In March 2005, Alex Bellinger started one of the first podcasts in the UK related to business. 2+ years on, SmallBizPod is the leading UK source for business start-up advice in a country not know for its entrepreneurs. And the information stored on this site is good for start-ups in any country. The latest issue [...] Read more »
Pros and Cons Of Buying A Franchise
Industry analysts estimate that franchising directly employs more than 8 million people, a new franchise outlet opens somewhere in the U.S. every 8 minutes, and approximately one out of every 12 retail business establishments is a franchised business. Overall 1 out of 7 retail jobs in the US are tied to franchises. But there are [...] Read more »
Global Broadband Internet Prices Differ Greatly
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) says 60% of its member countries net users are now on broadband. Japan’s price for broadband per megabit per second is the lowest in the OECD at $0.22, with the most expensive being Turkey at $81.13. In the US, the cheapest megabit per second broadband connection is [...] Read more »
248 Cities In China Have 1 Million People Or More
Eric Wolff, Commercial Consul at the US Consulate General in Chengdu, China, recently spoke in Newport Beach on the potential of ’2nd tier and 3rd tier’ cities in China. 2nd tier cities of close to 10 million people each, such as Chengdu, Kunming, Nanjing and Wuhan have seen real annual economic growth exceeding 14% in [...] Read more »
The Latest ‘Big Mac’ Index Results
20 years ago, ‘The Economist’ started comparing the price of a Big Mac in various countries around the world. In addition to being a comparison of the cost of doing business in a country, the index indicates which currencies are under and over valued. Using this yardstick, China’s yuan is the cheapest currency. Most rich-world [...] Read more »
Running Out Of Oil? Not Exactly!
We hear that the world is running out of oil. But then we read that we have 40 more years of supply with known oil reserves. Who is correct? Actually, a more immediate danger to world oil supplies are some of the largest oil producing countries, such as Venezuela which is artificially limiting production. And [...] Read more »
Lessons from TESCO entering the US market
The chief executive of Tesco PLC, Terry Leahy, runs a retail chain that’s twice the size of Wal-Mart in the United Kingdom. Here are five tips from Mr. Leahy on expanding into new international markets: (1) Do your market research (2) Be flexible with your business formula (3) Hire local management (4) Do not move [...] Read more »
