TinyChan

When a problem threatens to consume you, think of yourself compared to the size of your town. Then think of your town compared to your country. Then your country compared to the world. Then the world compared to the sun. Then the sun compared to the Galaxy, the Galaxy to the Local Group, the Local Group to the Universe.

How small you are! How small your problem is! Why do you let it consume you?

the small town grocer gets mercilessly taken out by the new Wal-Mart in town. The small town grocer may have an established customer base and friendly relations with the community, but it simply can't match the low prices offered by Wal-Mart. Being a large national company, Wal-Mart has the sprawling global resources and is willing to sacrifice margins to take out local competitors. In the end, customer loyalty means nothing and the grocer goes bankrupt, decades of hard work decimated overnight. This is a well-known anecdote referring to the impact of globalization on small businesses. Once you start up a new business, you plunge into an ocean populated by a few smaller fish, which compete with you for food, and lots of bigger ones, eager to eat you alive. The big fish in the sea tend to be well-connected, multinational beasts taking full advantage of the perks of globalization - such as outsourcing, uneven exchange rates, and low-margin high-volume sales models - making them nearly impossible to compete against. What are the impacts of globalization on the small business owner, and how can you defend yourself from the blows that will inevitably come your way?