Globig goes big helping small businesses expand internationally

BOULDER — Anke Corbin had been tasked by multiple previous companies with expanding their business into other countries. By about the third time, and after hours of painstaking research each time, she realized there was a market for a curated source of information on how to do business in specific countries that could be accessed cheaply and quickly by small businesses.

Fast-forward several months, and Corbin has built the type of platform she believes will help streamline the process of going international.

Founded last summer and launched in December, Globig is a free online platform where members can get information on everything from regulatory compliance to cultural expectations, human-resource issues and international search-engine optimization. The information is gathered from a variety of online sources and market experts.

“It’s really hard, and there are really no easy paths for expanding into other countries,” Corbin said. “There’s really no home advisor for international expansion.”

Corbin said there really are only two main resources for gathering such information now: government sources and private consultants. But the government information available, she said, is high-level data on imports and exports but doesn’t cover specific details about how to get started. Consultants, meanwhile, can be expensive for small companies.

But the information is crucial, with details as simple as rules around email marketing and whether you can have share buttons on your websites not being a given or the same from country to country, Corbin said.

“The larger companies can hire these great consulting firms to do that,” she said. “But 75 percent of all companies around the globe that go international are around 20 people.”

Corbin and her Globig team are three weeks into their participation in the Boulder-based Mergelane accelerator geared toward women-led startups. In addition to the treasure trove of information the company is compiling on regulations and customs in various countries, Globig also this month launched an Ask Globig feature.

Ask Globig allows site members to ask questions on specific topics through the site. Globig then distributes the questions to a vetted group of experts from around the world who have specialized knowledge of the topic and can provide answers.

“It gives (members) an opportunity to dig a little deeper into their industry and ask things that are specific that pop up in their day,” Corbin said. “It’s just a more personalized service, if you will. Think of it like mentorship on steroids.”

Corbin’s background includes sales, marketing and product roles with several companies, including MapQuest and Splick-it.

She said startup costs for Globig, which has five employees, have reached six figures but so far have been self-funded. While part of her motivation for going through Mergelane has been to gain scaling and financial expertise, she said she’s also looking to sharpen her messaging around fundraising, with a round planned for sometime later this year.

Globig started with a subscription model for members but quickly scrapped the idea. The company so far is bringing in revenue by charging experts and vendors to place influencer-marketing pieces on the site such as how-to podcasts. In turn, those vendors get a built-in audience and lead-generation opportunities.

A third component of the platform coming online in the next few weeks will allow the vetted experts to consult with small businesses through the site to go more in-depth on certain topics. Globig will provide the platforms for connecting members with the consultants as well as conducting the actual conversations, then collect a commission on the fee charged by the consultant as payment for facilitating the connection.

“The opportunity is very significant by aggregating knowledge and really connecting those two groups that are trying to find each other,” Corbin said. “We ultimately think of ourselves as a marketplace and marketing and consulting platform.”

Joshua Lindenstein can be reached at 303-630-1943, 970-416-7343 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @joshlindenstein

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