead with purpose.

Even as companies work nonstop to stabilize their business, we believe it is critical to allocate significant time to planning for the postcrisis phase. It can be as simple as executives spending a few hours every week thinking ahead, or as committed as assigning a specific team responsibility for creating RGM [Revenue Growth Management] plans for 2021 and beyond. To succeed at RGM in the next normal, CPG companies need to focus on consumers, shoppers, and customers, and define scenarios for each.

According to the authors, experience shows that companies that take a proactive approach, repositioning themselves to navigate the disruption and planning ahead for the post-crisis world as best they can, stand the best chance of not only surviving but coming out on the other side stronger.

More here.

How to Make a No-Sew Face Mask

The Great Lockdown According to Gita Gopinath, IMF

©iStock/LewisTsePuiLung

As a result of COVID-19, the global economy is projected to contract sharply by –3 percent in 2020, much worse than during the 2008–09 financial crisis.

Gita Gopinath, Economic Counsellor at the International Monetary Fund says:

This crisis is like no other. First, the shock is large.  The output loss associated with this health emergency and related containment measures likely dwarfs the losses that triggered the global financial crisis. Second, like in a war or a political crisis, there is continued severe uncertainty about the duration and intensity of the shock. Third, under current circumstances there is a very different role for economic policy.

Read more from the International Monetary Fund on the nature of the pandemic shock:

• Foreword by Gita Gopinath
• Executive Summary
• Blog post
• Chapters (for example, Chapter 1:  Global Prospects and Policies)
• Statistical Appendixes
• Growth Projections Table

Which can all be found here.

Gita Gopinath is the Economic Counsellor and Director of the Research Department at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). She is on leave of public service from Harvard University’s Economics department where she is the John Zwaanstra Professor of International Studies and of Economics.

Today in Global Small Business: Pivoting Saves a Global Small Business

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

• Colorado-based New Age Beverage acquired a $6.8 million Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan on April 14, during the first round of loan approvals of funds from the SBA.  New Age is among dozens of publicly traded companies across the country that have received the small-business loans. At least 14 of these publicly traded companies are based in Colorado.  Review more here – it's disturbing.
• Small businesses across the United States face dire circumstances following the COVID-19 outbreak. While each individual small business might seem inconsequential to the broader economy, in aggregate, these firms are critical to the country’s financial well-being.
• Quote of the week: “Sometimes you have to see it to be it; you have to know something is a career option in order to aspire to it,” Hannah Storm, an anchor at ESPN’s “SportsCenter,” wrote in an email. “Which means someone has to be first. That was Phyllis George — a true trailblazer.”  Note:  Trailblazing sportscaster and former Miss America Phyllis George passed away, May 16, 2020; may she rest in peace.
• Pivoting to make plexiglass ‘sneeze guards’ for retailers saves a [global] small business in Michigan.
• Small businesses will need to find innovative ways to mitigate economic impact due to COVID-19.
• Global Graphics' owner Jason Withrow and his team wanted to do something to encourage businesses to stay strong during these uncertain times.  Here's what he did.

Make the Right Things Happen

©Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"Let us not be content to wait and see what will happen, but give us the [unbeatable] determination to make the right things happen." – Horace Mann

Beautiful, Enchanted, and Magical Celtic Music to Relax and Inspire You

How Work May Change Post-COVID-19

©iStock/SeventyFour

Professor Nancy Rothbard called into Wharton Business Daily [a morning show airing live from the Wharton School] to talk to host Dan Loney about the ways some employees are working from home, and how it could shift how we work together after COVID-19 pandemic has subsided.

Interview highlights:

1. Some people are "segments" and some are "integrators" when it comes to drawing the line between work and home.
2. Working from home now is not the same as working from home before the spread of COVID-19.
3. Technology has the ability to connect us, but it can also divide us.
4. Setting clear expectations is the key to ensuring employees stay product while working from home.
5. Business leaders should think carefully about how work will change after the pandemic has subsided.

About Professor Rothbard

Professor Nancy Rothbard received her A.B. from Brown University and her Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior from the University of Michigan. She is the David Pottruck Professor of Management and Chair, Management Department, at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. Prior to joining the faculty at Wharton, she was on faculty at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University.

What If?

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By now, everyone knows that the shattering impact of COVID-19 has brought on a business crisis without precedent in recent memory.  To build resilience going forward, the first question to answer is not, “What’s in it for me?” but “What if?”

The following article covers four strategic priorities – levers operating in combination ran than in isolation – as outlined here:

1. Aim for survivability and resilience before economic efficiency
2. Quantify and plan for ecological and environmental threats rather than just describe them
3. Build a strong organizational immune system rather than maximise short-term profits
4. Integrate government politics rather than focusing only on business economics

Read the entire article about how strategies or business owners need to put these priorities on your radar for the years to come.

5 Ways Organisms Respond to Periods of Extreme Adversity and What Insights They Hold for Global Small Businesses

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Dr. Stephanie A. Fernhaber is an associate professor of entrepreneurship at Butler University’s Lacy School of Business and Dr. Alyssa Y. Stark is an assistant professor in the biology department at Villanova University.  Below they provide a look at five ways organisms respond to periods of extreme adversity and what insights they hold for small businesses.  Fascinating and relevant!

1. Find new opportunities to grow.
2. Shut down and strengthen.
3. Take advantage of predators
4. Look for leftovers.
5. Launch something new.

Read the entire article here on where small businesses can turn for strategic help during the global pandemic and economic crisis.

Today in Global Small Business: Reset, Restart and Reopen Business

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

• Three ways to reset, restart and reopen your business to thrive in the long term.
• Critical lessons leaders need to merge from the COVID-19 crisis.
• Quote of the week: “Invest in where the world is going, not where it is." – Michael R. Milken, American financier and philanthropist
• Pay attention to the signals you’re sending about time when managing remote workers during the coronavirus pandemic.
• A global crisis like no other.
• A roadmap to stability:  resilience, recovery and renewal.

Baking Muffins

"If you're trying to create a company, it's like baking [muffins] a cake. You have to have all the ingredients in the right proportion." – Elon Musk

Photos courtesy:  @Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved. (Jiffy corn muffin mix turned into cranberry pecan muffins.)

Child's Play: A Rock Tumbler

©iStock/Charlie Blacker

It's time to just sit still, stop worrying about COVID-19, and do something different.  Why not tumble rocks in the safety of your own home?  National Geographic has this nifty little hobby tumbler that won't gouge your already frail bank account or interfere with your Zoom calls provided you keep them on mute, and will most certainly afford you with a fun time for you and your family.

Here's what's in store:

• Turn rough rocks into dazzling gemstones with this rock tumbler
• Kit comes with rough rocks, grit, strainer, and jewelry settings
• Includes a learning guide packed with educational information
• A fantastic kit for kids [or adults] interested in geology and rock collecting

Give it a look.  Check out the review.  And no, we don't have any tie to this company.  We just like looking for interesting things to do and explore worldwide.

After you share this intelligent information with your colleagues, neighbors, friends, and family, they will respond with "YOU ROCK!"  Can't beat that!

COVID-19's Effect on Jobs at Global Small Businesses

©iStock/Dan Rentea

Here's the deal.  Thirty million small-business jobs are vulnerable, and firms with fewer than 100 employees are the hardest hit during the COVID-19 crisis.  One of the challenges for policy makers and executives is figuring out how to get these employees back to work.

Discover McKinsey & Company's findings as of May, 2020.

Together We Will Rise Again (Video)

Have a Twitter Account? Join wegg® For a weggchat® 5/6 With Ursula Wegrzynowicz, Founder of Emelev, LLC

©Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global®.  All rights reserved.  Used with permission.

If you have a Twitter account and want to take a break from your sequestering to learn about international trade financing from a pro, then join wegg® on Wednesday, May 6th, at 11AM CT for a weggchat® with Ursula Wegrzynowicz, Founder of Emelev when she covers: "EXIM:  what they can and can't do."

Here's how the weggchat works:

Participants use tchat.io or twubs.com to follow the conversation using the hashtag #weggchat.  The purpose of the chat is to educate women entrepreneurs and business owners on how to grow global.

wegg will be chatting with Ursula on:

• Be on high alert for cyber fraud
• Be prudent – check that POs received are still valid
• Minimize losses – this is the time to have all your outside consultants reviewing best practices

Learn more at Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global®.

Today in Global Small Business: The Effects of COVID-19 Worldwide

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

• Can India's startup and tech economy survive the effects of COVID-19?
• Now that we’re all covering our faces to avoid COVID-19, Israeli innovators are stepping up invention of antiviral masks, shields and stickers.
• Quote of the week: “It Is What It Is." – Dr. Anthony Fauci deploys Scorsese quote to deflect question over Trump’s culpability
• Best Practices when implementing a program for taking employee temperatures during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• What you need to know about the novel coronavirus [as of 5/3/20] according to the World Economic Forum.
• Is Sweden a miracle coronavirus model?

When Tiny Changes Occur

©2020 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"True life is lived when tiny changes occur." – Leo Tolstoy

What We Can Learn from Wuhan

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The Chinese city Wuhan, at the center and beginning of the pandemic, has shown that normal might still be a long way off.

When Wuhan officials eased outgoing travel restrictions on April 8, effectively ending the city's 76-day lockdown, residents and local businesses soon learned that city's actual reopening would be painfully slow.

A quick assessment is that there might be a long way to go yet for Wuhan and the rest of the world before we can return to anything resembling normality.

Read on and brace yourself.