Saturday, June 29, 2024

That Toddlin’ Town

©2024 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.
"Chicago, Chicago, that toddlin’ town.” – Fred Fisher “Chicago,” (1922)

Friday, June 28, 2024

IMF Chief Urges U.S. Policymakers to Pay Off the Deficit

©iStock/krblokhin
International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Kristalina Georgieva recently urged U.S. policymakers to take advantage of the U.S. recovery from the pandemic and pay off the deficit.

Georgieva said policymakers should put the U.S. national deficit on a “decisive downward path,” in part to ensure investors do not start losing interest in U.S. treasuries. 

The IMF has a more positive outlook for U.S. inflation than the Fed does, expecting it to renormalize to 2 percent by the middle of next year. The Fed does not expect inflation to normalize to 2 percent until 2026

Thursday, June 27, 2024

Why Did Apple Suspend Temu From Its Digital App Store in 2023?

©iStock/4045
A lawsuit filed by State Attorney General Tim Griffin in Cleburne County is targeting the holding company of an online shopping service, Temu, and its business dealings, citing consumer privacy risk as a byproduct of the company making a profit.

"While this is my [says Griffin] first state lawsuit against Temu over its deceptive trade practices, it is not the first time Temu's tactics have been called into question. Apple suspended Temu from its digital app store in 2023, prompting multiple investigations into the company's dealings, including an ongoing investigation being conducted by the U.S. Congress."

Griffin also outlined some of the data he says Temu is obtaining, saying biometric data, which includes fingerprints stored in devices, and location are some examples.

Wednesday, June 26, 2024

Globalization: Connectedness and Interdependence of Economies

©iStock/metomorworks
For those new to globalization, it is a term used to describe the increasing connectedness and interdependence of world cultures and economies.

National Geographic gives us an education on when globalization began, and the benefits and disadvantages of globalization.

Tuesday, June 25, 2024

Chatbots Will Play a Major Role in Customer Service for 25% of Companies by 2027

©iStock/hirun
Gartner predicts that by 2027, chatbots will play a major role in customer service for 25% of companies. 
For marketplace owners, it's an opportunity to engage with their online audience in real-time. There are three types of technology to meet the challenges of the industry: 
  1. Based on artificial intelligence
  2. Rule-based 
  3. Hybrid

Monday, June 24, 2024

Today in Global Small Business: How Small Business Owners Make It Happen

©iStock/Drazen Zigic
What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners:

Saturday, June 22, 2024

The Store That Helped Build Chicago

©2024 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.
"Right or wrong, the customer is always right." – Marshall Field

Friday, June 21, 2024

Ecommerce Market Expected to Gross $930 Billion This Year

©iStock/style-photography
The U.S. e-commerce market is projected to gross $930 billion this year, up 15% from 2023, and constitute 25% of the world's total online retail sales. 

However, Statista data analysis indicates the Asian e-commerce industry, spurred by online retail giants such as Alibaba, AliExpress, JD.com and Rakuten, will gross $1.93 trillion in 2024, 16% more than in 2023 and accounting for more than half of global e-commerce revenue.

Statista expects around 300 million more people to utilize e-commerce sites and shopping apps this year, pushing the total user count to more than 3.4 billion, or 42% of the world's population.

Read more here.

Thursday, June 20, 2024

Challenges in Going Global, One Is Execution

©iStock/BrianAJackson
Despite their ambitions, few companies are ready to build and run truly global organizations. Globalization may be their goal – it may even form the backbone of their strategy – but only a tiny fraction have the execution capabilities needed to bring that strategy to life.  Why is that?

According to a recent Global Readiness Survey of 362 executives, only 10% of companies think that they have the full complement of capabilities required to win overseas, with most barely mastering the basics. 

If execution is everything, why aren't more companies perfecting this skill?  Learn more about how to get it done.

Wednesday, June 19, 2024

The Struggle for Freedom

©iStock/wildpixel
Juneteenth remains a day to reflect on the enduring struggle for freedom, equality, and self-determination in the African American experience. 

Learn more about what it is and what it means.

Tuesday, June 18, 2024

Think With Google and Move Your Business Into International Markets

©iStock/Jacob Wackerhausen
With more than half the world’s population now online, the opportunities for businesses to reach new customers abroad have never looked brighter. But how should companies prepare for international expansion? And just how easy is it?

Google guides you by looking at your potential customers

Monday, June 17, 2024

Today in Global Small Business: Father's Day Traditions From Around the World

©iStock/Lesla Larionova
What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners:

  • Father's Day traditions from around the world.
  • Celebrating Father's Day - the day after – because it is dedicated to all the fathers, grandfathers, and step-dads and recognizes their love, support and guidance. 
  • Quote of the week:  "My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me.” – Jim Valvano
  • A fun history of Father's Day: traditions and languages around the world.
  • How people celebrate Father's Day around the world.
  • Father's Day dates around the world.

Saturday, June 15, 2024

Flowers Always Make People Better

©2024 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.
“Flowers always make people better, happier and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul.” – Luther Burbank

Friday, June 14, 2024

Transforming Anonymous Global Users into Loyal Customers

©iStock/aelitta
To grow in new territories, businesses must build faith with new target audiences.  Trust signals are key to transforming anonymous global users into loyal customers.

When a business is ready to expand internationally, establishing reputable online security is vital. Users want to know that all their data, especially financial data, is effectively protected online. With vast diversity in security standards across territories, online businesses in different regions have their own ways to gain credibility from target audiences.  This can cause challenges for companies looking to move into new markets.

Find out why

Thursday, June 13, 2024

Winning New Exports

©iStock/Alberto Marrupe Gutierrez
Whether you are based in Ireland or the United States, winning new exports comes in handy for newfound growth at your business.

In this case, the Going for Growth program, which Enterprise Ireland and KPMG support, is designed to help female entrepreneurs achieve their growth ambitions by growing their sales, creating additional employment, and winning new exports. 

Over the past 16 years, over 950 businesswomen have participated in this unique program.

Check it out here.

Tuesday, June 11, 2024

Supporting Women in Tech Across the Globe

©iStock/gorodenkoff
Women in Tech® Global is built on four foundational pillars: education, business, digital inclusion, and advocacy.  This came about by challenges women face in the tech industry,

Its mission is to create a strong, supportive network for women in technology, while also implementing practical programs that empower women to succeed in the tech industry. By addressing these key areas, Women in Tech Global aims to create a more inclusive and equitable tech industry for women across the globe.

Read the interview with Ayumi Moore Aoki, Founder and CEO of Women in Tech Global. 

Monday, June 10, 2024

Today in Global Small Business: FedEx Awards More than $230,000 to 10 Small Businesses

©iStock/Olivier Le Moal
What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners:

Saturday, June 08, 2024

Adult on a Bicycle

©2024 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.
"Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race." – H. G. Wells

Friday, June 07, 2024

Alibaba Courts the U.S. and Europe to Get Global Growth

©iStock/Robert Way
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba is ramping up its global expansion with new services aimed at attracting small businesses in the U.S. and Europe.

Alibaba.com — the company’s business-to-business platform which sells to companies outside China — is launching “Alibaba Guaranteed.”  The new service will provide buyers with greater certainty on delivery, payments and dispute settlement.

Thursday, June 06, 2024

How to Use AI Right For Transforming Global Small Business Marketing

©iStock/Khanchit Khirisutchalual
iStock (which we use at the Global Small Business Blog for images), an e‑commerce platform offering images, videos, and illustrations to small and medium‑sized businesses (SMBs) and enterprises (SMEs), today unveiled new data‑backed tips to help businesses of all sizes navigate the use of generative‑AI in marketing to customers. 

They just released a new study which captured the sentiment of over 30,000 adults in 25 countries to understand the impact for small businesses of using generative AI visuals in their marketing.

Discover their key finding here.

Wednesday, June 05, 2024

Need a CFO? Freelancing Goes Global

©iStock/Filmstax
What once was incidental and supplemental is now routinely baked into companies’ operating model. An astonishing 72 million Americans, or about 45% of the workforce, reaped at least some of their earnings from independent contracting last year. 

Need a CFO?  The highest-profile fractionals would be C-suite-level executives, ranging from part-time, long-term CFOs to M&A specialists who pop in to help close specific deals. The category also includes anyone who receives a retainer, from a foreign correspondent to a training specialist.

A major hiring shift is transforming how businesses find and utilize talent and how that talent finds and establishes relationships with companies that need its skills. Outsourcing work to freelancers is by no means a new phenomenon, but as the figures indicate, in the past five years it has jumped to an entirely new level. 

Read, "Use of freelancers of all types, even temporary CFOs, has mushroomed in the last five years. Here’s why more employers around the world are moving away from the full-time staff model."

Tuesday, June 04, 2024

Sisu Global Health's Gillian Henker Presents "Providing Access to Blood for a World in Need" (wegginar®)

©2024 Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global®.  All rights reserved.
Gillian Henker, Co-Founder & President is a two-time founder with a proven track record of execution. Gillian is the primary inventor of Hemafuse and two other medical technologies. She led Hemafuse development, global regulatory clearances (including FDA), and launch in 5 countries across Africa, Asia, and Europe.

She has been published in the International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics, has presented at the Midwest Biomedical Engineering Career Conference and Appropriate Healthcare Technologies for Developing Countries Seminar in London, and was named Baltimore Technologist of the Year. 

Wouldn't you love to meet her and pick her brain?  Now is your chance. Attend Women Entrepreneur Grow Global's free of charge wegginar® with Gillian presenting, "Providing Access to Blood for a World in Need," on Wednesday, June 5th at 11 AM CT.  The free of charge program is due to wegg's amazing, supportive sponsors as noted in the graphic.  

See you there!

Monday, June 03, 2024

Today in Global Small Business: What the New China Tariffs Mean for World Trade

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

Saturday, June 01, 2024

I Need to Be Outside

©2024 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.
“I need to be outside. I need to be in the world and to remember that I am of it.” – John Green