Going global with small business

Zia Daniell Wigder | May 25, 2007, 06:34 AM

Over the years, I’ve ended up ordering from a variety of small business sites around the world, from 1001 Listes, a site highlighting boutiques throughout France and Belgium, to most recently, Saffron Marigold, a site specializing in fabrics from India. The most recent experience was such an overwhelmingly positive one (items are made to order in India and couriered to your door with a handwritten note a few days later) that I was curious to find out how much of an impact web-enabled small businesses were now having on a global level.

Sonal, our resident small business expert, pointed out that while Internet connectivity had indeed enabled small businesses abroad to build websites and tap into the US market, an equally important trend is the growing base of connected global consumers that US small businesses can now reach. Indeed, there’s a tendency for us here in the US to equate global trade with large companies, but the reality is far different. According to GlobeTrade, there are close to 250,000 small businesses exporting in the US; these businesses are responsible for almost a third of all US exports.

And interestingly, new businesses in the US are increasingly run by immigrants. In fact, the Kaufmann Foundation states that on a per capita basis, immigrants were 25% more likely than native-born residents to start businesses in 2006. As the overall percentage of immigrants in the US population continues to rise (currently 12%, up from 5% in 1970), so too will small business ties to other nations. An increase in global Internet connectivity will have a substantial impact not only in terms of the breadth and depth of items available to American consumers, but also on the millions of small businesses located here in the US.