Small Business

©iStock/yacobchuk Despite the challenges competing against global rivals, more than 80 percent of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) reported maintaining or growing revenue in 2018.  This is according to the inaugural State of Small Business Global Report by TradeGecko, a cloud-based commerce platform for growing companies, in collaboration with Golfdale Consulting. SMBs are the lifeblood of the global economy, making up over 95 percent of all firms and 60-70 percent of total employment. The report polled 573 product-centered commerce businesses from 24 countries around the world, including 383 from the United States, to lift the lid on the challenges and opportunities for small and medium-sized commerce businesses. The survey shows that "small and medium businesses are punching above their weight when it comes to competing in the global market against large firms with big teams and big budgets." To access the report and its findings, visit here .  For mor

©2019 Laurel Delaney.  All rights reserved. Chicago is colder than parts of the Antarctica today. Temperatures are expected to stay below -13°F all through Wednesday, January 30, making the Windy City colder than the South Pole in Antarctica, which will see highs of -4°F the same day. Wind chill will make the historic temperatures even more extreme.  Gusts could potentially make it feel as cold -50°F outside. So what do you do when it's this cold outside?   Make an ice-light – a Finnish tradition . from The Global Small Business Blog http://bit.ly/2Wq56It Baby It's Cold Outside, At Least in Chicago-Small Business

©iStock/FLDphotos In a recent opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said, "I wasn't trying to build a global company." Instead, he just realized you could find almost anything on the internet—music, books, information—except the thing that matters most: people. And that was the beginning of Facebook (2004), which currently has more than 2.7 billion monthly users worldwide (Q3 2018, most recent report available). Learn more about Mark Zuckerberg's business model and read the opinion piece here . from The Global Small Business Blog http://bit.ly/2Urwrbs I Wasn't Trying to Build a Global Company-Small Business

©iStock/Tryaging What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners: Exporting is one of the best ways to grow a small business.  With the current state of United States trade though, it makes it mighty difficult.  Here's what to keep your eye on .   Join Jacqueline Smith, CEO, Kiesque on her weggchat™where she will discuss how to startup and take a personal care product global.  It's free and all you need is a Twitter account.  Go here to find out why you should join the chat and how to do it . Quote of the week:  "A founder is not a job, it's a role, an attitude.” — Jack Dorsey, Twitter co-founder and CEO of Twitter and founder and CEO of Square. Mizuno golf balls are going global with the USA its first new market entry . New year, new rules for governing e-commerce . Global shipping rates slump in the latest sign of an economic slowdown. from The Global Small Business Blog http://bit.ly/2G5YNEb Today in G

©2019 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved. "The American flag is the symbol of our freedom, national pride and history." – Mike Fitzpatrick from The Global Small Business Blog http://bit.ly/2FYDft3 Freedom, Pride and History: The American Flag-Small Business

from The Global Small Business Blog http://bit.ly/2FWOrX4 Understanding Cultural Differences in Global Business and Appreciating Why Relationships Matter-Small Business

©iStock/marchmeena29  The majority of people in a global survey say there's no 'objective' news anymore. The survey draws on answers from 20,301 people around the world. Individuals from 36 countries in four regions — the Americas, Asia, Europe and the Middle East and Africa — were surveyed: 11,238 were “informed elites” (college-educated people who consider themselves middle class) and 5,963 were “business decision-makers” (senior leaders in an organization or small business owners). The rest were defined as adults over 18 years of age. Read more about the survey and how a patent attorney released a chart on the most trusted news sources showing just how biased they were . from The Global Small Business Blog http://bit.ly/2FYGL6z Is News Objective Anymore?-Small Business