Expanding Overseas

Petrof makes high-end pianos, with Asia accounting for 40 percent of sales

Photograph by Ramon Haindl for Bloomberg Businessweek

Czech Piano Maker Petrof Focuses on China Sales to Survive

Petrof has outlasted two world wars, a Communist takeover, and near-bankruptcy

Your Small Business Questions, Answered

Send us your questions on challenges you face in your business. Journalist Karen E. Klein will interview experts and distill their insights into answers.

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Policy

Obama Wants Africa's Farmers to Be Better Entrepreneurs
While the need to develop more efficient agriculture businesses offers big opportunities to African countries, challenges abound
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Expanding Overseas

Why It's So Hard to Make Exporting Easy
Free trade agreements can cut through red tape for small exporters. That doesn't mean they can eliminate red tape entirely
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Logistics

Determining Which Laws Matter When You Export
Before hiring a consultant, U.S. business owners can take advantage of free services from the federal government, as well as states and cities
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Policy

Every Week Is Small Business Week. This Week It's Official
National Small Business Week is a Hallmark holiday for Main Street. It's also a window into the Small Business Administration's priorities and…
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Expanding Overseas

Want More Exports? Do a Better Job Showing Entrepreneurs How
Small businesses account for 33 percent of U.S. exports. Streamlined government support would help them sell more, according to a new survey
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Financing

Impact Investing: Lots of Interest, but Where's the Big Money?
A new report shows growing attention to developing-world entrepreneurs, but mainstream investors are waiting on the sidelines
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Energy

Selling Solar Panels on the Installment Plan in Africa
A host of startups are competing to electrify the world's poor
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Expanding Overseas

LaborVoices, Labor Link Help Workers Report Sweatshop Factory Conditions
Mobile phones may be the most potent weapon to fight abuse
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Expanding Overseas

New Legislation Neglects Small Exporters’ Biggest Need
Three bills would streamline programs that help small businesses sell abroad. A study finds that credit is what small exporters really need
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Expanding Overseas

How a Nevada Couple Sells Tattoo Gear Around the Globe
The company uses customer service to stand out from cheaper imitators abroad
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Middle East

Syria's Tech Startups Find a Refuge in Jordan
An accelerator in Amman is recruiting Syrian startups
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Technology

Expensify Brings Bitcoin to Main Street
A company that does expense reports for more than 200,000 businesses is offering the virtual currency to clients that seek to lower international transaction costs
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Apps & Software

China's Instagram and Other Tech Startups Look West
Chinese startups try to move from imitation to innovation and take on U.S. companies
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Small Business

Job Openings Rose, Lessons on China, Bonobos Shops That Don't Sell: March 13
A daily roundup of the most compelling stories about small business and entrepreneurship
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Financing

Coming to a City Near You: Chinese Business Incubators
Investors from China are building space to house U.S. startups that want to do business across the Pacific
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Czech Piano Maker Petrof Focuses on China Sales to Survive
Petrof has outlasted two world wars, a Communist takeover, and near-bankruptcy
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Manufacturing

Small U.S. Manufacturers Give Up on 'Made in China'
Put off by piracy and quality problems, small companies are returning to U.S. factories
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Expanding Overseas

To Fund a Startup, Go to Malaysia
Malaysia's government puts its money where U.S. investors won't
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Expanding Overseas

A Century-Old Eyeglass Shop Expands From New York to Seoul
Moscot, with immigrant roots on Manhattan's Lower East Side, sees a promising market among Koreans
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Expanding Overseas

Why It's So Hard to Make Exporting Easy
Free trade agreements can cut through red tape for small exporters. That doesn't mean they can eliminate red tape entirely
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- Google Plus
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Commentary

Want More Startups? Learn From Chile
The Chilean government's counterintuitive program that pays entrepreneurs $40,000 to bring their startups to the country is one development model…
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Profiles

A Craft Beer Brand's Winning Recipe? Outsourcing
Shmaltz Brewing won national acclaim without producing its own beer. Now it's finally opening its own brewery: in Brooklyn
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Expanding Overseas

LaborVoices, Labor Link Help Workers Report Sweatshop Factory Conditions
Mobile phones may be the most potent weapon to fight abuse
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Profiles

A 'Solopreneur' Makes Sleep Pay
Outsource, instead of hiring employees. Don't monkey with a proven product. Work from home. The founder of a $3 million monitoring-device business…
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Expanding Overseas

The Ex-U.S. Ambassador Selling NFL Gear in China
Frank Lavin's small Ohio exporting business landed an exclusive deal with the National Football League
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Policy

Ex-U.S. Ambassador Helps Companies Break Into China
Small companies get access to China thanks to Frank Lavin's business, Export Now
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Expanding Overseas

Novel Ways to Solve Exporting Riddles for Small Businesses
President Obama wants to double U.S. exports by 2015. Streamlining government assistance would help, a new Government Accountability Office report suggests
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Policy

Every Week Is Small Business Week. This Week It's Official
National Small Business Week is a Hallmark holiday for Main Street. It's also a window into the Small Business Administration's priorities and corporate sponsors' agendas
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Profiles

A House Paint Reduces Bug-Borne Diseases
A Spanish company fights malaria with pesticides in house paint
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Profiles

Portland Bike Maker Sees Made-in-USA Demand from Overseas
About 99 percent of bicycles sold in the U.S. are made in Asia. One Portland (Ore.) manufacturer still makes everything here and is riding a wave of foreign orders
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Profiles

Czech Piano Maker Petrof Focuses on China Sales to Survive
Petrof has outlasted two world wars, a Communist takeover, and near-bankruptcy
- Tweet
- Facebook
- LinkedIn
- Google Plus
- Comments
- Email
Expanding Overseas

Why It's So Hard to Make Exporting Easy
Free trade agreements can cut through red tape for small exporters. That doesn't mean they can eliminate red tape entirely
- Tweet
- Facebook
- LinkedIn
- Google Plus
- Comments
- Email
Profiles

A House Paint Reduces Bug-Borne Diseases
A Spanish company fights malaria with pesticides in house paint
- Tweet
- Facebook
- LinkedIn
- Google Plus
- Comments
- Email
Expanding Overseas

To Fund a Startup, Go to Malaysia
Malaysia's government puts its money where U.S. investors won't
- Tweet
- Facebook
- LinkedIn
- Google Plus
- Comments
- Email
Expanding Overseas

Want More Exports? Do a Better Job Showing Entrepreneurs How
Small businesses account for 33 percent of U.S. exports. Streamlined government support would help them sell more, according to a new survey
- Tweet
- Facebook
- LinkedIn
- Google Plus
- Comments
- Email
Policy

Obama Wants Africa's Farmers to Be Better Entrepreneurs
While the need to develop more efficient agriculture businesses offers big opportunities to African countries, challenges abound
- Tweet
- Facebook
- LinkedIn
- Google Plus
- Comments
- Email
Financing

Impact Investing: Lots of Interest, but Where's the Big Money?
A new report shows growing attention to developing-world entrepreneurs, but mainstream investors are waiting on the sidelines
- Tweet
- Facebook
- LinkedIn
- Google Plus
- Comments
- Email
Policy

Why Immigrant Entrepreneurship Is Stalling
A new report shows the rate at which foreign-born individuals start high-tech businesses has stagnated
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