Small Business

©iStock/chombosan What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners: 12 tactics for creating powerful global leadership connections. From getting started in exporting to financing your international business, start now . New study says 2016 brings " banner year " for small business owners. Why Bitcoin has failed for the 89th time. How to make the Trans-Pacific Partnership work for workers and communities. Who are the five most important retail e-commerce vendors?

©iStock/Massimo Merlini As the leading ecommerce platform for businesses of all sizes, eBay Canada applauds the government’s support of SMEs with the launch of a $50-million fund designed to help Canadian small and medium businesses (SMEs) export their products, which will help them compete in a global marketplace and also recognize their capacity for international trade. According to Industry Canada, SMEs employ 90 per cent of the total private labour force, and small businesses alone (up to 99 employees) generate 27 per cent of Canada’s gross domestic product (GDP). Interesting fact:  "On eBay, for example, 99.8 per cent of Canadian commercial sellers exported in 2014 with 99.5 per cent of those sellers exporting to Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) countries ." TPP not only updates much of the North-American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), it also promises to improve access to global markets for small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs). Unfamiliar with TPP?  Go here for more

©iStock/Feverpitched What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners: The top five benefits to the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement. Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP):   Trade Booster for the World Enough about TPP?  Oh, how about more? How to build small brands up to global status . Foreign exchange:   what is it and why does it matter ? Holiday [November] e-commerce sales go international .

©iStock/Whilerests As promised , here's the two-part interview I conducted with Karen Kerrigan, president and CEO of Small Business & Entrepreneurship (SBE) Council . The Top 5 Benefits to the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (Part I of II) Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP):  Trade Booster for the World  (Part II of II)

©iStock/Fallbrook What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners: What TPP means for small businesses . Meet the winners of Schwab's social entrepreneur awards in 2015 . Hear what an expert has to say about small business customs compliance and supply chain regulations . What to know before your website goes global. How one small business promoted Small Business Saturday [11/28/15]. Singapore SMEs get help from Google to go global . How U.S. exporters get a leg up from TPP.

©iStock/Ylivdesign Jack Ma , founder of Alibaba Group wants to reboot global trade talks. “WTO 2.0,” he said in a speech at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Manila last week. “We should be using WTO to support small guys.” It’s the big buys that currently control the global trading system. They built it, as they alone had the resources to spread out around the globe." He goes on to say that trade is a freedom, trade is human right and trade should not be used as a tool against other nations. Mighty powerful words.  Besides Alibaba, who else benefits from small-business commerce?  Are we on the verge of a new trade agenda -- beyond Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) ? Read more:   Why the future of global trade deals could be small business

©iStock/Rawpixel Ltd TPP stands for Trans-Pacific Partnership -- a trade agreement with 11 other countries -- and there's plenty out there on the Internet about it.  You can start with my article " Trade Agreements are Not Just about Lower Tariffs " and then move on to C. Fred Bergsten's " Op-ed:  The Trans-Pacific Partnership and Japan " (the Peterson Institute for International Economics) and take a look at a more controversial opinion piece featured recently in The New York Times " Pacific Trade and Worker Rights ." Coming soon:   Watch for an interview with Karen Kerrigan , President and CEO, Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council, on the good, the great and the exceptional about TPP.