Business Beyond Borders

In the last of this four-part series, Cynthia Dearin reveals the checklist that she provides small to midsize businesses when looking to take their business overseas and how it has helped business owners and entrepreneurs avoid costly and fatal mistakes.

The checklist covers every aspect of the expansion process and Cynthia discusses the key points that all businesses should consider before diving in head first into a new market.

Cynthia also explains why she has committed herself to helping businesses amplify their impact by expanding internationally.

In this episode, Cynthia clarifies why undertaking market research and collecting data before going global is so important for small to mid-sized businesses.

Cynthia gives you the questions you need to ask yourself when looking to go overseas with your product or service and how they help you set yourself up for success.

Cynthia also shares her tips for avoiding analysis paralysis and what kind of research to conduct in order to get the answers you need so you don’t have to learn through trial and error.

Eric interviews Cynthia as she points out some of the common mistakes that people make when taking their business overseas and how to avoid them.

Cynthia highlights the importance of having self-awareness around the current success of a business in their domestic market, understanding a business’s core-competencies and the need to set S.M.A.R.T goals when venturing into new markets.

In this episode, Dearin & Associates Managing Director, Cynthia Dearin talks about why going global is now a viable option for many small to mid-sized businesses.

Cynthia shines a light on Dearin & Associates signature program, The International Business Accelerator and how it helps serious business owners and entrepreneurs develop a customized strategy, build confidence and create momentum when taking their business international.

In this episode of the Business Beyond Borders podcast, I interview Corinne Bot, Founder, CEO & Chief Disruptor of Polyglot Group, a leading global boutique consultancy dedicated to helping businesses expand globally and optimise their growth journey.

Polyglot Group was born 23 years ago, when Corinne realised that creating her own business was one way to have the career she wanted while raising a family. Today the company has a global network of expert partners and an international team spanning 9 time zones. Polyglot Group provide comprehensive solutions in business setup, HR consulting and outsourcing, talent acquisition, translation and interpreting and payroll outsourcing.

Corinne is a strong advocate for diversity and firmly believes in the necessity for leaders to be active in their community. She is a Trade Adviser for the French Government and a leader of the French community in Australia.

With over 20 years of experience in multicultural HR consulting, recruitment as well as business solutions, it is no surprise that Corinne successfully expanded her business to Europe, the United States and Asia.

Tune in to my interview with Corinne to find out about:

•How she started her career as a hairdresser before becoming an entrepreneur.
•How she created Polyglot Group as a new migrant to in Australia
Corinne’s strategy for taking Polyglot Group international, some of the challenges she encountered, and how she overcame them.
•How Polyglot helps clients all around the world to expand globally and addresses the challenge of working with cultural differences from country-to-country.
•How she manages Polyglot now that it’s crossing the 100-person mark all over the world.
•How Corinne juggled family life and being a business owner, over the years.
•How reading books like Le Petit Prince, The Little Prince by Saint-Exupery, The Brave New World from Aldous Huxley, and Helen Keller’s Life, influenced her life.
•Corinne’s advice to women entrepreneurs who want to take their business international.

I had a fantastic time interviewing Corinne and left our conversation feeling inspired and motivated to continue my own entrepreneurial journey. I loved her focus on building and empowering a team and on leaving a legacy. Her observation that she believes she has been successful in business because she is “not obsessed by it” also challenged and prompted me to think more deeply about my own beliefs and approach to being an entrepreneur.

If you’re a small business thinking of going global, check out the International Business Accelerator - an end-to-end solution that helps micro-to-medium businesses build and implement an international strategy: www.internationalbusinessaccelerator.com

In this episode of the Business Beyond Borders podcast, I interview Doyle Buehler, Founder and CEO of Dept.Digital.

Doyle Buehler, is a best-selling author, global entrepreneur, international speaker & digital business thought leader, specialising in strategic digital branding and marketing. Doyle has built multiple award-winning innovative online, ecommerce startups and digital media businesses around the world.

Tune in to my interview with Doyle to find out about:

• How he started his career as a pilot and aeronautical engineer before transitioning to an international digital business transformation mentor
• How he manages an international business with offices in Australia, Canada and the US
• How Dept.Digital helps entrepreneurs accelerate their business, drive demand, build engagement and survive in today's hyper-competitive world
• Doyle’s advice to companies thinking of going international and steps that needs to be done first, such as having a viable business structure, and solid international business strategy before taking the next step
• Doyle’s international expansion experience, motivations, key lessons, recommended strategies and techniques
• His thoughts on handling customers’ cultural differences, and how important it is to learn more about a new market and new business environment
• Doyle’s tips on managing different time zones, and prioritising and managing time effectively
• A common challenge that most tech companies face - the lack of a strong business model which leads to their failure most of the time.

Doyle was a pilot and aeronautical engineer before he became a serial entrepreneur, establishing and running a string of companies. But it hasn’t all been smooth sailing. Doyle hit a rough patch when his successful and rapidly expanding software company became a casualty of the 2009 global financial crisis.

One of his key learnings from that experience was that building an international business requires a solid strategy. Doyle says “once you have a general plan it is not that hard. There are some steps that you have to go through, there are specific ways and methodologies that you can use, but it is a matter of starting small but thinking, is there a possibility here? And in most cases, there is”.

Over the years, Doyle has created a lifestyle that many people can only dream of - splitting his time between the US, Canada and Australia … he’s the ultimate digital nomad.

This is a great episode for anyone wanting to know how to build a flexible, lifestyle business!

If you’re a small business thinking of going global, check out the International Business Accelerator - an end-to-end solution that helps micro-to-medium businesses build and implement an international strategy:
www.internationalbusinessaccelerator.com

This week on the Business Beyond Borders podcast, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Skander Malcolm, Managing Director and CEO of global foreign exchange company OFX.

OFX was born in a garage at Sydney’s northern beaches, and has grown to a global foreign exchange powerhouse, present on several continents around the world. They have a focus on helping small businesses to manage their overseas transfers and streamline their operations.

Skander joined OFX in 2017 and is leading the company’s continued global expansion, as it navigates the ever-changing world of fintech.

Tune in to my interview with Skander to find out about:

• How his experience managing large international teams across more than 80 countries shaped his journey to becoming the CEO of OFX,
• The story of how OFX grew from a garage startup from Sydney’s northern beaches to a where it is today as a publicly-listed company,
• The value of learning to listen to deal with complexity and develop as a leader,
• The customer-centric approach that drives OFX’s corporate strategy and entry into new international markets,
• His thoughts on where the foreign exchange industry is moving in the future and vision for growing the company internationally,
• The strategies that OFX uses to target and enter new markets, and the challenges they have faced in doing so,
• Some of the differences that OFX sees between Australian, North American, European and Asian foreign exchange customers,
• His thoughts on what defines a great corporate culture for an international company, and
• Skander’s advice to small and medium companies that are thinking of going global.

It was great to hear from Skander in his role as the person steering OFX into its next phase of international growth and development. Although he isn’t the Founder of OFX, Skander has the same passion for finance as Matt Gilmore, who created OFX (and was a friend of Skander’s at university), a laser focus on the customer and a highly strategic perspective to boot. I believe that this combination of factors makes him the kind of CEO that companies need as they grow beyond their original incarnation and beyond the original inspiration of the founder, into something much grander.

I also really appreciated Skander’s thoughts on maintaining perspective as a way as a way of dealing with tough times - tune in near the end of the show for those.

If you’re a small business thinking of going global, check out the International Business Accelerator - an end-to-end solution that helps micro-to-medium businesses build and implement an international strategy:
www.internationalbusinessaccelerator.com

In this episode of the Business Beyond Borders podcast, I interview Rob Rawson, Founder and CEO of Time Doctor.

Rob Rawson is a former medical doctor turned entrepreneur. After starting several successful and failed businesses ventures, he became the founder and CEO of Time Doctor, which offers employee time tracking software for companies with global virtual teams.

Tune in to my interview with Rob to find out about:

• How he started his career as a medical doctor before transitioning to an entrepreneur, and the experiences that shaped his decision to switch
• How he manages an entirely remote team of more than 60 people in 28 countries, and balances that with a young family
• How Time Doctor allows companies to build global virtual teams and access the talent they need to grow their business
• How Time Doctor uses content marketing and customer referrals to grow its international user base
• How Time Doctor focuses on its customers’ core needs to compete in the highly competitive global software-as-a-service (SAAS) market
• Rob’s tips for effectively managing a global team and some of the mistakes he sees companies make in doing so
• Why Rob thinks entrepreneurs and business owners should aim big, to counter the self-limiting beliefs that we all place on ourselves throughout our lives and careers

Rob is someone who had the courage to leave a safe career path for what he was really passionate about - being an entrepreneur. His outlook on the world and his “sky’s the limit” approach were refreshing - check it out!

P.S. If you’re a small business thinking of going global, check out the International Business Accelerator - an end-to-end solution that helps micro-to-medium businesses build and implement an international strategy:
www.internationalbusinessaccelerator.com

P.P.S Rob’s team is running the Running Remote conference in Bali on 23-24 June with an all-star lineup of speakers from Buffer, Doist, Flexjobs, Atlassian, GitHub and Transferwise:
www.runningremote.com

Business Beyond Borders subscribers can access a 20% discount on registration using the code cynthiadearin.

This week on the Business Beyond Borders podcast, I interview Joanne Cooper, tech pioneer and Founder and Managing Director of ID Exchange.

Jo is the entrepreneurial daughter of Australian IT pioneer Tom Cooper, a prominent figure during the 1980’s PC era. She cut her entrepreneurial teeth during the PC revolution, and at the tender age of 18, she founded her first company, Fox Computers.

Jo has worked with big players in the telecommunications space, including international players from Taiwan. In 2015, she founded ID Exchange, an early stage startup that strives towards social privacy innovation and digital ethics.

Tune in to my interview with Jo to find out about:

• Jo’s views on online privacy in the wake of the Facebook and Cambridge Analytica scandal
• How she found reputable international partners to build a global-scale product, including their partnership with UK company DigiMe
• How her upbringing as the daughter of a tech pioneer shaped her trajectory as an entrepreneur - including joining her father’s company at the age of 15
• Her journey as part of Stone & Chalk’s incubator program, and how she pitched her idea to them in the early stages
• How she has always sought out mentors to guide her in her career and international journey
• How the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe has influenced ID Exchange’s model, to enable consumers to opt-in or out of having their data accessed and used by companies
• Jo’s views on the environmental damage that the fintech industry has caused and her mission to address it via consumer-centric solutions
• The commodification of “data as the new oil” and the land-grab that is happening with companies trying to get access to individuals’ data
• How she researched and assessed the international competitive landscape and incorporated it into the design and development of her product
• Jo’s future plans for ID Exchange, including the open of an innovation campus in North-Western Sydney

As you’ll hear, Jo isn’t your stereotypical tech start-up founder and I found her story quite inspiring, for what it teaches about operating on one’s own terms. Jo created ID Exchange as a mature woman, which is quite unusual, and she’s forging ahead, regardless of whether she conforms to expectations or not. Jo has a big picture vision and is committed to combatting a big problem - protecting the sanctity of personal data in an increasingly digital world. This is an episode with a difference … check it out!

If you’re a small business thinking of going global, check out the International Business Accelerator - an end-to-end solution that helps micro-to-medium businesses build and implement an international strategy:
www.internationalbusinessaccelerator.com

For the episode #12 of Business Beyond Borders, I interviewed Oriana Nasser, Managing Director at Jerusalem Stone Group, a Palestinian company specialising in stone and marble quarrying.

Oriana has a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from San Francisco State University and was the only women in her graduating class! She also has a post-graduate qualification from the University of Harvard.

In 2008, Oriana joined Jerusalem Stone Group, which at the time was a small engineering business run by her husband. Ten years on, the company is a successful international business which employs more than 40 staff and exports to the United States, the Arabian Gulf States and Europe.

Tune in to my interview with Oriana to find out about:

• Oriana’s journey from being the only women in her graduating class at San Francisco State University to heading a successful international business based in Palestine.
• The significant challenges and restrictions that come with running a business in Palestine and how Oriana handles them.
• How Jerusalem Stone Group started to export internationally and the challenges that came with that expansion.
• The key strategies Oriana uses to find international clients.
• Where Oriana finds her inspiration and what keeps her going through hard times.

When you consider the challenges that Oriana has faced in operating and growing a company from an occupied territory, the success she has achieved is nothing short of remarkable. I’d like to dedicate this episode of Business Beyond Borders to all the entrepreneurs who feel as though “it’s just too hard” .... and remind you that “it’s all relative”!

If you’re a small business thinking of going global, check out the International Business Accelerator - an end-to-end solution that helps micro-to-medium businesses build and implement an international strategy:
www.internationalbusinessaccelerator.com

This week on the Business Beyond Borders podcast, I interviewed Alicia Navarro - CEO and Co-Founder of London-based Skimlinks.

Skimlinks is a content monetization platform, that helps online publishers make money and gain insights from their commerce-related content. Alicia launched her company in 2006 under a different guise - it began as a social decision-making tool, and evolved several times before it became Skimlinks.

Tune in to my interview with Alicia to find out:

• Her experience moving to London as a penniless entrepreneur to work on her startup idea
• How she pivoted her business three times before arriving at the idea of Skimlinks
• How her product management background helped her to pitch her business idea countless times and improve it everytime she was rejected
• How she managed to raise a seed round in the midst of the 2008 financial crisis
• How Skimlinks now facilitates more than $1 billion in sales for its publishing clients every year
• How Skimlinks leveraged its existing client based to win new clients and expand into the US
• The decision-making process that Alicia used to set up an office in San Francisco and then eventually move it to New York
• How Skimlinks’ company culture began organically, and the steps Alicia took to codify and embed it more deeply into the business over time

I’d describe Alicia as a super-smart, super personable, “geek girl” and born serial entrepreneur. She won a university medal in computing, but instead of becoming a corporate gun, she started her own thing …. A number of times.

She’s fast-paced, she’s flexible and she’s resilient. When things get tough Alicia takes a different direction, but she never gives up. And she doesn’t see being female as any kind of impediment to her success.

I was inspired and humbled to hear Alicia talk about building her company - starting while she was living out of a suitcase in London,and where she has taken Skimlinks from there.

There are so many relevant and pithy bits to this interview - it’s essential listening for anyone, male or female who’s on the entrepreneurial journey.

If you’re a female entrepreneur thinking of taking the next step and launching your business on the international stage, check out our Girls Going Global campaign. We’re awarding one lucky winner a full scholarship to the International Business Accelerator.

Applications close Friday 20 April - get yours in today!
www.internationalbusinessaccelerator.com/girls-going-global

In this episode of the Business Beyond Borders podcast, Cynthia speaks to Stefanie Lowe, accounting outsourcing specialist, business advisor for multinationals setting up in Australia and Managing Director at Penguin Management Services.

Born in Australia with a strict Greek upbringing, Stefanie's diverse cultural background influenced her life choices and nudged her in the direction of international business. These days Stefanie works with clients from a myriad of different countries.

Through hard work and perseverance she was able to establish a business, sell it, then start over again and build her second business from the scratch. Stefanie believes that women can do anything they desire as long as they believe in what they are doing.

She has a strong interest in women in business, and has been involved in many projects in this space, including a trade mission to the Middle East to establish connections with businesswomen from that part of the world.

Tune in to my interview with Stefanie to find out:

• How she built a successful accounting business and sold it to one of the Big Four firms
• How she started her second business, Penguin Management with nothing and built it up to what it is today
• The role that the internet and technology played and how it has assisted her outreach to international clients
• The challenges that multinationals face when entering the Australian market
• Challenging aspects of working in the international space and what it has taught her throughout the years
• How she managed to raise a family and run her business at the same time

I’ve thought back to our conversation several times since Stefanie and I spoke. What really resonated with me was her instruction to “never give up”, even when things feel impossible. I also found her book recommendations very useful… I hope you do too.

If you’re a female entrepreneur thinking of taking the next step and launching your business on the international stage, check out our Girls Going Global campaign. We’re awarding one lucky winner a full scholarship to the International Business Accelerator.

Applications close Friday 20 April - get yours in today!
www.internationalbusinessaccelerator.com/girls-going-global

As part of our #GirlsGoingGlobal campaign this month, we’re interviewing successful female entrepreneurs every week throughout March to celebrate the successes of women all around the world.

Our guest this week is Sheba Nandkeolyar - Founder and CEO of MultiConnexions, National Chair of the Australia India Business Council, Board Member the International Advertising Association (IAA) Australia Chapter and Board Member of the Australia India Council.

Born and raised in India, Sheba moved to Australia 17 years ago and established her own independent multicultural marketing agency, MultiConnexions.

She is passionate about the notion of 50:50 in business and believes that women should contribute more actively to the business world. As the Founder and Chair of Women in Business Chapter at Australia India Business Council (AIBC), Sheba plays an active role in linking women in business across Australia and India, in addition to mentoring and promoting women in business initiatives.

Tune in to my interview with Sheba to find out:
• How Sheba landed a job in Australia when she first arrived as a migrant woman with a young family
• Her insights into the Indian economy and whether the predictions of its growth are realistic and achievable
• How women’s empowerment in India goes in hand with the country’s new policies and reforms, and whether it will encompass a better future for women entrepreneurs
• How growing up in India with very traditional values has influenced Sheba’s independence as a woman
• Her experience moving to Australia with a young family and aspirations of re-starting her career
• Her thoughts on the impact that cultural differences have on marketing and business objectives
• Sheba’s advice to women, particularly migrant women who are looking to establish a business or expand their business abroad

Sheba’s watchwords are “flexibility and adaptability”. I believe that these qualities, combined with an outgoing personality and willingness to take a risk have helped her to take the road less travelled by and shape an extraordinary life.

Sheba defied traditional expectations about the “proper” career and lifestyle for an Indian woman, completing an MBA, marrying for love and moving to another country, far from her family. She then went on to build a highly successful international business and become an influential member of Australia’s Indian community.

I found her enthusiasm infectious - I’m sure you will too.

If you’re a female entrepreneur thinking of taking the next step and launching your business on the international stage, check out our #GirlsGoingGlobal campaign. We’re awarding one lucky winner a full scholarship to the International Business Accelerator.

Applications close Friday 20 April - get yours in today:
www.internationalbusinessaccelerator.com/girls-going-global

As a part of our #GirlsGoingGlobal campaign this month, we’re interviewing successful female entrepreneurs every week throughout March to celebrate the successes of women all around the world.

Our second guest for this month is Jane Jackson - Career Management Coach, Professional Speaker, Author of #1 Amazon Best Seller, “Navigating Career Crossroads” and Host of Your Career Podcast.

Jane grew up in Hong Kong and has worked in Singapore, the US and UK before launching her career coaching business in Australia in 2001.

Tune in to my interview with Jane to find out:

• The origins of Jane’s entrepreneurial journey
• The life experiences and multiple career transitions that have shaped her knowledge and understanding of international business
• How her early fitness inspiration led her into a career in corporate training and career coaching
• How she leveraged her international contacts to start her own business
• Her outlook on technology and social media, and how it enabled her to scale her business and work globally with clients all over the world
• The importance of listening in understanding another culture and how it has strengthened Jane’s relationships with her clients
• The significance mentoring has in one’s learning and how you can avoid reinventing the wheel by having a mentor
• Jane’s experience in leading an international business as a woman and her advice to those who intend to expand their business internationally

If you’re a female entrepreneur thinking of taking the next step and launching your business on the international stage, check out our Girls Going Global campaign. We’re awarding one lucky winner a full scholarship to the International Business Accelerator.

Applications close Friday 20 April - get yours in today!
www.internationalbusinessaccelerator.com/girls-going-global

To mark the launch of our #GirlsGoingGlobal campaign this month, we’re interviewing successful female entrepreneurs every week throughout March, to coincide with International Women’s Day and celebrate the successes of women all around the world.

In the first of our interviews with female powerhouses, I had the pleasure of interviewing Gemma Manning - a serial entrepreneur and recognised business leader who knows how to stay ahead of the game.

Over the past 10 years, Gemma has successfully established two businesses with international reach—Manning & Co, a full-service strategic marketing consultancy, and Gemstar Technology, a launch-pad for Australian start-ups and innovators in Singapore and South-East Asia.

Tune in to my interview with Gemma to find out:
• The makings of her international business career, and the experiences that have shaped her global journey
• How, and why she switched from a corporate job to start her own company (hint - motherhood was a defining factor!)
• The difficulties, and triumphs she faced throughout expanding her company and moving to Singapore - as a single mother of two
• How she juggles her time, between parenting and running two businesses, with a third venture on the way
• Her advice for businesses expanding into Singapore, particularly the lessons she has learned from negotiating partnerships
• Her plans to help disadvantaged women from around the world access education, training and mentoring, through her newest startup Light Years

Gemma is one impressive lady and was fascinating to interview. She became a senior marketing executive as a twenty-something and started a company before she turned 30, with a one-year-old in tow.

In 2017, Gemma moved from Sydney to Singapore so that she could run Gemstar from Singapore … what’s amazing here is that she made the move as a single parent, took her two girls with her and continued their education via distance learning (it’s worth tuning in just to hear how she managed it).


When you listen to Gemma you hear vivaciousness, energy and a gift for story-telling, but also real grit, determination and drive to succeed. I appreciated her openness about how tough business can be, especially for women in the international space and many of the things she said resonated with me as a female business owner.

I know you’re going to love this interview.

If you’re a female entrepreneur thinking of taking the next step and launching your business on the international stage, check out our #GirlsGoingGlobal campaign. We’re awarding one lucky winner a full scholarship to the International Business Accelerator.

Applications close Friday 20 April - get yours in today!

www.internationalbusinessaccelerator.com/girls-going-global

In this episode of the Business Beyond Borders podcast, Cynthia Dearin speaks to Tony Dormer, international business adviser and Director of Tricor ChewandDormers.

Originally from the UK, Tony migrated to Australia after being expelled from school at the age of 17. He started his own accounting firm from his kitchen table a few years later, and from there his career went from strength to strength.

He built his accounting practice, Kreston Dormers into an international powerhouse, before recently merging with one of the world’s major professional services group to form Tricor ChewandDormers.

This episode is particularly relevant to Australian services firms who are wondering how they can adapt their businesses to the digital revolution, and take advantage of Australia’s potential to become a services hub for Asia.

Tune in to my interview with Tony to find out:
-How to choose the right opportunities to develop yourself as an international entrepreneur.
-How to grow your business as a side-hustle to your full-time job or retainer.
-How to expand your services firm internationally through strategic alliances.
-How to get the best from and international mergers or acquisition negotiation.
-Why the legal and accounting professions need to move beyond traditional models and adapt to the digital revolution.
-The impact of AI and robotics on professional services firm - it’s not all doom and gloom.
-What Tony wishes he had known when he started out.
-Tony’s new book Born To Lead, which address the question of whether people are born with a “leadership gene”.

To find out more about Tony's book, visit:
www.borntolead.com.au

If you’re a small business thinking of going global, check out the International Business Accelerator - an end-to-end solution that helps micro-to-medium businesses build and implement an international strategy:
www.internationalbusinessaccelerator.com

In this episode of the Business Beyond Borders podcast, Cynthia Dearin speaks to Justin Hildage, financial markets expert and founder of Thames Capital.

Originally from the UK, Justin has worked around the world, in New York, London, throughout Asia and Australia, with some of the biggest names in the game: Morgan Stanley, Bear Stearns, Deutsche Bank, and ANZ Bank. He founded Thames Capital, a boutique corporate advisory firm in 2016 and serves clients throughout Australia and abroad.

Having grown up in a military family, Justin reflects on his recent experience doing a 48-hour military-style resilience course, and the parallels it has to the experience of starting a business.

He talks about how he went about winning large international clients by drawing on his network, and the experience moving from a large corporate organisation to running his own small business.

If you’re considering starting a consulting firm, or taking your own services business into international markets, Justin offers great advice on how to go about it, and what not to do!

In this episode of the Business Beyond Borders podcast, we talk with Luca Postiglione, international marketing expert and founder of Lupo Marketing.

Luca grew up in Florence, Italy, and has spent time living and working around the globe, in the US, UK, Europe and now Australia. He has a passion for the luxury sector, and ran his own luxury goods company for several years, selling artisan-made furniture, jewellery and home decor to high net worth individuals around the world.

He talks about the cultural differences he observed while working with Italians, Americans and British, and the importance of cross-cultural awareness while doing business internationally. He discusses the need for market research when starting an international business in any sector, and how he went about it with his own luxury goods company.

Luca emphasises that much of what he has learnt in his international business career has been through making mistakes, and that it’s not just the small operators who make mistakes when operating internationally. He gives several examples of multinational corporations who have failed in their international ventures, and how you can avoid these types of mistakes by ensuring that you understand the cultural context in which you operate.

Luca now runs his own marketing firm, Lupo Marketing, specialising in digital and traditional marketing for small and medium businesses. Based in Sydney, he still works with clients around the globe and is an example of how in this day and age, a small business can indeed be global without having to make large investments or spend all their time travelling overseas.

In this episode of the Business Beyond Borders podcast, we speak to Peter Evans, global business and supply chain expert and founder of Mawson Global.

Based in South Australia, Peter has worked for some of the world's largest global supply chain experts, including Walmart Stores International, Aldi Stores, Woolworth's and lots of Australian small and mid-market businesses.

Peter talks about how started his international business journey through his family business as a supermarket supplier of nuts and snacks.

He talks about navigating international networks of suppliers to source products that meet customers’ needs, and capitalise on market opportunities. He describes what it was like negotiating in Asia as a young man at the time, setting up factories in China and Vietnam and managing sales teams in North America.

If you’re a small business wondering how you can take advantage of buying and sourcing internationally, Peter has some great advice on how to do it, and how to avoid some of the mistakes that he made along the way.

If you’re a small business thinking of going global, check out the International Business Accelerator - an end-to-end solution that helps micro-to-medium businesses build and implement an international strategy:
www.internationalbusinessaccelerator.com

In episode #02 of the Business Beyond Borders podcast, we speak to Tony Jacobson about his experience building a wristwatch brand from scratch, among other international achievements.

Originally from South Africa, Tony Jacobson is an international sales and marketing expert, with experience working with global brands in the FMCG, retail, fashion and IT industries.

If you’re a small business wondering how you can break into international markets, Tony has some great tips and hacks on how to source international partners, distributors and buyers without having a big marketing budget.

Tony has travelled to 180 cities in 36 countries in his international business pursuits and has a wealth of knowledge to share!

If you’re a small business thinking of going global, check out the #InternationalBusinessAccelerator - an end-to-end solution that helps micro-to-medium businesses build and implement an international strategy:
www.internationalbusinessaccelerator.com