“Globalization” is a buzzword that seems to be on everyone’s lips these days, but why should you care about it? In today’s highly wired global business environment, opportunities for business expansion are practically limitless. Because there are so many possible directions your business could take at home and abroad, it is critical that you become proficient at effective global networking so that you can sift through the myriad options. Effective global networking will allow you to conduct research of potential markets in order to select the one that will benefit your business the most.

Consider the recent craze of natural frozen yogurt shops in the United States. This style of sour frozen yogurt was unheard of in this country until January 2005 when South Koreans Shelly Hwang and Young Lee set up shop in

Los Angeles. In just two years, Pinkberry has been referred to as a “bicoastal urban phenomenon” that has inspired “almost cultlike devotion”1 On October 16, 2007, Pinkberry took in $27.5M in an investment from Maveron, the venture fund founded by Starbucks founder Howard Schultz.

So to what does Pinkberry owe its astonishing success? It is possible that the planets were aligned just so, or perhaps they just got lucky, but more likely an explanation is that they did their homework prior to establishing Pinkberry here in the United States. If you are thinking about taking that step to bring your small business to a foreign market, make sure you perform due diligence and utilize all of the tools at your disposal, including your global networks.