The Ultimate Ecommerce Pro Fred Lam

Canadians Embrace Moving Cannabis Across Borders

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With some of the major names creating a presence in key markets like Canada, Jamaica, Peru, and Colombia, it's become evident that the time is now to prepare for cannabis trade across international borders.

So far only a handful of companies are performing wholesale transactions internationally and each of them is based in Canada. This is largely due to the country's status as the first G7 country to fully legalize adult-use cannabis, which enables the production capabilities and legal frameworks to facilitate international transactions. 

Will Canada become a production giant for international cannabis trade?  Can Canada meet global demand?

Are you ready to go global with your cannabis company?

Why the Indian Consumption Story is Strong

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Walmart India’s Managing Director, Kris Iyer spoke with YourStory on why the Indian consumption story is strong, and is unique every 100 km.  He also provides an insight into the working of the small store, regional brands, and how they are going digital.  Here are the questions he addresses:

1. Why is the India story unique?
2. Walmart is focused on small towns, is there any reason for that?
3. You champion the smaller store in India. What have you learnt from serving them?
4. Do you see the emergence of local brands?
5. What work have you done with startups in India?
6. What are some concepts that you have learnt from startups?
7. Is Walmart focused on building an ecosystem of women entrepreneurs?
8. Is India’s brand story going to explode and why?

Read more about how small stores, entrepreneurs and digital consumption are key drivers to India's growth.

From Cadabra to Amazon: A Star is Born

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Jeff Bezos decided back in the early 90s that online shopping was about to boom and that he should ride the wave.

Books were the way forward, the hedge fund executive reasoned, because an online bookstore could stock all three million titles that were in print at the time, whereas the biggest physical bookstore could hold only about 150,000. In July 1994, Mr Bezos moved to Seattle with his new wife and, from his garage, set up Cadabra.

He sold his first book in 1995 under the new company name, Amazon.

Read more (with limited access) about the dizzying rise from humble bookseller to global retail behemoth.

Today in Global Small Business: From a Vespa to Global

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

• They may be from various parts of the world but they have one thing in common:  Southern Illinois in their going global segment.
• Pakistan currently has the largest population of young people ever recorded in its history.  Now, social entrepreneurs are given seed money by international donors, large corporations and rich philanthropists to come up with ideas that can make an impact in the world.
• For the three founders of impACT, a platform promoting a global movement towards social impact through entrepreneurship, “anyone with an entrepreneurial spirit should have access to networks, resources and knowledge in order to create a social impact for communities." We agree.
• Small clothiers buck global trend.
• How Pana Chocolate went from a Vespa to global.
• Listen to Julie Smolyansky, President and CEO, Lifeway Foods, who will talk about "Follow Your Gut" at wegg's™ September 12th event in Chicago. To learn more and to register, visit: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/weggtm-workshop-follow-your-gut-presented-by-julie-smolyansky-tickets-48655708534

A Slice of Sweet Life from Deerfields Bakery

Five generations of the Schmitt family have carried on the family bakery tradition of the famous Deerfields Bakery (located in Deerfield, Illinois, USA) that Adam Schmitt started in 1886. Today, the Deerfields family includes its many dedicated employees and its “deerest” customers, all deserving of a sincere thank-you from the Schmitts.

Photos courtesy:  ©2018 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved. 

How to Start and Run a Profitable Ecommerce Business Without Inventory

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In this ebook by Oberlo, they share a step-by-step process that you can follow to start, run, and grow your own profitable ecommerce business.

Dropshipping 101:  How to start, run, and grow an ecommerce business without inventory.

Filling Jobs Globally by 2030: Welcome to the New Mobile Economy

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Community Boost is an effort by Facebook’s to train 1 million U.S. small business owners in digital and social media skills by 2020. The program is slated to visit 50 cities by the end of the year.

Digital marketing is a great way to reach a global audience on a shoestring.

To take your social media engagement to the next level, here are four (4) tips:

1. Rely on marketing help from companies 
2. Prioritize the appropriate social networks for your niche
3. Put some money behind your efforts [sounds like Facebook has a hidden agenda here :-)], but stay on budget
4. Read How to Find International Customers Using Social Media by Laurel Delaney

Learn more about how small businesses can propel their social media strategies to reach out to the world for business.

Healthy Appetite for E-Commerce in the APAC Region

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According to a recent study released by PayPal and Ipsos, there is a healthy appetite for e-commerce in APAC (Asia-Pacific region), with 48 percent of consumers shopping cross-border in the last 12 months.

Ipsos recently released the 2018 PayPal Cross-Border Consumer Research, which investigates the online shopping habits of approximately 34,000 consumers in 31 countries [1]— including the Philippines. It reveals a growing cross-border e-commerce scene, with the US and China being the biggest markets in terms of online spend.

The study highlights three key findings:

1. Cross-border opportunities abound for Filipino merchants
2. Cosmetics are on the rise for APAC consumers
3. Security is a key driver of cross-border trade

Read more about how cross-border trade accelerates expansion opportunities for Filipino SMEs.

Access full report here.

The Wannabe Global Entrepreneur

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When an 18-year-old Marcus Butler had returned from VidCon, he knew there was potential in YouTube.  But he never thought of himself starting and running a business.  Rather, he just wanted to put himself out there on YouTube to see what he achieved.

Fast forward eight years.

His [Marcus Butler] biggest hit was rapping on helium with U.S. vlogger Tyler Oakley, which received more than 8 million views [on YouTube].

Many wannabe global entrepreneurs are now making a living having a large global audience on YouTube.  They can grow and scale.  At the same time, they can build a real business.

Learn more here about how to become a YouTube billionaire.

Today in Global Small Business: The 2018 Global Market Review of Lingerie

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

• Import substitution has always been important for Russia as it seeks to reindustrialize, but it gradually became a key national policy as a response to economic and geopolitical crises.
• Overseas suppliers want you to ask this question.
• Four steps to ensure global e-commerce success.
• A 2018 global market review of lingerie -- forecasts to 2023.
• Four goods where Bulgaria excels in exports in the world.
• REGISTRATION is now OPEN for wegg's™ September 12th event held in Chicago and starring Julie Smolyansky, President and CEO, Lifeway Foods, who will talk about "Follow Your Gut."  To learn more and to register, visit: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/weggtm-workshop-follow-your-gut-presented-by-julie-smolyansky-tickets-48655708534

Falling in Love Was the Easy Part

©2018 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"Falling in love was the easy part; planning a wedding - yikes!" -- Niecy Nash

Amazon Prime Day Ignites Global SME Sales

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Data from Statista show that Small Business Saturday in 2017 generated around $2.43 billion in ecommerce retail sales in the U.S. That figure doesn’t get further broken down by the actual size of businesses that generated revenue, or by ecommerce platform, so it’s fair to assume that it includes all retail activity on that day.

"Prime Day [Amazon] is just getting started for us, but we're already seeing 10 times our average day sales," Kelly Fedio of One Savvy Life, a small business that sells on Amazon, said in a statement.

Learn more about how global small-, medium-sized business sales eclipse $1 billion on  Amazon Prime Day.

Making Global Trade Inclusive

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Helping SMEs access world markets is the first step to a more inclusive trading system according to Diane Wang, Founder and CEO of cross-border e-commerce platform DHgate.com, who started out as a small businesswoman herself.

In 2004 Ms. Wang launched DHgate, a startup, that is now a global technology platform helping empower other small businesses to access global markets.

Learn more about how DHgate helps SMEs penetrate the global trade elite.

Global Strategy: McDonald's

4 Easy Steps to Developing an Export Marketing Plan

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Developing an export marketing plan doesn't have to be a gut-wrenching experience.  Quite the contrary.

Every successful marketing plan begins with thorough market research. As stated in the article I [Laurel Delaney] wrote below, your first market research project is usually the toughest because it's all unfamiliar terrain. But once you have collected the data you need to predict how a specific type of product will sell in a specific geographic location, you can use the information over and over again as a guideline for exports of similar products.

Biggest tip:  Try to begin with the end in mind: Where do you want to go and how will you know that you have arrived?

Discover the 4 easy steps to developing an export marketing plan here.

Today in Global Small Business: How JD.com Uses AI to Take on Competitors

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

• Leveling the global trading field for SMEs.
• Policy brief on women's entrepreneurship (by OECD).  Direct access to report.
• The High Growth Handbook -- read if you are ready to learn and scale.
• How Chinese retailer JD.com uses AI to take on major competitors.
• Read how the franchising industry has been rapidly expanding over the past few years, with many national and international players taking the industry by storm.
• Registration is OPEN for wegg's™ September 12th Chicago morning event starring Julie Smolyansky, President and CEO, Lifeway Foods, who will talk about "Follow Your Gut."  To learn more and to register, visit: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/weggtm-workshop-follow-your-gut-presented-by-julie-smolyansky-tickets-48655708534

Red Cures Sadness

©2018 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"Red is the ultimate cure for sadness." -- Bill Blass

Global Trade is the Future of Business

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FedEx released an infographic that shows how small business leaders look at global trade as the future of their business and why it is important for policy makers to consider the impact on micro and small businesses owners.

Key finding:  A majority of U.S. small business leaders (82 percent) see increasing U.S. trade as beneficial to the U.S. economy, up from 76 percent earlier this year.

Access the infographic here.

Setting Up a Company Culture That Serves the World

How Many of the World's Most Beautiful and Endangered Destinations Have You Been To?

©iStock/RudyBalasko

Take a look at 30 places to visit before they are gone forever.  Should you be lucky enough to visit any one of these magnificent places, tread lightly as it might extend the life of these wonders just a bit longer.

As provided by Architectural Digest ... read more.

Is South Africa Out of Step on Global SME Growth Trends?

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Is South Africa a "complete outlier" internationally when it comes to employment creation by small and medium-sized enterprises?  It raises questions about possible policy and regulatory failure.

Initial findings of a new study by the Small Business Institute (SBI) and the Small Business Project (SBP), released on Tuesday, found SA has only 250,000 formal SMEs, less than previous estimates of between 2-million and 6-million.

Is South African completely out of step with global SME growth trends?  Read more.

Today in Global Small Business: Take Your Business Global! weggchat™ August 8th

©2018 Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global.  All rights reserved.

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

• Join a weggchat™ via Twitter with Laurel Delaney on "Take Your Business Global!" August 8 at 11:00 a.m. Central time.  Instructions here.  You must have a Twitter account to join.  Have your questions ready!
• Ways to optimize your technology supply chain.
• Businesses planning to go global should build their processes to follow the toughest privacy standards.
• In Sri Lanka, Mastercard makes it easier for businesses to accept electronic payments, regardless of a payment brand.
• Starbucks and Alibaba are looking together to transform coffee consumption in a nation once known for tea.
• More UK SMEs are selling internationally than at anytime within the last year, with 32% making at least one foreign transaction a month.

Image used with permission by:  Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global (wegg™)

A Wistful Northwood Supper Club in Lincolnwood, Illinois

A fav of mine.  Experience the nostalgia of a Northwoods Supper Club at L.Woods Tap & Pine Lodge (a Lettuce Entertain You Enterprise Restaurant). The menu features American classics and barbecue specialties.

Photos courtesy:  @2018 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

Go From Local to Global, Here's How

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As Chief Operating Officer at Globalization Partners Debbie Millin says: "Expanding globally can be a daunting task, but it is also hugely rewarding and can help grow your business in new ways. As globalization continues to be a trend for U.S. companies, there are more resources for you to reach out to as you plan your expansion strategy."

Today’s economy is truly global. A recent CFO magazine survey of senior executives showed 44% planned to hire an employee in a country where they do not have any employees currently. This sort of expansion is terrific on paper, but it can create an unseen problem: How can companies of all sizes effectively set up and manage a global footprint?

Learn about what you need to know to go from local to global.

The Trump Tariff Effect on Natural Products and Dietary Supplements

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As Nutritional Outlook reported in July, ingredients used to create natural products and dietary supplements risk potential tariffs, which will will cause disproportionate economic harm to U.S. interests and increase costs for small businesses and consumers.

Click here for the complete list.

“We strongly urge the Administration to rethink its trade policy that will cause a financial burden on small businesses and the three quarters of American consumers who use nutritional supplements,” said Fabricant [Natural Product Association president and CEO Daniel Fabricant, PhD, who is set to testify at an upcoming U.S. Trade Representative hearing in late August on these proposed tariff actions] in a press release."

Read more about the Trump tariffs on natural ingredients and how they hurt small business and consumers.

Exporting Basics

And when you get done viewing the video, refer to Exporting: The Definitive Guide to Selling Abroad Profitably.