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European Small Business Statistics

We've been getting quite a few questions lately about the number of small businesses in the European Union (EU). The quick answer is 25 million. Also, European SMEs employ roughly 95 million Europeans (53% of the EU's workforce) and generate...
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European Small Business Statistics

We've been getting quite a few questions lately about the number of small businesses in the European Union (EU).  The quick answer is 25 million.  Also, European SMEs employ roughly 95 million Europeans (53% of the EU's workforce) and generate about half of the EU's private industry sales.

800pxeu_flag_svg_2Read on for the longer answer.

The EU defines small businesses slightly differently than the US SBA does.  Their categories are:

  • Smal...
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Shipping 2.0

bMighty has an article on small business warehouse and shipping outsourcing firm Shipwire.  The story discusses how Doggypads, a supplier of a dog housebreaking pads, outsources all their shipping and warehousing to Shipwire. 

Shipwire is another example of how outsource services enable small businesses by:

1.  providing small businesses access to facilities and capabilities they could not afford on their own.

2.  a...

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Farmshoring

Farmshoring is a term I've missed but has been around for several years. It describes outsourcing or locating operations in rural areas of the US instead of moving them off-shore. The advantages are: fewer cultural or language barriers no time...
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Global marketing from a family farm

Our friend G.L. Hoffman shared this family story of marketing, family farms, and global connections.

Read the story,  and then think about this discussion question:

What little things could you be doing right now to reach your customers in new and personal ways?

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The Need to Manage Talent Globally

The McKinsey Quarterly recently published their survey results on “Why multinationals struggle to manage talent“. Their result highlights the challenges that multinational firms are facing when it comes to managing global talent, and more importantly, how it can reflect on their financial results.

International assignments enable firms to achieve greater cultural diversity, innovation through better understanding of their target customers, ena...

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Holland’s largest online retailer shares Web 2.0 vision

Today’s blog is guest-written by Anna Skaya, Online Community Manager, Europe Meet wehkamp.nl - the number one online retailer in Holland and one of the best and most personal online department stores across Europe. Wehkamp prides itself on turning products and services into smart, innovative solutions and exceeding their customers’ expectations. “Innovation” was the resounding topic for [...]
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Market Economics, Deregulation and Small Business in Yemen

Two underlying, but very powerful, long term trends are driving the growth of the global small business sector. The first is the broad adoption of market economics. Capitalism won its contest with communism and most countries have moved to market-based...
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Emerging Markets and the Global Economy

Interesting piece by the Economist Intelligence Unit covering the increasing importance of the developing world on the global economy.  Key quote:

"Emerging markets, with their fast growth and hunger for imports, are sustaining the developed economies. If this continues, the global economy will achieve a soft landing. Yet many of these markets are showing signs of overheating: monetary tightening, or indeed the maintenance of high global...

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Micro Global Business

As we’re further developing the concept for the Monolab|Incubator, we’re starting to realize that our target market is not exactly the one we had in mind initially. While early stage companies remain our customers, we’re slowly expanding our focus from the solo entrepreneur to the already-formed start-up company. And for the later, we’re focusing on what we call Micro Global Businesses (MGB).

These businesses are born out of the Internet. ...