Online electronics retailer Newegg Inc., which only operates through the Internet, has decided to file for an initial public offering and raise $175 million. With the money from its IPO, Newegg hopes to repay its debt, expand its operations, and fund capital spending, three essential components for Newegg’s plans.
 
According to the California-based company, Newegg has been profitable every year since its launch in 2001 and has experienced rapid growth since then. Newegg had sales of $2.1 billion in 2008, according to a regulatory filing, and a net income of $15.8 million for the first half of 2009, which is up …read more

You may not have heard of either company if you do not keep up with the generic drug market, but Watson Pharmaceuticals has shelled out $1.75 billion for the Arrow Group. This will allow Watson to fulfill its plan of expanding internationally once it had taken control of its rival and formed a company large enough to handle such a move.
 
The takeover is significant for Watson, which will gain a company that dealt with $647 million in revenue last year. It will also allow Watson to tap into the Arrow Groups markets in over twenty countries, expediting its plan to …read more

Few restaurants are quite as closely associated to America as McDonald’s, but interestingly enough, McDonald’s is currently thriving much more in other parts of the world. What’s more, McDonald’s has reported that growth continues to slow in the United States, perhaps signaling a shift in attention for the restaurant chain.
 
Unfortunately for McDonald’s, overall sales were down 0.4 percent in the month of May, mostly attributable to the strengthening dollar. However, U.S. stores have seen a general decline in growth, with May of last year bringing in a 4.3 percent increase in sales while this year, sales only increased 2.8 percent. …read more

I just read an interview with Michael Snedden, president and CEO of MultiLing Corporation, a translation services company. Three years ago, MultiLing made a commitment to expand operations to Europe. Michael packed up his family and moved to Germany. They submerged themselves in the culture, hoping to integrate and learn German more quickly. After one year, they hired a tutor to teach German four hours a day, four days a week to Michael and his wife. What a great example of perseverance!
The interview provides interesting insights into the challenges of moving abroad, cultural differences and tips for doing business in …read more

Here, another Mistake Monday from our own Jean Mercedes.
I’m on a business trip to London, asking people on the street for directions. First I ask the guy selling newspapers. “Excuse me, sir (Brits are always polite, so I try to be also), where is Hudson street?” The reply: ” ‘udson street? Down der, turn right…” A few minutes later, I am still lost in central London, so I ask the next person I see – a business man in a suit. Trying to fit in and speak the local dialect, I ask for directions to ‘udson street.
The reply “Hhhhudson …read more

I wrote in an earlier post about assumptions, and adjusting them for a new environment. One way to do that is to ask open-ended questions.
A good example is my check anecdote from before. As I noted, when looking to pay vendors or employees, Germans tend to think in terms of elecronic transfers. US businesspeople, on the other hand, think in terms of checks. Each is a means to an end, but the end remains the goal of paying a vendor for goods or services.
The open ended question is “how do I pay my vendors,” leading (hopefully) to a …read more

So, in a fit of inspiration (or lack thereof), this Mistake Monday was going to be one of the oldest and most well-known in the world – the tale of the Chevy Nova. Problem is, it’s probably not true.
As the story goes, the management of General Motors made the fateful decision to introduce one of its most popular models, the Chevy Nova, to the Mexican market. This they did, but unfortunately they failed to realize that Nova in Spanish is the same as “no va,” or it doesn’t go. Mexican consumers quickly decided that a car with such an unfortunate …read more