Women First, Prosperity For All

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The eighth annual Global Entrepreneurship Summit began in Hyderabad, India, focusing on the theme of “Women First, Prosperity For All.”

For the first time in the history of this summit that brings together entrepreneurs and high-level politicians from around the world, women make up a majority of the 1500 entrepreneurs selected to attend.

In order to make China's female entrepreneurs count, we must go beyond just counting them.

Think Like a Disruptor

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Are you overlooking fledgling competitors until they are no longer fledgling and ignoring small market trends until they represent seismic shifts?  If you are, read my lips:  This is the opposite of what successful disruptors do.

Those companies are sniffing out any small, potentially market-changing trend they can find in order to establish themselves and take on the bigger players.

And I love the part in this article where P&G visited 1871, my hometown Chicago's hip incubator, and came up with Tide Spin.

Shake it up in 2018!

Small Business, Global Impact

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To discuss issues and find solutions for SMEs, The World Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (WASME) is organizing the 21st International Conference on Small and Medium Enterprises (ICSME) between November 30 and December 1 in New Delhi, India.

The event seeks to discuss achieving inclusive and sustainable industrialization by promoting SMEs - Small Business, Global Impact.

SMEs are said to contribute around 8% to India's GDP and around 45% of the country's manufacturing output. Yet, a large part of this sector remains unorganised, battling sundry issues - political, social, and financial.

Read more about how the SME sector is likely to come out a winner post demonetization:  WASME.

Today in Global Small Business: Small Businesses Are Stealing Away Business from Publicly Traded Retailers

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

• The Canadian government wants to include a gender chapter in the new NAFTA.
• Shopping Small can have a huge impact locally, but with organizations like TO THE MARKET, the impact can be global as well.
• Deloitte found that $200 billion in market share is being traded to smaller businesses, away from the top 25 publicly traded retailers, which includes both Amazon and Walmart.
• Joselyn DiPetta at Google, and Managing Partner, Present Possibility, will address how to create a workplace that works (diverse+inclusive) in the next WEGGinar™ held on Wednesday, December 6 at 11:00 a.m. Central time. WEGGinar™ is no charge but you must sign up to attend: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/1837790091765976835.
• ignoring Bitcoin is to your detriment.
• Chicago-based Tempesta Market is opening Dec. 1 with locally made artisan Italian cured meats.

I Cannot Live Without Books

©2017 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"I cannot live without books; but fewer will suffice where amusement, and not use, is the only future object." -- Thomas Jefferson to John Adams, June 10, 1815

A Movement to Eradicate Extreme Poverty

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In September, Global Citizens, a social action platform dedicated to solving the world's biggest problems, turned NYC into an arena of advocacy, with dozens of events and activations uniting Global Citizens to learn, take action, and see world leaders commit to deliver a world without extreme poverty by 2030.

"All of a sudden, the footprint, it very much organically started to grow," [Global Citizen's Hugh] Evans, 34, tells Billboard. "We never want Global Citizen to be a night in Central Park -- it has to be a 365-day-a-year movement to eradicate extreme poverty."

Now, GC has released a Taylor Swift parody video for a cause. Bringing awareness to one of the most pressing issues in global development, the “Look What You Made Me Do” spoof draws attention to sanitation and toilet access.

Worldwide, 4.5 billion people lack access to safe and working toilets and sanitation, while 892 million people are forced to defecate outside in the open or into bodies of water.

Check out the Taylor Swift parody that has gone global here.

The Global Small Business Blog Is Grateful for Your Readership

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Female Air Force Veteran and Spouse Launch Successful E-Commerce Business

Laurel Delaney: 7 Tips to Get Paid on International Deals

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Collecting money from your overseas customers doesn’t have to be painful. The first rule of thumb: Never sell on open account — no ands, ifs or buts! Got it? Open account means you ship goods or sell services without any guarantee of collecting payment on a transaction. Here are seven ways to get paid on international deals.

7 Tips to Get Paid on International Deals by Laurel J. Delaney

Today in Global Small Business: The Logic of Being Global

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

• The retreat of the global company.
• Revisiting the logic of being global.
• Which US businesses could lose big time from TPP withdrawal?
• How to create a workplace that works:  Joselyn DiPetta at Google, and Managing Partner, Present Possibility, will address that topic in the next WEGGinar™ held on Wednesday, December 6 at 11:00 a.m. Central time. WEGGinar™ is no charge but you must sign up to attend: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/1837790091765976835.
• How to build an e-commerce site while working a 9-5.
• 7th HSBC Export Excellence Awards, contributing to the nation's sustainable growth.

The Sun Makes Ice Melt

©2017 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate." -- Albert Schweitzer

Hiring Abroad Doesn't Come at the Expense of U.S. Workers

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U.S. President Trump assumes that when U.S. multinationals expand abroad, it necessarily reduces the number of people they employ in the U.S.  But this assumption is wrong, and tariffs would hurt American workers, not help them.

Academic research has repeatedly found that when U.S. multinationals hire more people at their overseas affiliates, it does not come at the expense of American jobs.  How can this be?

Read more:  The 'Exporting of Jobs' Canard (might require registration)

Future of Ecommerce: Have the Expert's Predictions Come True for 2017?

Social Businesses Can Cure Poverty

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Nobel winner Muhammad Yunus, who won the Nobel for his work in microfinance, explains how so-called social businesses can make everyone an entrepreneur and remedy inequality.

Yunus encourages us to see the world not through the lens of profit, but of social impact.

He spoke about his book, A World of Three Zeroes: The New Economics of Zero Poverty, Zero Unemployment and Zero Net Carbon Emissions on the Knowledge@Wharton show.

Learn more about why a Nobel Laureate believes 'social businesses' can cure poverty.

The Seller Summit

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What is the Seller Summit?  It's tricky.  Amazon recently ran an event, referred to as a Seller Summit, attended by 500 interested in selling via the soon to be launched local version of Marketplace, the third party selling platform which generates more than half Amazon’s total global revenue.  The 500 who attended the event will be on a priority list of those to get an invitation-only to sell via Amazon Marketplace.  (Gee, sounds a little bit like the old Gilt business model where you had to wait to be invited.)

Amazon plans to launch in Australia with both a direct retail presence and an Amazon Marketplace offering of local sellers.

“We held the Seller Summit to encourage and educate Australian businesses on how they can use Amazon Marketplace to take their products to a global audience,” says [Rocco] Braeuniger [Amazon Australia country head].

Read more about how Amazon is quietly building a supplier network for direct sales in Australia.

Today in Global Small Business: Ten Places to Look for Import and Export Help

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

• What has moved me lately ... Dr. Nancy Adler's Leadership Insight Journal.
• Strategies for building a global network (really like point #3).
• Ten places to look for import and export help.
• How do you create a workplace that works?  Joselyn DiPetta at Google, and Managing Partner, Present Possibility, will address that topic in the next WEGGinar™ held on Wednesday, December 6 at 11:00 a.m. Central time. WEGGinar™ is no charge but you must sign up to attend: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/1837790091765976835.
• How I built a startup while traveling to 20 countries.
• And oldie but goodie article worth revisiting:  20 factors to consider before going global.

La Creperie: Best-Kept French Secret in Chicago

 

One of my favorite best-kept French secrets:  La Creperie, the oldest Creperie in the U.S.  I started dining there in 1977.  Still love it.  It's right across the street from the Landmark Century Centre Cinema on Clark Street in Chicago.

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

SMEs Power American Commerce

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Small and medium-sized businesses power American commerce, comprising 99 percent of firms in the country.  Further, technology has changed the global economy and our business landscape several times over, and we're in the midst of yet another fundamental shift.

Thanks to technology, small and medium-sized businesses are able to participate in the global marketplace with much greater ease. This includes marketing, selling, and exporting their products to customers abroad. Despite their size, small companies have an outsized role in global trade, accounting for 98 percent of U.S. exporters and about one-third of merchandise exports.

Read more about how technology is essential to the future of small businesses across America.

Firms That Export, Are More Productive than Those That Don't

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The Uganda Women Entrepreneurs Association Limited (UWEAL) is joining the rest of the world to celebrate the Month of Women Entrepreneurs (MOWE), which is a global event that is celebrated in November with the aim of appreciating women's success and inspiring millions of others that are still held up in the confines of cultural and gender-norms or lack capital, information and knowledge to start a business.

“According to our 2017 research, among 210 women in Kampala, only 44 (21%) are exporting and yet Uganda has secured huge markets in China, USA, European Union, as well as COMESA. The truth is, firms that export earn more, pay more, employ more and are more productive than firms that do not export,” Gudula noted.

Read more about women in business to receive export training.

90 Percent of Businesses in Bahrain Are SMEs

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According to a 2017 international entrepreneurship analysis, the Global Entrepreneurship Development Institute (GEDI) ranked Bahrain 34th out of 137 countries and fifth in the Mena region.

It is estimated that around 90 per cent of businesses in Bahrain are SMEs, and their contribution accounts for about 30 per cent of the kingdom’s GDP. Recently, the World Bank listed Bahrain among the world’s top 10 most improved economies for adopting reforms that make it easier to start and operate small and medium-sized Enterprises (SMES).

Luckily, Microsoft has launched its Microsoft 365 Business in Bahrain, a multifaceted workplace solution to cover productivity, admin and security needs of the SME sector.

Read more about how Microsoft 365 Business launched in Bahrain.

New Gen Startup Campus in Johannesburg, South Africa

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Virgin Group founder, Sir Richard Branson, will open the 10th anniversary celebration of Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) by participating in the launch of a new startup campus in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The campus is the first one opened by the Global Entrepreneurship Network - offering direct and virtual support services to entrepreneurs throughout Africa as well as access to an international network of mentors, investors and entrepreneurial support organizations.

Learn more ... new Gen startup campus, 22 on Sloane, in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Today in Global Small Business: PayPal Marketplaces Goes Global

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

• How do you create a workplace that works?  Joselyn DiPetta at Google, and Managing Partner, Present Possibility, will address that topic in the next WEGGinar™ held on Wednesday, December 6 at 11:00 a.m. Central time. WEGGinar™ is no charge but you must sign up to attend: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/1837790091765976835.
• Alibaba sets up a hub for small businesses to go global.
• E-commerce offers significant opportunities to the logistics industry. 
• PayPal Marketplaces goes global.  What is PayPal Marketplaces and how does it differ from regular PayPal?  Find out here.
• Learn how two e-commerce giants -- one being Amazing -- are trying to export their success.
• Discover not 1 but 27 social media tools that will help you become a savvy global marketer.

I Say a Little Prayer

©2017 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

A song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David for Dionne Warwick, "I Say a Little Prayer," originally peaked at number four on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart in December 1967.

How to Become a Savvy Global Marketer

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Below is an article I [Laurel Delaney] wrote on ways to harness the power of affordable social media tools and take the conversation to a whole new level of global growth for your business.

27 Affordable Social Media Tools for Savvy Global Marketers

Boosting International Trade for Small Businesses

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The World Trade Organization (WTO) says that helping small enterprises enter global markets "will go a long way to making the trading system more inclusive and improving the lives of individuals and communities around the world.”

WTO seeks to open trade opportunities for small firms.  Some of the biggest challenges for them on international trade include but are not limited to:

• Lack of appropriate information and skills
• Lack of trade finance
• Burdensome customs procedures
• High fixed costs

Read more about how the World Trade Organization wants to raise the voice of small enterprises in trade and enable them to prosper across borders.

Global Expansion is Gathering Speed

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Some of the world’s best known companies from Amazon.com Inc. to Volkswagen AG are ramping up spending on new plants and equipment after years of caution. For an international economic expansion already gathering speed, that could prove a boon.

Amazon is spreading its international reach with operations in India, Australia and Latin America. It also has invited U.S. states and local governments to submit proposals for a new headquarters that will cost $5 billion and create 50,000 jobs over the next 15 to 17 years.

According to Mark Vitner, senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities LLC in Charlotte, North Carolina, “Small business owners are definitely spending more on equipment."  He goes on to say, “This marks a real change and partly reflects the improved regulatory environment, which is seeing less new regulation coming on line.”

Read more about how the missing piece of the global growth is finally starting to fall into place.