“HSBC's International Business Survey found that the portion of U.S. executives planning to increase their overseas sales targets rose sharply to a survey high of 72%, up from 49% in 2008 and 56% in 2009, underscoring the rapid globalization of the core of America's economy” (Staff, 2010).
In terms of going overseas for the first time ever the challenge to find recent examples doing business in foreign countries drives my focus to small companies. Naturally, the presumption here is the first time ever part.
“Among the companies that have recently sent jobs overseas are Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE:HPQ) in Palo Alto, CKE Restaurants Inc. in Irvine and Hilton Worldwide, the McLean, Va., hotelier that maintained a reservations center in Hemet employing 295 people” (Lee, 2010).
So if we lift the first time ever consideration we find that companies that already have a presence overseas continue to pursue sending yet more employment overseas. A review of the rationale is without surprise: it is cheaper. This is nearly always the reason.
Would there be a point to pushing for first time examples, contacting the SBA or SCORE, etc? The thought is there is no point to such a pursuit. However, is there a rationale for pursuing small business expressions in particular; yes. At the very least, it personalizes the dynamic.
So on to the question at hand: proactive and reactive postures.
There is an e-commerce fulfillment business called Shipwire that recently did its own internal study of its international orders; this being an expression of import and exports. Revealed is that 75% of global merchants were making use of this, compared with only 13% of US merchants. This may be why Pres. Obama announced the National Export Initiative (NEI) this past March; with the intention of doubling exports within five years (Watters , 2010).
Such an acknowledgment may be long overdue. Since the 1980s, the US economy has flipped, and we have experienced more than a quarter of a century where we are importing more than we are exporting. Nonetheless, while we may point to reasons, such as the recently challenging economy, there seem numerous reasons to both be optimistic and hopeful.
As regards small firms, Americans have never earned or spent more of our income than we do today globally. In 2009, American exports topped 1 trillion for the first time. American small businesses are successful as exporters; and this includes with China. Small businesses benefit from imports, access to global capital and demonstrate that they can thrive in the global marketplace (Griswold, 2007).
Consider the global business language is ostensibly English, that e-mail to Skype (along with machine translation) is globally free and readily available, and the innumerable business models, where low or no inventory is available (as well as other relatively comfortable business models). Then consider how we used to have to build into markets just yesterday (from regional to national, etc., first). Micro-multinationals have been possible for a few years now. These are small businesses born directly global.
In a 2007 Small Business Trends article, they note the substantial number of antique dealers on eBay selling globally. This would have been impossible a half generation ago (Campbell , 2007). As long as one is willing to do the homework, (employment regulations, shipping importation, etc.), it becomes a question of why not.
In this context, the reasons are both reactive and proactive; it is a matter of survival. Being proactive and reactive are equally important, and would only be more or less so on a case-by-case basis. Now that the world is flat, new players on the scene are legitimately reactive in the face of whatever else is possible. On the planet Earth, anywhere else is possible. Therefore, why grow one's business when one can be born, proactively, globally.
As an industry wide small business expression, I cannot think of an applied visual art that does not have a capacity to upload into a global cyberspace ones portfolio and take entrepreneurial responsibility for forwarding one's own fiscal results. Growing oneself as a brand, a business in one's own right may seem daunting by the moving parts to consider. The consolation is a planet wide universe wealth of opportunity.
References
Campbell , A. (2007, July 25, 2007 ). Go Global Without Waiting to Grow Up [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://smallbiztrends.com/2007/07/go-global-without-waiting-to-grow-up.html
Griswold, D. (2007, June 13, 2007). Individual Liberty, Free Markets, and Peace. The Large Stake of U.S. Small Business in an Expanding Global Economy.. the CATO Institute, (), . doi: Retrieved from http://www.cato.org/testimony/ct-dg06132007.html
Lee, D. (2010, October 6, 2010). U.S. jobs continue to flow overseas. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from http://www.aarp.org/work/job-hunting/news-10-2010/u_s_jobs_continue_to_flow_overseas.html
Staff (2010, Wed June 30, 2010 12:24 pm). More US mid-sized companies look at expanding international revenues, reveals HSBC study. BI-ME. Retrieved from http://www.bi-me.com/main.php?id=46771&t=1&c=35&cg=4&mset=1011
Watters , A. (2010, May 3, 2010 4:00 PM). Study, Government Initiative Point to Small Businesses Expanding into Overseas Markets [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.readwriteweb.com/start/2010/05/study-government-initiative-point-to-small-businesses-expanding-into-overseas-markets.php
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