Today in Global Small Business: Start Small When Thinking Big

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

• Why it pays to start small when thinking BIG.
• How successful SMEs are reinventing global business.
• Why it's important to bridge the global digital divide and provide easy and affordable access via the Internet to millions across the world.
• The global village (Internet) is alive, well and growing -- see for yourself on the numbers.
• How the exponential growth of technologies will transform industries and pose new opportunities—and hurdles—for business and society (2011). 
• How surging service exports can augur a healthier UK trade future.

Fat Copycats

©2015 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"Imitation is not only more abundant than innovation, but actually a much more prevalent road to business growth and profits."  -- Theodore Levitt, 1966, a late marketing professor at the Harvard Business School

Exporting Should Be Job No. 1 At Your Company

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Let's appreciate and applaud those who export.  These people – all of them – add value to and enhance our lives. They push everything that comes into their hands out into the world for others to appreciate and enjoy too. They create jobs and make our world a better place to live. A big salute to exporters!

Read more:  Let's Appreciate and Applaud Those Who Export!

Global Payment Considerations in the Digital Marketplace

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Everybody is jumping into the global payment digital marketplace.  Why not?  It's lucrative due to the vast number of consumers who will use the system; but, there is no single silver bullet that will take care of the needs of everyone worldwide.

Take, for example, MasterCard's zero liability promise that claims it is going global.  Or, how about global payments giant First Data who goes it alone against banks?  And ACI Worldwide expands its global online payments.  Yet Apple Pay and Square have a long way to go on the global front with much catching up to do against PayPal.

The choices for an online payment system are endless.  How you decide which system to use depends on who your customers are, where they are located, what you are selling and the volume of your transactions.  It's a booming business.  Alibaba proves the return on investment can be huge on global payments with their recent "Singles Day" using Alipay.

How Much Can a Company Sell Online in 90 Minutes?

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China-based Alibaba Group Holding Limited announced that USD 5 billion (approximately RMB 31.8 billion) of gross merchandise volume (GMV) was settled through Alipay on Alibaba’s China and international retail marketplaces in the first 90 minutes of the November 11, 2015 Global Shopping Festival.

According to Alibaba Group, this year’s November 11 Global Shopping Festival features more than six million products from more than 30,000 brands sold by over 40,000 merchants.

Learn more:  Alibaba Defined | Alibaba Annual Report 2015

Note:  GMV is the total amount settled through Alipay on Alibaba’s China and international retail marketplaces. All November 11, 2015 GMV and other figures are subject to final auditing following conclusion of the event.

How to Connect with Customers All Over the World

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With technology and the Internet, international selling has gotten a whole heck of a lot easier.  But while you might have the absolute best product in the world, priced competitively, and easy to buy, there's still no guarantee customers will snatch it up online.  

It’s an exciting time to take a small business online in Australia and grasp the opportunity to go global. The lower Australian dollar, social reach and access to international marketplaces (such as the Tmall storefront for eligible businesses to sell into China) means you could connect with customers all over the world.

How do you inspire customers to buy your product?

Read more:  Insider tips to customer conversion

Today in Global Small Business: What Does China's Trade Drop Mean?

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

• Are small business owners optimistic about the holiday season?
• What does the American Express-commissioned Economy of Shopping Small Report reveal?
• Why SMEs should go global for more opportunities.
• Is Cuba a lucrative opportunity or just another tough market to crack?
• What does China's trade drop mean?
• Digital payments are growing.  Do you know of a quick way to pay back a friend, anywhere?

Steve Jobs, the Movie

Getting ready to see the move Steve Jobs at the Century 12 movie theater in Evanston, Illinois.

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

What's the Most Crucial Lesson You've Learned About How a Company Builds a Global Competitive Advantage?

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Let's go back in time to more than two decades ago when David R. Whitwam was chairman and CEO of the Whirlpool Corporation. He had his challenges.

According to Whitwam, too many managers are still running their businesses with the same old regional fiefdoms and inadequate ways of satisfying customers. As a result, few would-be global companies have escaped the deadly war of attrition in which cost and quality are the only weapons and ever-declining margins the only prize.

In the following interview, Harvard Business Review associate editor Regina Fazio Maruca asks Whitwam:  What’s the most crucial lesson you’ve learned about how a company builds a global competitive advantage?

Here's Whitwam's response:

The only way to gain lasting competitive advantage is to leverage your capabilities around the world so that the company as a whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Being an international company—selling globally, having global brands or operations in different countries—isn’t enough.

Read more:  The Right Way to Go Global:  An Interview with Whirlpool CEO David Whitwam (March-April 1994 Issue)

How to Turn Passion Into Profits on a Global Small Business

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Taking your company from local to global is no easy feat.  You can either fail or flourish.  How do you make sure you flourish?  Hint: Global is a fast path to growth.

The following peer success stories shared by entrepreneurs around the world demonstrate how adaptivity, passion, and a global focus set small business leaders apart, and turned passions into profits.

Taking your company from local to global -- what Singapore entrepreneurs can learn

There Is No Silver Bullet Strategy to Winning in Foreign Markets

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Mitchell Osak, Managing Director, Strategic Advisory Services at Grant Thornton LLP, a Canadian advisory, tax and assurance firm, says "There is no silver bullet strategy to winning in foreign markets. Instead, success is about keeping an eye on the fundamentals: being bold, doing your homework, demonstrating agility and focusing on continuous improvement from a cost and product perspective."

He goes on to say that Canadian companies need to look to global markets to drive growth, or even survive, in today’s economic climate and provides an interesting 5C-strategy framework that involves country acumen, competitiveness, connections, capital and commitment.

Read more:  Canadian companies that want to go global need to think long term

Questions for Mitchell?  He can be reached at Mitchell.osak@ca.gt.com and on Twitter @MitchellOsak

Do You Have the Right People on the Export Bus?

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A lot of manufacturers are saying a skill shortage is what's holding them back from exporting.  Is that you too?  According to small businesses in the UK, they are missing out on global opportunities because they cannot recruit the right staff.

From a lack of business-ready digital skills to core manufacturing expertise, a shortage of relevant talent is hampering the chances of UK small businesses fulfilling their global potential.

Read more:  Manufacturers says skills shortages hold back exporting plans

Today in Global Small Business: How Google Will Get Back Into China

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

• How to identify risk in the international trade arena.
• Rebalancing the affects of global trade.
• What is the best story in the world today?  Find out here.
• Online sales expected to increase 6 to 8 percent this holiday season.
• Rare vote sparks Exim Bank revival hope.
• How Google will get back into China.

The Spirit of Halloween

"I love the spirit of Halloween and the energy that comes with it." -- Katharine McPhee

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

How to Be in Charge of Your Own Global Destiny

Shoptiques founder Olga Vidisheva talks about what drives her, why hang around people smarter than you, and how she's managed a fast-growing e-commerce business that has grown double digits every month in 2015.

Negotiating Across Borders

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Few subjects are as critical or as complex as negotiating across borders, especially in today’s interconnected global environment, business people who understand cultural differences and how to communicate effectively have a decided competitive edge. But do you know the basics on how to negotiate effectively whether you find yourself in Mexico, France or Portugal? In the following article, I discuss five fundamental steps to negotiating successfully on a global basis.

5 Fundamental Steps to Negotiating Successfully Globally

Global Small Business Forum 2015 Was a HUGE Success!

Thank you to sponsors Chicago Expert Importers (CEI), Endicia and TradeUp Fund for their generous sponsorship to the first Global Small Business Forum held in Chicago at Navy Pier on Friday, October 23, 2015 with the theme "Up Your Global Game." We also thank ATA Carnet | Boomerang Carnets for their Executive Sponsorship.  We had a terrific turnout with very engaged participants who asked a lot of great questions.  The speakers/panelists/moderators were was follows:

• Richard Paullin, Executive Director, International Trade Association of Greater Chicago; Chairman, IL District Export Council
• Kevin Drost, Director of International Strategy, Reverb.com
• Marianne O'Brien, Regional Administrator, U.S. Small Business Administration
• Rajiv Khatau, Founder and Managing Director, LODAAT LLC
• Kati Suominen (pictured third photo from top), Founder and CEO, Nextrade Group, LLC — keynote speaker!
• Marc Schulman (pictured above), President, Eli’s Cheesecake Company — headliner -- read his post!
• Lisa Bitsky, President, Automated Design Crop.
• Zach Person (bottom photo-front to the right), Program Manager, IL International Trade Center for Entrepreneurship, College of DuPage
• Sophia Leaguedi, President, Ameroc Export Inc.
• Jim Snediker, Co-Founder and CEO, Stock Manufacturing Co.
• Roy Donoso, President, Sumac
• Timo Lukkarinen, CEO, Horizon Educational
• Sergei Kozyrenko, Co-Founding CTO, Parknav
• Rob Wray, CEO, mp3Car
• Morgan Coghill, International Sales Manager, Simmons Knife and Saw
• Doris Nagel, President, Blue Sky Consulting Services

Here's what attendees said about the conference:

• Terrific conference!  Congratulations – certainly the 1st Annual – it must be repeated.
• You did a great job with the Global Small Business Forum.
• Thank you again for a wonderful event.   I am sorry to have had to leave prior to the end but what I was there for was really well done and such good interaction.
• Without your vision and guidance it wouldn't have been possible.  From what I saw, the event seemed rich with valuable information.
• It was a real honor to be invited.  I know it takes a tremendous amount of effort, and you put on a successful event.  
• I really enjoyed the discussion. Hope we [as a panelist] get to do it again soon.
• You have surrounded yourself with such amazing people.

We are also grateful to our Major Partners and all the vendor companies that purchased tables and further supported our event.  Special hat tip to Small Business Trends for their "19 Tips for Taking Your Small Business Global."  Laura Fairman at Blue Canvas did an amazing job on the website, program and posters.  Thank you to everyone who made this event a tremendous success.  We look forward to next year's forum with the anticipated date of:  Friday, October 21, 2016.  More soon!

Photos courtesy:  GSBB Media LLC.  All rights reserved.

Success Starts with Having Faith

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According to breast cancer survivor and CEO of fast growing business Global Commerce, "What I’ve [Joaneane Smith] learned is that whether you’re battling cancer or building a business, much of the same elements are required. And to me, it all starts with having faith.”

Ms. Smith founded Global Commerce in 2000 and provides system and software engineering, cyber security and project management to government clients, including the U.S. departments of agriculture and defense. Global Commerce has 31 employees.

Read more:  Global Commerce nabs top spot in LSU 100 fast-growing Tiger businesses list

(Twitter handle for Global Commerce)

Today in Global Small Business: The Importance of Exim Bank to the Competitiveness of American Exports

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

• What are the 19 benefits to selling in international markets?
• How small businesses can tap into global talent.
• How to create blue-sky thinking.
• The importance of Exim Bank to the competitiveness of American exports.
• Five questions to ask for choosing the right structure for your international website.
• U.S. brands Ocean Spray and Carlson Labs enter e-commerce in China via free trade zones.

The Greater Danger For Most of Us

©2015 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark." -- Michelangelo