Finance Business

This morning I met “@Coach_Colette” from New York City in person in Brussels while she was giving a talk for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s project Global Library grantees.

I met Colette on Twitter through Leo “@srleosalazar” I also met Leo on Twitter and after a couple of Tweets, Leo offered me a fantastic virtual experience: A “live” Twitter interview.

I have not met Leo directly, but we use Skype and I can hear his voice and see Leo has an extraordinary presence when asking questions. We may or may not be business partners, but that doesn’t matter. What’s really interesting and amazing is how Twitter helps make “statistically impossible connections” with people you don’t know. I have several virtual Twitter friends that I meet directly and several others I follow on Facebook or Linkedin.

Building a strong network of friends, relatives, or colleagues is one of the most …

5 Tips on How to Connect With People You Don’t Know Read More

ONE: Pay attention to your business capabilities

The first important step is an honest assessment of your business. Developing an export market takes time: it’s not uncommon for producers to spend three years focusing, energy and costs before getting their first order. So when you focus on your export business, you need to make sure your local operations operate smoothly.

Obtaining export success can create volatile demand forecasts that lead to overstocking or understocking and production variations that limit the capacity to complete orders on time.

Exporters need to be aware that ‘niche’ and ‘small’ in the US is very different to Australia.

For example, if you win a contract with a ’boutique’ supermarket with 10 stores it might sound very manageable, but it’s not unusual for boutique” supermarkets to pull in over $300 000 a week in revenues.

Scaling up production quickly to meet increased demand ultimately requires increased …

5 Tips for Overcoming the US Market Read More