Archive for the 'Global trade' Category

12 Questions for CEO Jacqueline Smith, Kiesque during our weggchat™ 2/6/19

Published February 11, 2019 Awards/Honors , Enlighten Me! , Exporting , global branding , Global trade , global women entrepreneurs , How-to , Inspiration , Marketing , Startup , Video , weggchat™ Leave a Comment
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Here is an excerpt from our hashtag #weggchat (follow @weggtoday) held on Wednesday, February 6, 2019 at 11:00 a.m. Central time.

Starting Up and Taking a Personal Care Product Global

weggchat™ guest: Jacqueline Smith, CEO
Kiesque (www.Kiesque.com)

weggchat moderator: Laurel Delaney, President
Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global™ (www.womenentrepreneursgrowglobal.org)

Welcome to our weggchat™ everyone. Thank you for joining us. Today we are excited to have Jacqueline Smith, CEO of Chicago-based Kiesque (www.kiesque.com) with us. Morning Jacqueline and all!

weggChat with Jacqueline SmithHere is how our weggchat runs. We have 12 questions. I’ll send the first one as Q1, which shows it is official and then Jacqueline @Kiesque can respond w/A1. Everyone feel free to comment or share your experience relative to the questions. Let’s have fun, learn and grow global together! Don’t forget to include #weggchat in every tweet. Here we go!

Q1: What prompted you to start your business @Kiesque?

Jacqueline Smith:  I always wanted to have my own company some day. When I had the concept of my first product it seemed the right time to begin.

Q2: What does @Kiesque stand for?

JS:  Kiesque, pronounced key-esk doesn’t have a specific meaning but the name was created with a few goals in mind. It was to have a distinct uniqueness to it, have no google returns, and not have any translations in a foreign language.

Q3: You have a patented product called Liquid Palisade. I’ve heard it called “painter’s tape” for nail art. How did you come up with that product? Explain what’s unique about it.

JS:  I imagined a liquid applied to the cuticles before polishing and peeled away afterwards to reveal a clean manicure.

Q4: You received a patent on Liquid Palisade. What steps did you take to make that happen?

JS:  The very first thing I did was to spend hours researching patents on the internet and searching every store I entered to see if this concept existed. Next, I paid for a professional patent search to double check my findings and spent time learning about the process.

Q5: Can you share a video on how the product works?

JS:  All videos can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/user/kiesque1

Q6: Think back: when did you first start selling internationally and how did it happen?

JS:  I was very fortunate that several international outlets reached out to us directly after we had exposure in the press.

Q7: Where’s your biggest market outside the USA and why?

JS:  My biggest market outside the states is the European Union because I signed an exclusivity with Sephora Europe for an all store launch.

Q8: You have received phenomenal press coverage (https://kiesque.com/pages/liquid-palisade-in-the-press). How did that come about?

JS:  When I was ready for market, I emailed 3 influential nail bloggers to ask if they would like samples and within a week or so they posted their reviews.

Q9: Tell us about any recent awards you earned, if any, and what that experience was like?
e.g., http://www.telva.com/premios-telva/album/2017/02/01/58917f5f468aeb302e8b4638_12.html

JS:  Most recently, I was invited to participate in an Export Pitch by Chicago Metro Exports (http://www.metrochicagoexports.com/pitch_competitions-2-2-2/) and sponsored by Chicago Regional Growth Corporation along with UPS.

Q10: What’s the most fun thing that happened while running @Kiesque?

JS:  One of my best memories was going viral on Instagram but not for the reason you might think.

Q11: What’s the biggest challenge you experienced and how did you overcome it?

JS:  One of the biggest challenges was creating educational packaging for a prestige market. They just don’t go hand in hand.

Q12: What advice do you have for other women entrepreneurs and business owners in growing a business globally?

JS:  Move at your own pace and make decisions that are best for you. Listen to your instincts.

Starting Up and Taking a Personal Care Product Global with Jacqueline Smith

Published February 4, 2019 Announcement , Business Development , Contributors , Distributors/reps/wholesalers , e-commerce , Economic growth , Education , Enlighten Me! , Event , global branding , Global trade , global women entrepreneurs , How-to , Innovation , Inspiration , International business , Leadership , Management , Marketing , Media , Networking , Scaling a business , Technology , Web globalization , wegg event , weggchat™ Leave a Comment
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

weggChat with Jacqueline Smith

On Wednesday February 6th at 11:00 am CST,  Jacqueline Smith will be leading our first weggchat™ of 2019 on Twitter. Smith is the CEO of Kiesque, and her chat will cover “Starting Up and Taking a Personal Care Product Global.”

Why should you participate? Glad you asked.

Not only are all of our weggchats™ free of charge to participants, but they can help you get answers to all of your questions about taking a business global. During the the weggchat™, we will field questions and add insights on global entrepreneurship.

Here are just three of the questions that Smith will cover in her talk:

  1. What prompted you to start your business?
  2. How did you develop a patent?
  3. When did you first start selling globally?

Use tchat.io or twubs.com to follow the conversation with #weggchat. Small business owners are especially encouraged to chime in with questions and answers! In the last five minutes of our chat, all participants are invited to share their “140 character” elevator pitch on their businesses.

A full description of the event can be found on our website.  See you there!

Make Things on a Small Scale and Then Grow Global

Published January 14, 2019 Country specific , Education , Exporting , Global trade , global women entrepreneurs , Inspiration , Startup Leave a Comment
Tags: , , , , , , ,

While Solange Nisingizwe was on vacation, she designed clothes for herself.  When she returned to Switzerland, she met so many people who admired her outfits and were asking where they could get similar designs that she began making them on a small scale until the number grew.

Based on wegg’s® experience working with hundreds of women business owners, that’s how many women grow global.  They start small, gather ideas, explore options, and then sell to the world.  Kati Kollhoff, CEO, NUMiX, presented a wegginar® related to this, “Small Startup, Big Global Impact” (listen free of charge).

In the case of Solange, she spent a whole year conducting business research and searching for customers. Then in November 2016, Sola and Wax Design Ltd. was born.

The company makes clothes and accessories for export in Europe, and is supplied on the Rwandan market on a small scale.

Knowing that running a business in different countries can be hectic, the plan is still to take Sola and Wax Design Ltd. global.  To expand its reach, Sola and Wax Design Ltd. will look outside their borders.

Read the entire article about how two Rwanda women entrepreneurs found their niche in exporting Made in Rwanda clothing.

Join us for Jacqueline Smith’s weggchat™ via Twitter February 6 at 11:00 a.m. Central time with the hashtag #weggchat. Jacqueline will focus on Starting Up and Taking a Personal Care Product Global.  Go here to learn how to join the discussion.

If you have any questions on how to participate, email Laurel Delaney, ldelaney(@)womenentrepreneursgrowglobal.org, who will be moderating the program. Meanwhile, follow us on Twitter @weggtoday and get ready to take it global on 2/6!

 

Roll Up Your Sleeves and Do the Hard Yards to Go Global

Published December 17, 2018 Country specific , Economic growth , Education , Enlighten Me! , Global trade , global women entrepreneurs , Inspiration Leave a Comment
Tags: , , , , , ,

Three trailblazing Australian entrepreneurs — Samantha Wills, Emma Isaacs and Lizzy Abegg —  have built global businesses from the ground up.  Do they have something you don’t?  Highly unlikely.  What they discovered in their global journey is this:

We just have to refuse to buy into the stories we tell ourselves about why we can’t, roll up our sleeves and do the hard yards [to go global]!

The moral of their story is that “every single one of us can take an idea that inspires us and turn it into something that inspires others.” We are doing the same here at wegg®.

The article below highlights the following eight lessons for building whatever it is that lights you up.

  1. Be passionate.
  2. Define your difference.
  3. Communicate your Why.
  4. Risk mistakes
  5. Work from your strengths.
  6. Don’t over personalize.
  7. Ditch your ego.
  8. Hire (and fire on values).

Oh, and one more:  Shine bright in 2019.  Read the entire article on women going global and don’t forget to join us on 1/9 for our next FREE wegginar® in the New Year!

Registration is open and free for Laurel Delaney’s 1/9 talk. She will present her annual global trade trends report 2019.  Join us. Register here.

Everything You Need to Know from Our wegginar® with Cristina Bandal

Published November 12, 2018 Announcement , Barriers to trade , Branding , Business Development , Capital (working) , Contributors , Cross border compliance , Culture , e-commerce , Economic growth , Education , Email marketing , emerging markets , Enlighten Me! , Exporting , Foreign office setup , global branding , Global news , Global trade , global women entrepreneurs , How-to , Importing , International business , Logistics/transportation , Management , Marketing , Networking , Outsourcing , Social Media and Network , Technology , Web globalization , wegg event , wegginar , World entrepreneurship Leave a Comment
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

wegginar_NOV_2018_website

This past Wednesday, wegg® had the pleasure of hosting the Industry Segment Manager of Retail and Consumer Goods for UPS, Cristina Bandal. Bandal lead one of our free online wegginars®, which provide monthly, accessible education to women entrepreneurs everywhere. Bandal’s talk covered how to overcome the obstacles that people face when trying to sell their products to the global market. She also answered the questions of wegginar® participants. Read their inquiries, and her responses, below:

  1. What’s the single biggest challenge on why people don’t setup an online storefront?  Setting up an international store may sound complicated if you are thinking of creating a country site – but with only a few enhancements, you can make international customers feel at home. 
  2. What are your thoughts on how to factor in taxes, (shipping and duty), to price my products profitably, yet make them affordable to my customers?  With the solution available, your catalogue will provide the information needed to calculate a duty and tax, and offer a landed cost to your customers (and protect you from abandoned goods!)
  3. How does our current trade war with China impact the information presented in this wegginar®?  Whatever tariff regulations are passed are updated to protect the shipments.
  4. Is there a way to target one foreign market when I launch my e-commerce site so that I can test the waters?  YES!!  You can choose what countries to target.
  5. What’s the best way to setup a payment method, in your own currency or the customer’s?  International consumers would like to see their own currency to avoid surprises. By using the UPS i-parcel solution, you are protected by allowing transactions to be processed through UPS, and provide fraud protection.

To read Bandal’s extended answers to these questions, and more, you can view the full presentation (PDF) from the wegginar®, here. wegg® was honored to have Bandal share her experience and knowledge with us.

If you were not able to participate in this month’s wegginar®, we already have registration open for our 12/5 talk with Andrew Molinsky, Ph.D. He will talk about how, “if you are not outside your comfort zone, you won’t learn anything.” Register here.

Show Me the Data Supporting Women in Trade!

Published November 5, 2018 Barriers to trade , Education , Equality , Gender challenges , Global trade , global women entrepreneurs , Research , Supply Chain , Sustainability practices Leave a Comment
Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Panelists at the recent World Trade Organization’s Public Forum event in Geneva, chaired by UNCTAD Deputy Secretary-General Isabelle Durant, asked which data were necessary for formulating gender-responsive trade policies and how to improve their availability.

Analysis of global value chains – the complex international supply and manufacturing chains along which modern goods pass – can show the important part played by women in global trade but which is missed by trade statistics alone.

“A way to solve this would be to establish a link between exporting firms and their employees to enable better analysis of gender roles across the whole value chain over time,” Nadim Ahmad, chief of the Trade and Competitiveness Statistics Division at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, said. “In the absence of this, collaboration with the private sector presents opportunities for filling data gaps.”

With the work that wegg® does, we would be pleased to collaborate with UNCTAD to ensure that no woman is left behind on opportunities for exporting and expanding a business globally.  We are also happy to work with the World Trade Organization to craft a policy whereby we offer sustainable trade, technology-enabled trade, and a more inclusive trading system.

Read the entire article about women-supporting trade policies need better data, experts say.  wegg agrees.

wegg® keeps energizing women entrepreneurs the world over. We can help you build confidence, find great resources and show you the steps you can take to go global. Join us for our FREE wegginar® on 11/7 with Cristina Bandal. You can find all of the details, and register for the event, here.

Make Your Global Online Shoppers Feel at Home Wherever They Are

Published October 15, 2018 Announcement , Business Development , e-commerce , Economic growth , Email marketing , Enlighten Me! , Exporting , Foreign office setup , global branding , Global trade , global women entrepreneurs , How-to , Importing , Innovation , Inspiration , International business , Logistics/transportation , Management , Manufacturing , Mobile , Networking , Outsourcing , Risks , Sales & Distribution , Scaling a business , Social Media and Network , Strategy , Technology , Training (entrepreneurial) , Transportation , Trends , Web globalization , wegg event , wegginar , World entrepreneurship , World Travel Leave a Comment
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

wegginar_NOV_2018_website

Registration is still open for our FREE November 7th, 2018 wegginar®, with presenter Cristina Bandal, Industry Segment Manager of Retail and Consumer Goods for UPS.

Cristina has an extensive career with UPS, working within the marketing functions. She has worked with merchants in the retail and high tech industries. Cristina makes customer experiences valuable, by improving the shopper’s experiences. Her most recent assignment helps enable merchants to sell outside the US through UPS technology.

If 95% of the worlds population lives outside the US, why are some merchants still only selling to the domestic market? Complex rules, costly risks and high transportation costs make it difficult for small businesses to merge into new markets. UPS i-parcel not only offers a solution to these merchants, but provides a frictionless experience to international consumers.

wegginar® participants can expect to learn how to…

  1. Offer international consumers the same shopping experience on your website that you offer to shoppers in the US.

  2. Avoid complicated and costly international shipping that will ultimately improve your conversion rate.
  3. Enable new international markets with just a click and reach a world of consumers.
  4. Make your online shoppers feel at home anywhere

wegg® aims to make resources for going global accessible to all women entrepreneurs, and our wegginars® are free thanks to our sponsors. To register for the event, visit this link: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/8810009934736118275 

Female Entrepreneurs Are the Engine of Global Growth

Published October 8, 2018 Economic growth , Education , Enlighten Me! , Equality , Gender challenges , Global trade , global women entrepreneurs Leave a Comment
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Bonnie Chui, contributor for Forbes, writes a thoughtful piece about how female entrepreneurs are going global and that new policy attention may close the gap. At wegg®, we are closing that gap — whether there is new policy attention or not.

We not only serve women entrepreneurs by educating them on how to go global, we are women entrepreneurs, and through our educational efforts, we continue to energize economies worldwide.

Further, based on my experience running a successful global business and serving as a consultant to countless global women business owners, my observations indicate that women entrepreneurs must condition themselves to be risk oriented, innovative, and proactive (RIP) in order to achieve any reasonable level of success in the export marketplace.

Like everyone else, they must also achieve five things before venturing out beyond borders:

  1. Becoming ready mentally, particularly emotionally
  2. Being ready operationally
  3. Having run a successful local business
  4. Knowing how to use the latest technology
  5. Having a business with export potential.

Also, in my view, a perceived lack of credibility is the number one barrier for women doing business globally. This perceived deficiency lack makes it difficult for women to access markets, market information, and establish relationships. If you don’t already have an influential person in your life who can tout your capabilities, find one and cultivate the relationship, or just reach out to wegg.

Most of the above referenced facts are covered in my Exporting:  The Definitive Guide to Selling Abroad Profitably, Chapter 27, “Women Business Owners: Engine of Global Growth.”

Let’s face it, women launch businesses for the same reasons men do — to build wealth, to capitalize on their ideas and to be their own bosses.

Oftentimes you must learn about starting a business and taking it global the hard way — by doing it — and getting assistance from programs such as wegg’s helps enormously.

Female entrepreneurs are the engine of global growth and with appropriate support, will conquer the world.  Just you watch.

wegg® keeps energizing women entrepreneurs the world over. We can help you build confidence, find great resources and show you the steps you can take to go global. Join us for our FREE wegginar® on 11/7 with Cristina Bandal. You can find all of the details, and register for the event, here.

wegg® Mission

Our mission is to educate, inspire and nurture women business owners and entrepreneurs worldwide on how to go global so they can run healthier businesses and create a new future for themselves, their families and their community.


Women Entrepreneurs GROW Global is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. EIN/Tax ID #47-2956522.

Donate Your Gift Card to wegg!

Not know what to do with your Starbucks or Target Gift Card? Put it to good use. Exchange it for a donation to WEGG! You will receive a tax receipt for the entire full value or any unused balance of your card.

Giving Assistant

Give the gift of going global to a woman business owner.
weggChat on Feb 6
WEGG news sign up
wegg workshop in September
WEGG linkedIn group

Join 2,089 other followers

Connect

Email President

Email Director of Development

Twitter: weggToday

Facebook (Like Us!)

LinkedIn

Instagram

Categories

Archives

Ask a Question

What will it be?

Honors & Awards

Use Smile Amazon and WEGG receives a .05% donation from Amazon on eligible purchases.

Copyright Notice

©2008-2019 Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global™.
All rights reserved.
%d bloggers like this: