SME Accounting Goes Global

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Accounting software company Xero recently surpassed one million subscribers worldwide on its global cloud accounting platform.

The company has doubled subscriber numbers in less than two years and has quickly grown to become a global accounting platform leader, adding nearly 300,000 subscribers in the last year alone. 

What's the future hold for Xero?  Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the next wave of innovation not just for accounting, but for all aspects of running a business.

In the last 12 months, Xero has processed more than $1.2 trillion of global economic activity, giving it a unique and high-value dataset to drive insights and machine learning. Xero’s machine learning system can now code invoices for small businesses, categorize expenses and recommend accounting practices to a potential client, automating the busy work of accounting, freeing advisors up to focus on providing clients with expert advice. 

Xero seems to be reinventing and changing the way small businesses work in a digitally connected world.  Read more here.

5 Tips to Help Your Business Go Global

13 Cities Offering World Domination

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The world is your oyster.  So where do you plant yourself to be in the best position to thrive?  I am based in Chicago but is that the most vibrant city for conducting global business? How can I choose a city with the right conditions that will provide ample opportunities for success?

To spread your global wings, here are 13 international cities every entrepreneur should consider expanding to or even living in. (Note:  Chicago is not one of them.)

One Million Monthly Advertisers and Counting: Instagram

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Instagram was developed in 2010, and was acquired by Facebook in 2012. It’s available in 25 languages.

Mr. [James] Quarles [VP for Business at Instagram] sees the big business potential, with their 600 million active users and their more than one million advertisers monthly. eMarketer, a forecasting company, projects that Instagram is capable of generating $3.64 billion in global advertising revenues this year, which is so much higher than what Facebook can generate. 

Read more here.

Anything new on the horizon for Instagram?  Soon it will launch another tool that will be available to its global users.

It is a booking tool that will help users set up appointments and reservations with service companies via their business profiles.

Today in Global Small Business: Small Table Maker Vintage Industrial Takes on Alibaba's Fakes

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

• Learn five takeaways from the ICC World Trade Agenda Day.
• Jack Ma's bold promise—that Alibaba would help create 1 million jobs in the U.S. over five years.
• Souq.com — which sells health and beauty products and electronic goods — has become the highest-valued internet company in the Middle East.
• Why should you export?
• The financial and cultural considerations to importing for small businesses.
• How a small table maker Vintage Industrial takes on Alibaba's flood of fakes.

The Future is Female

©2017 Laurel Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"The future is female; so how do we get there?" -- Chicago Reader

Congrats to SBA's National Small Business Week Awardees!

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The head of the U.S. Small Business Administration, Linda McMahon, announced the 2017 National Small Business Week awardees for 16 different categories ranging from exporting, outreach, contracting, lending, disaster recovery to manufacturing and research and development.  Small Business Week is set as the first week in May.

The National Exporter of the Year 2017 award goes to:

Rose Morris, President

Abram's Bed LLC

Dba The Safety Sleeper

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Rose's story goes like this:

I am a loving mother of three children the middle of which is Abram who is on the autism spectrum. Like many other families who have a loved one with special needs, I struggled with finding a good solution to protecting my son at night.  There was no product on the market that could support my son's sleeping issues, night wanderings, temper melt-downs and give us the freedom to be a typical family.

I feared for Abram’s safety and out of that fear, The Safety Sleeper™ was developed.

To learn more about the other awardees, visit here. Congratulations to everyone!  We are proud of your accomplishments.

When Was Globalization Discovered?

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Christopher Columbus discovered America in 1492 with a quest to sail west until he reached Asia (the Indies) where the riches of gold, pearls and spice awaited.  One could say that is when globalization occurred.

Regardless of the exact point in time, Andrew Sheng, for The China Post, says:

Globalization had lifted billions from poverty and the logic of free trade and capital flows was accepted from Beijing to Zanzibar. But in 2007, when the North Atlantic financial crisis revealed the flaws of excessive financialization, doubts about globalization began to creep in.

The reality is that globalization cannot be stopped; rather, it must be managed better as Sheng adds. Read more here.

Europe is Where Most UK SMEs Go First on Exports

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Europe is the market most UK small business exporters go to first. Over half say it’s easier to trade with versus elsewhere.  The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) reveals through its research a trade deal with Europe is top of the list for UK small businesses post Brexit.

Nine out of 10 (92%) exporting small businesses and 85% of importers trade with the EU. It is also the first foreign market many small firms go to: exporters are twice as likely to have exported to the EU for the first time, than another market. 

Read more here.

Saudi Arabians Have a Cultural Affinity Toward Entrepreneurial Activity

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The 2016/17 GEM Saudi Arabia Entrepreneurship Monitor report -- an initiative of the Babson Global Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership (BGCEL) at Prince Muhammad Bin Salman College of Business and Entrepreneurship (MBSC), with BGCEL supported by a grant from Lockheed Martin -- shows that Saudi Arabia is a fertile ground for entrepreneurs.

The report shows a strong cultural affinity in Saudi Arabia toward entrepreneurial activity. More than two thirds of the working-age population believe starting a business to be a good career choice and 25.8 percent are considering starting up a new business within the next five years. 

The report also shows a noticeable increase in female entrepreneurship: 38.6 percent of entrepreneurs in the Kingdom are women, a proportion that has increased rapidly in recent years.

Saudi entrepreneurs are poised for success.

Learn more here.

Today in Global Small Business: Trump Organization Kisses International Markets Goodbye

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

• Small businesses search out new trading destinations amid currency volatility.
• FedEx gives China SMEs a chance to win U.S. $120,000 in grants.
• Learn how a woman business owner takes her business global (n/c webinar 4/5).
• New news:  Trump Organization no longer expanding internationally.
• Tim Cook, CEO of Apple says Europe and U.S. way behind China on mobile payment.
• Positioning a business for global success -- 12 ways to do it.

Every Woman is a Rebel

©2017 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"Every woman is a rebel, and usually in wild revolt against herself." - Oscar Wilde

Happy St. Patrick's Day, My Favorite Day of the Year

Top of the morning to you!  Have a Happy St. Patrick's Day -- my favorite day of the year.  These are scenes in Chicago along the river front (Wacker Drive).  You can find out why they dye the river green in Chicago here.

Photos courtesy:  ©2017 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

How Do We Learn In This World?

How Many Steps Does It Take to Go Global?

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Successful international expansion means meeting, and overcoming a range of new challenges - and involves careful, effective planning. To help your business prepare for its journey, to any corner of the world, David Warrender put together a guide to some of the most important first steps.  And if you want to take a couple more, pay a visit here.

Get Out of Your Comfort Zone and Explore Global Markets

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To obtain sustainable growth, you must pursue challenges and one of them is going global.  The good news is there are benefits. All it takes is perseverance and a determination and commitment to break the market barriers.

Razzak Dawood [former commerce minister of Lahore, Pakistan] said it was only after exploring the global markets that one learned how to be internationally competitive. It is only after rubbing shoulders with competitors from various regions that one learns the secret of success by achieving efficiency.

Read more here.

Today in Global Small Business: Think Bigger (Global)

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

• Small business?  Think you can't go global?  Guess again. Here it from a pro.  N/C webinar on 4/5.
• For goodness sakes, think BIGGER (global)!
• Intuit rolls out its goods and services tax (GST)-ready software product with focus on India, Malaysia and Australia.
• Guess how many people there are in the world who are in the process of starting or running their own business?
• Why Chinese startups are pushing into foreign markets.
• How the simplest mistakes can have an extremely negative impact on an international expansion project.

Irish Blessings You Need Most

©2015 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"May the blessings of each day be the blessings you need most" - Irish Saying

Supporting Small Businesses in the U.S. Economy

LIVE STREAM:  Senate Confirmation hearing for Linda McMahon for U.S. Small Business Administration.

How to Be the King or Queen of Accessibility

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In the article below, I talk about twelve (12) ways to position a business for global success.  One of them is this:

11. Be the king or queen of accessibility.
Positioning for success worldwide means making sure when your employees, customers, suppliers and colleagues need you, they get you. Nothing gets accomplished without constant communication. That means going back to your website or blog and eliminating an info@email address and adding a real person’s email address to address questions, concerns or raves about your company’s products or services.

Read all the takeaways here.

Get Flexible Chatting With Microsoft Teams

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Look out Slack for here comes the new grown-up on the block: Microsoft with Microsoft Teams and they ain't staying local, no way.  Global is the target.  And MT claims that with their new offering you can see content and chat history anytime, including team chats with Skype that are visible to the whole team. Private group chats are available for smaller group conversations too.

But isn't this all what Slack does?  Sorta.  Slack is an instant messaging and collaboration system that a lot of small business owners like and use.  To counter MT's release, Slack upped its game by launching a service for large corporation called Enterprise Grid, which allows companies to connect multiple workspaces under a single network. It also provides more security than before, and allows companies to adjust data security features across workspaces.

Put up your dukes [fists] and let's get fighting.  Love the global competitive spirit!

Learn more here.

Women Do Wonders for Entrepreneurship Worldwide

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International Women's Day is right around the corner: Wednesday, March 8.  What better time than now to highlight the successes and challenges faced by women around the world and the need to support them, reinforce their confidence, and encourage their abilities so that they can become strong leaders.

The International Business Times, India spoke to multiple successful female entrepreneurs who have become torchbearers in their field and can lead the way for other women.

Read more here.

And what better time than now to also mention Women Entrepreneurs GROW Global, a nonprofit I [Laurel Delaney] started June, 2015, with a mission to educate women business owners and entrepreneurs worldwide on how to go global so they can run healthier businesses and create a new future for themselves, their families and their community.

Our vision is a world where every woman business owner has the opportunity and ability to take their business global wherever they may be located.

Learn about our educational programs here.  Our next N/C webinar is 3/8.

Today in Global Small Business: Didi Chuxing Ascends to the Global Stage

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

1. Should you protect your trademarks?  Attend trade shows? Go direct or indirect on global sales?  Find out by attending an upcoming N/C webinar on 3/8 and hosted by nonprofit WEGG.
2. If we view technology as an enabler of business growth, how do we make the most of it?  Say hello to NextTECHnow.
3. According to McKinsey, digital trade is taking over; see how you can get involved (access report here).
4. What's of concern on global e-commerce these days besides cybersecurity?
5. How to go from a global star to a normal life?
6. See how Chinese ride hailer Didi Chuxing is taking steps to ascend to the global stage.

Being Irish Is Very Much a Part of Who I am

©2017 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"Being Irish is very much a part of who I am.  I take it everywhere with me." - Colin Farrell

Is There Such a Thing as the Ugly American?

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Ugly American?  What's that you ask?  That surely isn't me! According to Maya Hu-Chan:

We all have a mental picture of the “Ugly American” — brash and arrogant, with an ethnocentric belief in America's singular greatness. When ugly Americans travel, they tout Big Macs over local cuisine and offer firm handshakes no matter the local greeting customs.

Is that you?  I hope not.  But as Maya goes on to say, "When working across cultures, sometimes it's less important to be “right” and more important to be aware of the impression you create."

I could not agree more.  Read the entire article here.

Idiot-Proof Website Builder By Global GoDaddy

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Global GoDaddy, an Internet domain registrar and web hosting company, is passionate about empowering SMBs to manage their business needs. They should be because small businesses see a website as a crucial tool for driving awareness for a brand, not just locally but globally.

With their new Website Builder, you can create a new website in lickety-split time and have it be mobile-friendly and integrated with your social pages so it can be viewed anywhere, anytime.

Read more here.

The Mother of all Mixups: The Global Oscars 2017

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In case you missed the global Oscar ceremony 2017, here's BBC's take on it and Time magazine's.

• Oscars error shouldn't overshadow a groundbreaking victory
• Oscars 2017 recap:  Surprise Mistake, Moonlight, La La Land
• Watch the best picture mixup on video

"Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty presented "La La Land" as the winner of the best picture award, and the celebration began on stage but was quickly ended when one of the "La La Land" winners pointed out that in fact "Moonlight" had won the award." Source: CNN