EGS Global Business Blog

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 - July 27, 2007 - deals with doing cost effective and efficient market research. Follow the link at the right to find excellent resources for new businesses.

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 pros and cons related to buying and running a franchise.

Find out if you would do well with a franchise in the About.com article in our inks to the right

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 $3.18 and in the UK it is $3.62.

See the link to the right for the details by country.

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 recent year and they received almost 54%, or US$42 billion, of the US exports to China in 2005.

These cities have lower and, labor and energy costs than Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai. With streamlined bureaucracy, incentives and a strong desire to attract foreign companies the 2nd tier cities are more welcoming for new entrants into the China market.

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 currencies are overvalued against the dollar, including the euro (by 22%) and the Swiss franc (by 53%). The Japanese Yen appears to be undervalued by 33% until Purchase Power Parity is taken into account. But that is a topic for another blog posting!

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 Russia is changing contract terms with foreign oil companies once reserves are identified by expensive drilling.

And ‘The Economist’ says we have 40 more years of oil reserves before any new discoveries.

For some details on this important subject click on the oil links to the right.

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 to too many countries at once
(5) Make sure local consumers have sufficient income to buy your products and services

EGS and our Clients follow these same tips!!!