Making the World a Better Place (wegginar® 5/3/23)

©2023 Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global

Who doesn't want to make the world a better place?  Founder of OMSutra, Jyoti Jaiswal, will be talking about how to get started and weave in positivity and consciously crafted design to make her point.

Join Jyoti and wegg® free of charge on Wednesday, May 3rd at 11 AM CT.  To learn more and to register, visit:  https://bit.ly/3UtqomN.  Or, to move even faster, capture the QR code.  See you there!

Today in Global Small Business: Inspirational Songs For Global Entrepreneurs

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

• Music can benefit your business, as it has for these 50 entrepreneurs. Check out their picks for inspirational songs (hint:  "My Way" by Frank Sinatra).
• Global retail ecommerce forecast 2023.
• ChatGPT as a thinking partner.
• Quote of the week: "One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain." – Bob Marley
• Developing positive character.
• Charting the global economy:  Inflation in US remains stubborn.

It Was Like a Playground

©2023 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"When I was little, there were so many people in my house. Everyone was enjoying themselves, rehearsing, having fun. It was like a playground." – Marion Cotillard

ChatGPT for Dummies

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ChatGPT for Dummies.  If there is not a book by that title, there soon will be.  Seriously, how smart is ChatGPT?  

In a technical report released on March 27, 2023, OpenAI provided a comprehensive brief on its most recent model, known as GPT-4.  Included in this report were a set of exam results, which have been visualized in this article.

Trade Makes the World Better Off

©iStock/thitivong

When a firm or an individual buys a good or a service produced more cheaply abroad, living standards in both countries increase.  Nations are almost always better off when they buy and sell from one another

There are other reasons consumers and firms buy abroad that also make them better off—the product may better fit their needs than similar domestic offerings or it may not be available domestically. In any case, the foreign producer also benefits by making more sales than it could selling solely in its own market and by earning foreign exchange (currency) that can be used by itself or others in the country to purchase foreign-made products.

Trade makes the world better off.

The Final Carpool Karaoke: James Corden and Adele

Foreign Trade Zones 101

©iStock/Elena Horrmann

What you need to know about Foreign Trade Zones (FTZs):  how to apply, the FTZ Information System, how to use it, past approvals and information to assist FTZ grantees.  It's all here.  But wait, there's more!

Today in Global Small Business: Success in This World Calls for a New Breed of Data

©iStock/Vitalli Pasichnyk

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

• Success in this new world calls for a new breed of data-fuelled, human-led business, able to effortlessly reimagine growth, and endlessly re-engineer themselves to capitalize on it. We call these Future Ready [CPG] Businesses.
• A note from Tom Peters on his retirement and his latest, but not last I suspect, book.
• “Think higher, feel deeper.” Now that’s how you start a movement!  The gospel according to Gary Hamel.
• Quote of the week: "In order to get to the next level of whatever you're doing, you must think and act in a wildly different way than you previously have been. You cannot get to the next phase of a project without a grander mind-set, more acceleration, and extra horsepower." – Grant Cardone, 
• Be 2.0 – Jim Collins's Beyond Entrepreneurship 2.0.
• Why every organization needs an augmented reality strategy – Michael Porter and James Heppelmann

Better, Happier and More Hopeful

©2023 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"Flowers always make people better, happier, more hopeful." – Luther Burbank

Women Are Fueling the Growth in Global Entrepreneurship

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Doesn't take much data to understand what's happening with women interested in entrepreneurship.  Visit Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global® to witness first hand the power of women taking on the world with their businesses.

And in the United States, according to The World Economic Forum, many women are fueling the uptick in global entrepreneurship, creating around half of all new businesses in 2022.   

Cravings for financial stability and flexibility were two of the reasons women gave for founding their own companies, data by Gusto indicated.  

Yet at Escape From Corporate America, established in 2004, there are other reasons for women starting their own businesses:  They want freedom, flexibility, recognition, more money, and opportunities to leave a legacy – all the things they once thought they would find within corporations.

Learn more about WEF's report on why more women are starting businesses than ever before.

Show Your Support for Evan Gershkovich

©iStock/Vitalli Barida

The Wall Street Journal is offering resources for people who want to show their support across social media for Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was detained in Russia on March 29 during a reporting trip. He remains in a Moscow prison on espionage charges. The Journal and the U.S. government vehemently deny the allegations and have called for his immediate release.

Download this collection of media assets to surface and share across their personal social-media accounts—from Twitter and Facebook to LinkedIn, Instagram and beyond. They can be added as user profile photos, banners or posts.  Act now.

Let us not forget about Paul Whelan, the ex-US Marine jailed in Russia as well.

Overseas Markets Offer Fantastic Growth Prospects

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While it is true that many businesses can achieve the aim of international expansion, it is still not the simplest of undertakings.  Yet by going global, you can broaden your network of business partners while also enhancing how everyone else around the world views your company. 

Internationalization comes with expenses and risks, but with careful planning and a well-thought-out export strategy, overseas markets offer fantastic growth prospects.

Prohibiting Imports of Goods Made With Forced Labor

©iStock/Stephen Barnes

I [Laurel Delaney] talked about child labor laws and compliance in a January, 2023 wegginar® for Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global®, which you can find here.

Now, according to Sandler, Travis and Rosenberg, P.A., U.S. Customs and Border Protection is being urged to take specific actions to ensure that its forced labor enforcement efforts don’t result in supply chain disruptions.

In a recent letter, Federal Maritime Commission Commissioner Carl Bentzel commended CBP for its work to enforce laws prohibiting imports of goods made with forced labor, including the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. However, he added that legitimate delays in ensuring compliance with the UFLPA might create cargo back-ups at U.S. marine terminals, leading to operational challenges and potentially congestion at a time when “the supply chain is only now beginning to recover from two years of pandemic-related disruption.”

Read the entire news report from ST&R here.

Today in Global Small Business: Ending Extreme Poverty by 2030

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

• A purpose-driven fund to end extreme poverty by 2030.
• 10 best states for working from home.
• Grandmothers of the world unite (requires subscription).
• Quote of the week:  "Only together can we keep the promise of the Global Goals for everyone, everywhere.  Join me in the Global Citizen End Poverty NOW — Our Future Can’t Wait campaign, to deliver the Global Goals — our best hope for people, for the planet, for peace, and for prosperity.” – Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, Amina J. Mohammed 
• The United States Postal Service (USPS) offers economical and express services to more than 180 countries globally yet disruptions have occurred on international mail shipments.
• "We want the biggest memorial you got," from Bostonians regarding the marathon bombing in June, 2013.

Chicago Lives in the Neighborhood Taverns

©2023 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

“A lot of real Chicago lives in the neighborhood taverns. It is the mixed German and Irish and Polish gift to the city, a bit of the old country grafted into a strong new plant in the new.” – Bill Granger, 1983

Here Comes the Sun (Music)

Australian Wine Profits to China Are Too Big To Ignore

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Australian wine exporters sold $1.3 billion worth of wine a year to China before punishing tariffs were imposed in November 2020, which made it almost pointless to keep selling into that market.

A resumption of trade to China in 2023 would be a plus for the broader Australian wine industry because there was an oversupply of red wine that hadn’t been able to find a home.

Read more how Australian winemakers are gun-shy about China but the profits are too big to ignore.

The Local Economy Is Going Global

©iStock/Andrea Migliarini

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

Find out how global small businesses can reach global audiences.  

Stuck on Hiring and Retaining Talented People? Join wegg's wegginar® 4/12/23 For Solutions

©2023 Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global®.  All rights reserved.

Ever wondered how to start a strategic plan that uses employee benefits to retain and engage employees?Understand how key stakeholders support high performing teams?  How to take control of the employee benefits process and think outside the box?  

Then you are ready for Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global's next wegginar®, Wednesday, 4/12/23 at 11 AM CT:  "Commit to Hiring and Retaining the Most Talented People."

Hear from top experts on this important topic:  Stacy Kahan, Founder and Cara Kahan, CEO, 1706 Advisors and Beka Kohmescher, CEO and Founder, Altair Advisers.

To learn more and to register, visit:  https://bit.ly/41DTS4q.  It's free of charge thanks to generous sponsors as noted in the graphic.

Today in Global Small Business: Will Humans Ever Understand AI?

©iStock/Ilya Lukichev

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

• Will humans ever understand AI?
• Small businesses are using tech to go global.
• The AI hordes are coming.
• Quote of the week:  “The key to artificial intelligence has always been the representation." – Jeff Hawkins
• Eight essentials for a successful global rebrand.
• Largest e-commerce markets in the world.

Hope of Today

©iStock/Viktoriia Hrypas

"It is difficult to say what is impossible, for the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow." –  Robert H. Goddard

Global Trade's Big Future: Digital Services

©iStock/Chainarong Prasertthal

According to a new World Trade Organization report, the growth of cross-border digital trade flows — like e-commerce, video streaming, games and apps — increased four-fold since 2005 and are now valued at some $3.8 trillion. That accounts for more than half of all services trade worldwide.

“This gives us a bit of an indication of where world trade is heading,” says WTO Chief Economist Ralph Ossa told Bloomberg in a recent interview. “The future of trade is in services, particularly digitally delivered services.”

Read more to appreciate how the golden age for electronic commerce is already upon us.

Related to this, read research fellow Kati Suominen's report, "Trust in trade:  Challenges to the global convergence on digital standards," for the Hinrich Foundation.

Exporting is a Great Competitive Edge for Women Business Owners

©iStock/Amorn Sarıyan

Zimbabwe businesswomen have been urged to venture into the export market and take advantage of the opportunities provided by the African Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA), which has a market of more than 1.2 billion people.  This is to boost the country's exports.

The program was designed to empower women entrepreneurs with personalized business mentorship, professional knowledge and skills as well as tools and networks to transform their existing enterprises into successful and sustainable export businesses.

Learn more how Zimbabwe businesswomen are encouraged to venture into exports.  

The nonprofit Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global® has always felt that educating women business owners on how to export creates a competitive edge for them.

Announcing 2023 Export Lender Award Winners by the SBA

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The Export Lender of the Year Awards recognize excellence in export financing. These awards highlight the accomplishments of lenders in delivering SBA’s international finance programs to small businesses, designed to help small businesses develop new markets, finance export transactions, and expand capacity to meet overseas demand.

This year, the SBA’s Office of International Trade selected Regions Bank and Amerant Bank as the 2023 Export Lenders of the Year, and Berkshire Bank as the 2023 International Trade Lender of the Year.

Read more here.

How to Practice Cultural Humility

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"When it comes to going global, American associations make a lot of U.S.-centric mistakes," says Mark Athitakis.  

They possess ideas about membership, meetings, partnerships, marketing, and more that make perfect sense in America but may not apply in different countries and regions. And as diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) becomes a norm in organizations, it may become another source of potential friction.

If one is on an early path to globalization, Athitakis recommends you practice cultural humility.  You ought to first recognize that any global effort needs to be based on understanding not only the strategic role a new country or region might play in their efforts but also the inherent cultural differences.

Today in Global Small Business: Making Second-Hand Clothing the First Choice Worldwide

©iStock/Iryna Mylinska

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

• Making second-hand clothing the first choice worldwide.
• What is Nato and why is Finland joining?
• BRICS emerges as the world's largest GDP bloc, propelled by China's Rapid Expansion.
• Quote of the week: "I'm really interested in fashion but at the same time I find it quite competitive. Second-hand stuff leaves you more open to whatever your own personal style is rather than feeling dictated to by shops." – Sophie Ellis-Bextor
• Dollar General enters international market with first Mi Súper Dollar General store opening in Mexico.
• Research shows that Millennials will increase their online spending in 2023.

Anything Is Possible

©2023 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"With a doughnut in each hand, anything is possible." – Jameela Jamil

Never, Ever Retreat From Globalization

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Eswar Prasad, a professor of trade policy at Cornell University’s Dyson School and the author of, most recently, The Future of Money, pens an essay for Foreign Policy on how the world will regret its retreat from globalization.

As countries retreat from globalization and begin to look increasingly inward, there could be wide-ranging implications for both economic and geopolitical stability. Just as with the surge in globalization, however, the consequences of this pullback are proving to be unevenly distributed, with low- and middle-income countries bearing the brunt. 

Catch Prasad's essay here.

Alibaba Restructures

©iStock/Robert Way

The Jack Ma-founded conglomerate, which includes Alibaba, said on Tuesday, March 28, 2023 it was planning to split into six units and explore fundraisings or listings for most of them, marking the biggest restructuring in its 24-year history.

This might be a signal that Beijing’s regulatory crackdown on corporates is ending, propelling the conglomerate's shares higher and boosting investor confidence in prospects for Chinese tech firms.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act

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The proposed legislation or legal framework brought forward by the European Union (EU), the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act, focuses primarily on strengthening rules around data quality, transparency, human oversight and accountability. 

It also aims to address ethical questions and implementation challenges in various sectors ranging from healthcare and education to finance and energy.

Read:  The European Union’s Artificial Intelligence Act, explained

Waste-Free Mascara by Paige DeAngelo Gets Global Attention

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Because she couldn’t find a mascara product that fit the bill for quality or safety, Paige DeAngelo created her own.  And now that mascara — and her waste-free mascara story — just might be taking her around the world.

In early May, the Drexel senior will be one of 18 young people worldwide to compete in the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards (GSEA) virtual semifinals. If she makes it through, DeAngelo and her Aer Cosmetics will represent the United States as one of only six contestants in the final international competition in South Africa. 

Read on to learn how Paige is part of a growing business breed: global social entrepreneurs.

Today in Global Small Business: Loaf Like You Mean It

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

• Leading UK sofa, beds and furniture brand Loaf has launched a major new advertising campaign, positioning loafing as a desirable pursuit, and encouraging people to really take their loafing seriously. 
• Mindshare, driving good global growth for clients.
• The future of ecommerce:  How a product becomes a purchase.
• Quote of the week: "Loafing is easy but "leisure" is difficult." – Peter Drucker
• The impact of ChatGPT on your job.
• Are you a climate "doomer?"

Chicago: Auditioning For the World

©2023 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"Chicago is constantly auditioning for the world, determined that one day, on the streets of Barcelona, in Berlin's cabarets, in the coffee shops of Istanbul, people will know and love us in our multidimensional glory, dream of us the way they dream of San Francisco and New York." – Mary Schmich, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist

Globalization Is Working Better

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Globalization has rallied and is even working better but a new report also acknowledges that threats to globalization are real, with today’s “turbulent environment” of geopolitical tensions and other crises not being beneficial to business and policy-making. 

Taking a Family Business to a New Level

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Two siblings took their decades-old family farm business and pulled off a digital transformation.

The story of Perfect Plants Nursery shows how even a decades-old, family-owned business in a historically wholesale niche can pull off a digital transformation and scale quickly. 

Discover how they became a fast-growth e-commerce success story. 

Supply Chain Costs to Normalize in 2023

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Last year, footwear brand Skechers's margins were clipped by high supply chain costs, despite its attempt to raise prices. 

This year Skechers expects supply chain costs to normalize as shipping prices come down, developments that will ease margin pressure and propel the brand to its goal of $10 billion in annual sales by 2026, the company’s CFO John Vandemore said at the UBS Consumer and Retail Conference on Wednesday.

“You saw 40-foot-high cube container rates go from an average of about $3,000 to $25,000. So for an average pair of shoes that took the landed embedded freight cost from something between 25 and 50 cents to $2 and $2.50,” he [Vandemore] said. “Last year quite frankly wasn’t my proudest year from a gross margin perspective, but I do believe you know a lot of those exogenous factors are beginning to abate which should lead to improvement later on.”

Read more here.

Make Your Image Tell the Truth About You Worldwide (TEDxReno)

Today in Global Small Business: Remote Work Is Here to Stay

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

• Take your global remote workforce from policy to practice.
• What's the magic number for working in-office weekly?
• The global talent pool is open for business.
• Quote of the week: "People are more productive working at home than people would have expected. Some people thought that everything was just going to fall apart, and it hasn’t." – Mark Zuckerberg 
• Oh really.  The king of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, says engineers who joined Meta in-person perform better than those who joined remotely.  Check out his above quote. 
• What are the global workplace trends in 2023?

Keep Breathing

©2023 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"I've got to keep breathing. It'll be my worst business mistake if I don't." – Steve Martin

Happy St. Patrick's Day From Chicago!

True Global Leadership: The Gail Adinamis wegg® Award for Exemplary Global Leadership®

©2023 Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global®.  All rights reserved.

True global leaders are defined not only by their worldly knowledge and connections, nor by the global opportunities they seize, but by how they contribute to the improvement and growth of others.

Find out who the wegg® winner (awardee) is when wegg announces on Wednesday, March 22, 2023 at 10 AM CT.  The celebration – The Gail Adinamis wegg® Award for Exemplary Global Leadership® – is free of charge and we welcome your participation.  Register here.  

Globalization Is a Fact

©iStock/Shivendu Jauhari

"Globalization is a fact, not a policy," says Condoleezza Rice.

With growing concerns that globalization is in retreat amid rising geopolitical tensions, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told an audience of policymakers, business leaders, and academics at the 2023 SIEPR Economic Summit that there’s no turning back on the interdependence of world economies.

Globalization is facing headwinds Rice said. The strongest, she said, are coming from China where government leaders have failed to meet international expectations of liberalizing the country’s economy.

Read on for her remarks.

Go Broad, Go Deep, and Go Global

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As countries around the world move forward with strategies to become “crypto hubs,” over the next eight weeks Coinbase is set to accelerate operationalizing its “Go Broad, Go Deep” international strategy in globally recognized markets across six continents.

We state it as:  Go Broad, Go Deep, and Go Global 

Today in Global Small Business: Keep the Bicycle Moving Because Trade Is Still Contributing to Recovery and Growth

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

• No doubt it’s a tough time for global trade, battered by supply chain issues and geopolitical concerns. But there’s a useful metaphor to help navigate our way through these challenges: Keep the bicycle moving.
• Expand into foreign markets and increase e-commerce sales.
• Is English the true language of startups?
• Quote of the week: "You have chosen the wrong path if it's not fun. And you are probably not taking enough risk if it's not hard and rocky sometimes" – Marc Russell Benioff
• The importance of cross-cultural communication in global business.
• Discover why creativity is a big driver to global business success.

Seeing What Is Invisible to Others

©2023 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others." – Jonathan Swift

Intentionality Is Important For Artists and Collectors In Going Global

©iStock/JLco - Julia Amaral

Intentionality with artists and collectors they align with is key, and expanding their global presence (whether opening international gallery locations or increasing global exhibitions) is critical—as is obtaining career-changing museum acquisitions for their rostered artists, and continuing to champion Black and POC artists.

Read more:  Black Women Gallerists on Growth and Going Global

The Day After: International Women's Day 2023

©Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global®  All rights reserved.

After everyone did their part yesterday showing support for International Women's Day and turned the lights out with satisfaction at midnight 3/8/23 for their effort, this organization keeps cranking on behalf of women because every day is International Women's Day for Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global®.

Join wegg® on their next two programs:  wegginar® and The Gail Adinamis wegg® Award for Global Exemplary Leadership®.

wegg's lights are always on.  Offering a bright path forward for women yearning to take their business global.

The World Is Your Market For Talent

©iStock/Kateryna Onyshchuk

Those who want to stay on the bleeding edge need to look for ways to capitalize on (rather than minimize) the remote work experience. One of these ways is by expanding beyond traditional talent pools and recruiting from across the world.

Here are a few reasons why there has never been a better time to build a global workforce.

Direct Impact by FedEX on Small Businesses

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FedEx supports thousands of SMEs and millions of jobs around the globe through its direct and indirect employment and through its extended supply chain—88% of FedEx suppliers are SMEs, collectively employing 810,000 people.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the foundation of the global economy, representing about 90% of all business and employing half of the world’s workforce, according to the World Bank. FedEx is committed to helping these vital companies succeed and grow.

Read the Global Economic Impact Report 2022 – Measuring the FedEx Effect

Today in Global Small Business: 6 Global Business Trends to Watch in 2023

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

• According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, here are 6 global business trends to watch in 2023.  Also watch Laurel Delaney's Global Trade Trends Report 2023.
• Watch out Shopify.  Here comes Global-e Online.
• FX:  Thinking outside the dollar.
• Quote of the week:  "Trends, like horses, are easier to ride in the direction they are going." – John Naisbitt
• Try this on Friday – to make your weekend sing.
• Building resilience in a poly crisis world.

Bright Ideas Closer Together

©2023 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"Everyone is a genius at least once a year. The real geniuses simply have their bright ideas closer together." – Georg C. Lichtenberg

The Way of the Future Is Through AI

©iStock/Black_Kira

First there was ChatGPT, then DALL-E 2 and Midjourney, and now Blue Mail.  Artificial Intelligence (AI) is coming into our world fast.  If you are not familiar with any of these, check them out.

AI technology will become the way of the future soon – sparking creativity and expanding the range of what's possible.

Americans Know the Best Way to Learn About Wine Is To Drink It

©iStock/Esperanza33

"The United States confirmed its role as the driving force behind French wine and spirits exports," the Federation of French Wine and Spirits Exporters Chairman Cesar Giron told Reuters.  

French wine and spirit exports rose 11% last year to hit a new record, mainly boosted by a rise in prices, and the trend should last this year as Chinese consumers return to restaurants and resume travel, industry group FEVS said.

Exports to the United States, France's largest market for wine and spirits, jumped 14% last year to 4.7 billion euros and now accounted for over a fourth of total exports in value.

Americans know the best way to learn about wine is to drink it.

I'll drink to that.  Cheers.

Get Out of Your Own Backyard: Explore a New Market

©iStock/gustavofrazao

There are a plethora of resources right at your fingertips for taking a business global.  Why not explore a few of them?

1. Market diversification tool
2. Free Trade Agreement (FTA) tariff tool
3. Customs Info Tariff Database
4. Foreign Retaliatory Tariffs
5. Global Market Finder (Census)

Take a deep breath.  One step at a time.  

Start with the Market diversification tool which can help you identify potential new export markets using your current trade patterns; enter the products you export and the markets you currently export to, and the tool uses an algorithm with data from 11 indicators to score and rank potential markets.  Cool.

And then work your way through the rest of the resources.  Knock 'em down.  You'll be global in no time at all.