Category: Blog

Happy to announce that since the start of this month we have reached more than 1000 business opportunities live in our business matchmaking platform! Currently, there are almost 1050 “buy”, “sell” and “connect with” opportunities visible for all CONNECTS users and waiting for a business match. Our platform hosts 39 Chambers of Commerce from 30 different countries, with more than 22k+ users and has an average of 5000 monthly searches. For the Chamber members, this is an opportunity to transform digitally its operations with access to key business services online.

Congratulations also to Camara de Comercio de Barranquilla for being the new Champion in the B2B Business Matchmaking Platform! In May 2020, the Camara de Comercio Barranquilla managed to achieve 114 invitations through the platform, increasing their active memberships to 565 users, posted 115 business opportunities with 4633 views from all around the world CONNECTS users. With these magnificent stats, they beat the former platform champions BECI (Brussels Entreprises Commerce And Industry) with 552 active memberships and 2658 views on posted business opportunities last month).

The Chamber of commerce is located in the cosmopolitan city of Barranquilla in Colombia. Rapid urban growth and economic development have transformed the region into a tourism hub and an active business community.

The Chamber’s main missions are firstly to develop and further the interests of local companies and businesses in Colombia. Secondly, safeguarding business interests and sharing business experiences and business interests. Other activities such as contact with governments, civil society, local media & press, and organising trade shows and/or events are also important services.

The Barranquilla Chamber of Commerce provides its services to over 72,000 companies that operate in northern Colombia and is tasked with fielding thousands of registry-related requests annually. To help support the area’s dynamic development, the Chamber is a participating member of CONNECTS. The SaaS platform is helping Chambers of commerce providing business matchmaking solutions to their members and communities. More info about the Chamber here.

Members of a Chamber of Commerce are usually international and local operating companies, such as lawyers, property developers, tourism companies, airlines, manufacturing companies, import and export businesses, banks, finance companies, legal advisors, IT and electronics manufacturers etc.

Are you interested in joining CONNECTS global business community? Discover our plans here. Not convinced yet? Sign up for free and enjoy 90 days free trial of the digital business match-making tool that will help your company to develop your business opportunities.

For more info contact communications@connects.world

The Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Brussels is looking for suppliers of medical products. After posting in the B2B matchmaking platform, The Other Brothers reached out to them.  The company is based in Finland and member of The British and Commonwealth Chamber of Commerce in Finland and is part of CONNECTS “UK Global” community. The firm is a young and creative (film)house but made the proposal to send a shipment of 70.000 FFP2 masks to help The Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Amazing examples of how businesses can help each other during this COVID-19 crisis!

Not a member yet on CONNECTS? Sign up for free and enjoy 90 days free trial of the digital business match-making tool that will help your company to develop your business opportunities.

For more info contact communications@connects.world

The Belgian company that is focused on selling and buying companies was looking to acquire a company in Belgium or the North of France on the CONNECTS platform. After posting an opportunity they got a response from Nord France Invest. The CCFB ( Chamber of Commerce Franco – Belge Lille) initiated the lead on this opportunity!

The Belgian company is a startup based in Brussels and looking for an acquisition of a business having an EBITDA between 500k and 1.5M. Nord France Invest is the investment promotion agency for Hauts-de-France. At Nord France Invest, they draw on expertise in a wide range of fields to meet all of customers needs.

Not a member yet on CONNECTS? Sign up for free and enjoy 90 days free trial of the digital business match-making tool that will help your company to develop your business opportunities.

For more info contact communications@connects.world

A logistics and export company from the Netherlands was looking for a packaging solutions company on the CONNECTS platform and managed to contact the Colombian plastic packaging company of the “Hagamos Negocios” network through the platform to carry out joint logistics projects.

The export company is a startup based in Rotterdam, operating since the beginning of 2019 in import and export logistics for international trade. A few days after posting opportunity in the business matchmaking platform, they matched with a South American based company. The Colombian based company is an international manufacturer of floors and pallets located in Barranquilla.

A good example of how CONNECTS can connect businesses all around the world safely and instantly, even during challenging economic times such as now. We guarantee that all our members are known entrepreneurs by their (local) Chamber of Commerce, and only interested in serious business inquiries only.

Not a member yet on CONNECTS? Sign up for free and enjoy 90 days free trial of the digital business match-making tool that will help your company to develop your business opportunities.

For more info contact communications@connects.world

Inspiring example to share with our audience: a success story in CONNECTS between Chambers of Commerce from two different continents, namely Beci and the Caribbean Chamber of Commerce in Europe.

The moderator from Beci recently added a business opportunity related to COVID-19 in CONNECTS. Shortly afterwards, a Chamber of Commerce from the region of the Americas manifested its interest inside the business matchmaking platform.

Beci (Brussels Enterprises Commerce & Industry) is the outcome of a partnership between the Chamber of Commerce and the Federation of Enterprises in Brussels: two private not-for-profit organizations financed and managed by their members. Beci members represent two-thirds of employment in Brussels and more than 35,000 companies.

The Caribbean Chamber of Commerce in Europe (CCCE) is a multilateral, non-profit, business organisation, registered as an A.I.S.B.L.(Association Internationale Sans But Lucratif) under Belgian corporate and commercial law. It was founded by a team of business professionals from Belgium, France and the Netherlands working in the private sector. The main objective is to promote trade and commerce between the greater Caribbean and the UK/Europe and to attract European investment to strengthen the Caribbean economy.

The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates how vulnerable traditional businesses (strategies) are and how limited our normal business management solutions are in these situations. This success story is a vital example for all businesses that the new normality of doing business is more than ever online. CONNECTS can help entrepreneurs to preserve business continuity and resiliency, especially in times of crisis.

Not a member yet on CONNECTS? Sign up for free and enjoy 90 days free trial of the digital business match-making tool that will help your company to develop your business opportunities.

For more info contact communications@connects.world

 

 

The current crisis forces us to work from home and advises social distancing. For entrepreneurs and their businesses, this is very complicated and challenging no matter where you are. How can you do business, without social contact? The answer seems very simple: use an adequate social network service. However, it’s not easy to find the right service and channel for your needs. To find the right business channel and community involves lots of efforts (time, energy and financial resources). Plus, when doing business the most important factor is trust. You need to be able to trust your business partner.

CONNECTS can help SMEs anywhere in the world to find businesses communities they can trust. Our digital matchmaking platform allows entrepreneurs to explore worldwide business opportunities in a safe environment, and therefore preserve business continuity. We provide instant access to trustworthy leads, potential customers, suppliers, skills and partnerships. The digital platform is about ‘trust’, ‘global reach’, ‘ease of use’ as well as cost-efficiency. By working with Chambers of Commerce, we can guarantee that all users of CONNECTS are approved and known members of local Chambers. By joining our business matchmaking platform Chambers provide: 

– TRUST: Every company active on CONNECTS is hosted by a local chamber of commerce that knows their members and makes sure newcomers meet their standards.

– SUPPORT: Every user on CONNECTS has direct access to staff members from all participating chambers who can provide specific, local knowledge and background information about their members on the platform.

– PERSONAL BUSINESS INTRODUCTIONS: Online and in real life, it is getting more difficult to get people to respond to your call. On CONNECTS chamber staff members can provide rapidly warm and personal introductions to any company you may wish to contact.

To help our current members, we frequently organize webinars. The purpose is to help them in their struggles, explain platform updates and give advice on how to use CONNECTS best way possible. Our goal is to make our member’s user experience successful. Read our latest success stories and let us inspire you to join us.

Not yet a member of CONNECTS? If you’re a Chamber book your demo here! If you’re an entrepreneur contact communications@connects.world for more information and participate in the next webinar.

A Colombian company that supplies solar energy products received a purchase request from a Romanian company to purchase solar batteries for sustainable energy projects at the Aruba airport. After posting an opportunity on CONNECTS they made contact on the platform and made a virtual commercial appointment, and are currently in the process of sending a quote.

This is the perfect example that business is maybe not as usual because of the current COVID-19 crisis, but CONNECTS can be the answer and solution for continuous international trade and efficient business resilience. The new normality of doing business will put digital and online solutions at the top of the pyramid. Now more than ever, this is a vital message for entrepreneurs and their businesses.

Not a member yet on CONNECTS? Sign up for free and enjoy 90 days free trial of the digital business match-making tool that will help your company to develop your business opportunities.

For more info contact communications@connects.world

New Chamber on CONNECTS platform: CCFB – Chambre de commerce Franco-Belge de Lille!

This is great news for CCFB and their members, they are given an extra instrument that will help them to preserves business continuity. Given the extremely difficult circumstances due to the COVID-19 crisis, many entrepreneurs suffer financially and can’t hold on much longer. According to the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the coronavirus pandemic will turn global economic growth “sharply negative” this year. This could potentially be the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Businesses are warned and should more than ever prepare themselves.

For this reason, the Chambre de commerce Franco-Belge de Lille decided to join CONNECTS and become a member of the Belgian Chambers community!

the Belgian Chamber of Commerce was created in Lille in May 1902, on the initiative of the Honorary Consul of Belgium. Its first President is Pierre Melchior, a Belgian industrialist of French origin. At the time, the Chamber focused mainly on international trade. Today, the Franco-Belgian Chamber of Commerce in the North of France is part of the Federation of Belgian Chambers
and is one of the Belgian-Luxembourg chambers of commerce accredited abroad.

Their members have now fully access to CONNECTS and can:

– connect with all our 22k+ members from 39 participating chambers of commerce in 28 countries

– access to 100 million business leads in 80+ different countries

– view and create business opportunities

– count on support from an assigned moderator

– online courses on-demand on how to use the platform

– business opportunities available in 4 different languages (EN/ FR/ DE/ ES)

This also means that Chambers will provide three main services which are trustworthy business opportunities, (local) support and personal business introductions.

The small businesses within our communities provide jobs and economic growth to local economies. This is where most are feeling the impact of the pandemic — our coffee shops, restaurants, gyms, and pet stores are all closed; our friends and family members are losing jobs. The COVID-19 reality requires impactful governmental measures to take back control over this important human threat. These measures are necessary but there is no doubt that the coronavirus pandemic is having a significant operational and economical impact on businesses. Companies are only as strong as the communities of which they are a part of. They need to figure out how to support response efforts—such as by providing money, equipment, or expertise. By joining CONNECTS, you become part of a family that can help entrepreneurs and their business to preserve and grow.

Not a member yet? Join CONNECTS for free for 3 months and explore instantly worldwide business opportunities you can trust!

Covid-19 : Claim your free trial now

To help more SMEs do business online, we have decided to offer entrepreneurs 3 months of free trial for one user on CONNECTS. This is our way to help entrepreneurs and business communities in their fight against the COVID-19 crisis. Offer is valid from April 2020 until 30 September 2020 for all SMEs worldwide.

These are tough times to run a business. The world is changing, and companies eventually need to prepare themselves for the post-crisis situation. With the #coronavirus crisis, there is no doubt that the new normality of developing business for many will be digital. Businesses around the world must develop more resilience, making themselves less dependent on personal meetings and contacts. Chambers of commerce can play a critical role in the online business world by providing opportunities you can trust.

So, the big question is: why wait? This is how CONNECTS can help your company to survive and leverage its business activities during and beyond the COVID-19 crisis:
• SMEs can continue buying, selling and connecting
• SMEs enjoy a larger pool of trusted companies to do business with
• SMEs can reach out to Chambers directly for local knowledge and personal introductions

Not a member yet on CONNECTS? Sign up for free and enjoy for 90 days a free trial of the digital business match-making tool that will help your company to develop your business opportunities.