CustomerThink: Globalization Impacts Small Businesses

Small businesses can no longer expect to be strictly local in production, supply or markets. Globalization – the endless connections through people, products and ideas – is an ongoing process that imposes a variety of effects on businesses. For the average small business owner, these are mixed compared to the profits multinational corporations extract from the global economy. Downsides consist of commodity market flooding, or dumping, which make it harder for small businesses to compete, along with global market chain reactions. For example, Brexit has led to uncertainty for small UK businesses while US trade war threats and tariffs lead to price fluctuations for small businesses in the countries involved. The benefits of globalization for small businesses include market expansion to consumers across the world thanks to free trade, global stability usurping local turmoil, and marketing equalization. Philip Piletic stresses that ignoring globalization is no longer an option for small businesses, “which makes keeping up with global trends and market realities just as important as it has ever been.” – Yale Global