Home: Message List - Event: Going global with your small business

Event: Going global with your small business

SBOCTeam — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 18:18:05 GMT

Thinking of taking your business global? Then you've come to the right place.

Laurel Delaney runs GlobeTrade, a leading management consulting and marketing solutions company dedicated to helping entrepreneurs and small businesses go global. Her company's mission is simple: to make going global easy by giving you the tools, resources, and knowledge you need.

And she feels very strongly that in today's fiercely competitive economy, it's the entrepreneurs and small business owners of the world who are turning to global trade, discovering accelerated growth and big profits, and reshaping the new world economy.

Ask Laurel questions like:

What is the single biggest stumbling block to taking a business global?
How to I find the right international partners?
Why should I go global?
How do I evaluate the benefits and risks with expanding my business abroad?
What advice would you offer to those of us considering expanding our business internationally?

Laurel hopes that her session empowers you to take that first dramatic step toward starting your own business and taking it global from the get-go.

Post your question for Laurel here and then check back on March 24 at 2:00PM EST for her reply. You can post a question any time during the event hour.

If you'd like to post a question, it's easy - simply hit reply. However you must be logged into your user account to do so. If you aren't a member yet, signing up is easy and free. It just takes two minutes. Click here to join now if you haven't already http://smallbusinessonlinecommunity.bankofamerica.com/create-account.jspa.

Re: Event Mar. 24: Going global with your small business

ldelaney — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 19:01:52 GMT

Thank YOU for the opportunity. I really enjoyed the experience and I hope that everyone gained a little something from it.

Best wishes to all,
Laurel

Re: Event Mar. 24: Going global with your small business

CommunityTeam — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 18:57:20 GMT

Laurel, thanks so much for taking the time to share your expertise about how to go global. Community, that's all the time we have for now, but if you'd like to learn more about how to go Global, please visit http://www.globetrade.com.

Re: Event Mar. 24: Going global with your small business

ldelaney — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 18:58:14 GMT

I would go with your gut and definitely cross all your t's and dot all your i's before you take action. Food products are tough to bring into markets so start off by contacting: http://www.buyusa.gov/home (where you can find out anything/everything on a country you wish to do business in).

Look for the country you plan to export to on an exclusive basis (check with an attorney when you reach the point of a contract because you want him/her to go over it with a laser sharp eye/mind) and select the country. Go to the left side bar and look for Contact Us. Find people are are experts in the "agricultural" segment of business. Then start firing away with your questions, including the ones you are asking me here!

These people will definitely be able to answer all your questions and our tax dollars (assuming your are based in USA) pay for it.

By the way, the wholesalers you refer to, are they in the country you wish to business or in the USA? If they are in the country you wish to do business, keep asking questions to learn more!

Good luck -- go for it!

Re: Event Mar. 24: Going global with your small business

MiGrant — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 18:43:44 GMT

A project that I'm working on right now involves sourcing American branded packaged grocery products for test-marketing in eastern Europe. A couple of people in the grocery industry that I've mentioned this to were horrified and thought that both I and my associates overseas could get into all kinds of trouble. Their main concerns seemed to be related to exclusive distribution agreements that we'd somehow be violating (even though we're not party to them). Now, as far as we've been able to determine, the products we have in mind aren't being distributed at all in the target country, much less on an exclusive basis. I've also been talking to some wholesalers who don't seem to think I'll have any problems at all. I'm aware that we'll have to address labeling and possibly any GMO content or other ingredients that may be restricted in the target market, but beyond that, are there any problems we need to watch out for?

Re: Event Mar. 24: Going global with your small business

ldelaney — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 18:47:59 GMT

When you first start out, I suggest you target countries where the natives speak your language: English (New Zealand, the UK, Australia or Ireland, for example). Why make it complicated? As you develop experience and an understanding of what it takes to expand your business internationally, start to think about expanding into other countries where the consumers are a perfect target for purchasing your product/service offering -- even if they don't speak your language!

Down the road, yes, interpreters are a necessary ingredient to global business success because you want to keep growing globally -- right?

Re: Event Mar. 24: Going global with your small business

ldelaney — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 18:39:46 GMT

Yes, primarily because the regulatory environment is conducive to the operation of business. I suggest you check The World Bank Group’s Ease of Doing Business Rankings (http://www.doingbusiness.org/economyrankings/) to find out which countries are easiest to do business.

The last time I looked, Singapore was No. 1, New Zealand No. 2 and United States No. 3.

Re: Event Mar. 24: Going global with your small business

ldelaney — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 18:34:41 GMT

There is but you won't know until you to start doing your homework. I addressed part of this question at the very beginning (refer to the question about filling a container) but the short answer is start with a known and reliable shippng company -- say, UPS -- for example because they can walk you through the process in a way that makes you feel confident and comfortable with what you are doing. Further, they will most likely quote you in a timely fashion with economical rates (no plug intended here!).

Duties, customs, taxes, insurance (exchange rate) ... all have to be factored into the selling price to the customer. So you can present pricing in such a way as:

Price of goods
Price of transportation (and all other costs involved to deliver goods to customer's door).

The bottom line is that ALL expenses should be included in your price quotation to your customer and recouped when you collect payment.

By the way, look for a shipping agent who knows the territory you are about to ship to. This helps immensely and can save you headaches later on.

Re: How does globalization impact neighborhood businesses?

ldelaney — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 18:24:21 GMT

I am not a tax expert so I suggest you contact a good international tax person to guide you on the best way to approach achieving tax benefits for your business. You might ask if it is best to start off by exporting, setting up a shop overseas or hiring an international agent/distrbutor on a contract basis.

Re: Event Mar. 24: Going global with your small business

MiGrant — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 18:20:40 GMT

I wonder if anyone in the history of the human race has ever been dissuaded from doing something because they were told it was "not for the faint-hearted". :-)))