Archive for the 'Trade' Category

Identifying your small business global prospects

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on January 24, 2012
in Exporting Importing, Globalization and Trade
. 0 Comments

In case you haven’t heard, the seven billionth Earthling was born recently.

For the global marketplace, seven billion prospects are exciting. But for growing American small businesses, 96% of those folks live outside the U.S.

Once, small business growth meant expanding to the next county. But in the 21st century, shifts in technologies and demographics have made expanding outside America’s four-walls increasingly compelling. But it has also produced three elemental global business questions: Who are my prospects, how do I connect with them and how do I get paid? Let’s focus on the “Who” first, with these global stats from National Geographic” (January 2011), plus my editorializing.

  • Nineteen percent of Earthlings are Chinese, 17% are Indian and 4% are American. By 2030, the first two will invert.
  • By gender, males barely edge out females: 1.01 to 1.0. But my demographic experts report wide swings in median age among countries, which must factor in any export strategy.
  • In a historical shift, just over half of Earthlings are now urbanites. Remember, city folk use different stuff than their country cousins.
  • Here are global workplace profiles: 40% of us work in services, 38% in agriculture and 22% in industry. This means different things to different industries, but it means something to all businesses.
  • English is the international language of business, but is the first language of only 5% of global prospects. When doing business outside the U.S., be culturally sensitive and patient with the translation process.
  • Breaking news: 82% of your global prospects are literate. If you can read and write you can improve your life, which explains the growth of the middle class in emerging markets. A growing global middle class means more affluent consumers.
  • Computers are luxuries for most Earthlings. But cell phone usage is exploding across the globe and billions who never owned a PC, or used the Internet, will soon do both with a smart phone. Two words, Benjamin: global mobile.

Even though India and China are much in the news, American small businesses should consider export opportunities in our own hemisphere first, especially where trade agreements are in place, like Canada, Mexico, Panama, Colombia and Chile.

In the next article we’ll address the other two elemental questions: How to connect with global prospects and how to get paid.

Consider business growth outside of America’s four walls.

I have an extensive library of interviews with many exporting experts on SmallBusinessAdvocate.com. Click here to listen or download any that look interesting.

Check out more great SBA content HERE!

What I liked about Obama’s State of the Union Speech

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on January 30, 2010
in Politics, Presidential policies, Trade and Trade - Imports - Exports
. 0 Comments

During President Obama’s 2010 State of the Union speech he identified a number of issues that I give him high marks for. Here is my list:

Tax incentives for new hires:  The president proposed tax credits for new hiring by businesses. This is a great idea, but it’s about a year late so he needs to get this passed right away.

Free trade:  He included the need for more free trade agreements, including the one with Columbia that has been stuck in Congress for years.  He’ll have to fight forces in his own party to get this done.

Energy:  I give President Obama a high-five for proposing more nuclear power in America’s future, plus more drilling for our sovereign oil and gas deposits.  Again, he’ll have to deal with his own folks to make this happen.

Iran:  Mr Obama fired a shot across the bow of Iran; I have already predicted he would get a chance to make good on this stance in 2010.  If I’m right, we won’t have to wait long to see if Obama has the stones to back-up his rhetoric with action.

Recently, on my radio program, The Small Business Advocate Show, I talked about all of these issues.  Take a few minutes to listen and let me know what you thought about this speech. Listen Live! Download, Too!

Developing your small business exporting plan

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on January 29, 2010
in Globalization, Trade, Trade - Imports - Exports and Uncategorized
. 0 Comments
Here’s an interesting fact: If you’re an American small business owner, 95% of your prospects live outside the U.S. Of course, there was a time when that stat meant little to most small firms. But in the 21st century, the Internet brings the world to your virtual doorstep.
Yes, if you sell something online to a customer in another country, that counts as exporting.  And Internet sales is a great way to develop a crawl-walk-run exporting strategy.  But when you’re ready to start thinking more in bulk and less in onesies, you’ll be happy to learn that there are organizations that are standing by to make full-fledged exporting almost as easy for a small business as selling on eBay.
Recently, Doug Barry joined me on my radio program, The Small Business Advocate Show, to discuss how to develop and execute a comprehensive exporting plan with help from the government organizations, including prospecting, execution and the financial elements (like you getting paid). Doug is Director of Marketing and Communications for the U.S. Commercial Service, the global business solutions unit of the U.S. Dept. of Commerce. He is also a very important member of my Brain Trust.
Take a few minutes to listen to this conversation and let us know what we can do to help you execute your exporting plans. Listen Live! Download, Too!

John Naisbitt and Doris Naisbitt on China’s Megatrends

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on January 6, 2010
in Economy: National and Global, Future thinking, Globalization and Trade
. 0 Comments

Almost 30 years ago, the world was introduced to the research and prophecies of John Naisbitt, when he published his landmark book, Megatrends. I read Megatrends around 1984 and it helped me see that the world I was comfortable in wasn’t going to be the reality of my future. Not too many days have gone by since then without my seeing marketplace evidence of John’s enduring cardinal prophecy, which states: the more high tech humans create the more high touch we will require.

Over the years, I have applied this guidepost in my business and have used “high-tech/high-touch” as an effective metaphor – always with attribution – in the written and spoken products I have produced. So it was with great excitement that I had the opportunity to interview John a few years back on my radio program, The Small Business Advocate Show. And recently, I had the honor of helping John and his wife, Doris, launch their new book, China’s Megatrends. They’ve spent the past several years studying the Asian universe and most recently have focused on this region’s 800lb gorilla, which we talk about during this interview.

Should the world fear or embrace China’s emergence? What about China’s legacy of communism? Will China make the rules others will follow? What are the chinks in China’s socio-economic armor? These are some of the topics John, Doris and I discuss. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear from these two important voices about how global business will be conducted. And please be sure to leave your own thoughts, which I will make sure John and Doris see.

Here is my recent interview with John and Doris Naisbitt:  Listen Live! Download, Too!

Here is my 2006 interview with John Naisbitt:  Listen Live! Download, Too!

Hanging out with those wild and crazy Chamber execs

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on July 31, 2009
in Economy: National and Global, Networking and Trade
. 1 Comment

As I write this blog post I’m in the beautiful city of Raleigh, in the great state of North Carolina, attending the American Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE) annual convention. Once a year professional chamber leaders descend on a different American city to whoop it up on behalf of chambers, learn how to be a better chamber leader, how to work with neighboring chambers and how to do a better job of helping their chamber members. And since 90% of the membership of the typical local chamber of commerce is small business, most of which have less than 25 employees, by extension, these folks are also whooping it up on behalf of my heroes, small business owners. Ergo, where else would I be?

Recently, in this blog and on my small business radio program, The Small Business Advocate Show, I’ve written and talked about my respect and admiration for local chambers of commerce. But when you see chamber professionals gaggled up in one setting, like an ACCE convention, you see what a supportive and motivating family they are to each other. From this vantage point, you can appreciate the dedication of these folks as they talk about their local issues and challenges, while launching or participating in initiatives that have a national impact. For example:

1. A national program to help chambers be more effective with social media so they can ultimately help their small business members with this hot topic.
2. A national initiative to help chambers help their members “go green.”
3. A national program to teach school children leadership skills based on a plan our friend, Stephen Covey, talks about in his new book, “The Leader in Me.”

While here, I’ve met chamber leaders from around the world, such as Vietnam, Cayman Islands and Norway; all with the same motivations and passion as their U.S. counterparts, and all encouraging relationships and trade between countries. When I talk with these people I think of the words of 19th century French economist, Frederick Bastiat, who said, “When goods cross borders, armies don’t!” The possibility of achieving a peace dividend is yet another reason to admire chamber leaders.

Recently, I’ve conducted several interviews with chamber leaders: Steve Millard, with the Cleveland, OH chamber (COSE), and I talked about the social media project. Harvey Schmitt, with Raleigh Chamber, and I talked about hosting the ACCE event. Aaron Nelson, Chapel Hill Chamber talked with me about the GreenPlus program. And I interviewed Wil Pineau, CEO of the Cayman Islands Chamber and Lars Legernes, with the Olso, Norway Chamber, about their countries. Take a few minutes to listen to these world-class leaders, and be sure to leave your own thoughts.

For Stephen Covey’s interview:
For Steve Millard’s interview:
For Harvey Schmitt’s interview:
For Aaron Nelson’s interview:
For Wil Pineau’s interview:
For Lars Legernes’ interview:

How birth rate and generational waves impact our future

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on July 17, 2009
in Globalization and Trade
. 1 Comment

Could regional birth rates and demographic anomalies impact global economic competition? Do China, Japan, Russia and Europe have more to fear from within because of demographic and generational wave issues than from global competition without?

China’s “One child” policy has manifested in the abortion of 400 million live births in the past three decades - most of them female - effectively cutting a hole in a generation. Japan’s birthrate has been declining in recent years. Europe’s birthrate has been declining, plus it faces significant challenges with the growing Muslim immigrant population that is not being assimilated into European societies.

Could the western hemisphere - the Americas - become a self-sustaining, self-contained trade zone?

Recently, on my small business radio program, The Small Business Advocate Show, long-time Brain Trust member, Ken Gronbach joined me to talk about why we need to include demographic realities into our long-term business planning, both within our countries as well as globally. Ken is a demographer, futurist and author of The Age Curve. Take a few minutes to listen to the fascinating report Ken delivered in this interview.