Written for EO by Manny Padda an entrepreneur, angel investor and philanthropist who won the 2016 Canadian Angel of the Year Award. As an EO Vancouver member, he was the 2017 Entrepreneurs’ Organization Global Citizen of the Year Award. 

If you’re from Canada and have traveled abroad, you’ve probably got one somewhere—a beat-up maple leaf patch that is sewn onto your backpack or jacket. In a world that can seem big and scary, that little insignia opens doors and lets the world know we want to engage, learn and maybe have some fun.

The question is, how can Canadian entrepreneurs bring that same spirit to doing business abroad? That sense of adventure, that ability to open doors for one another? In an era when most business is global, that ability to forge connections abroad can make all the difference.

Most Canadian entrepreneurs I meet with today know this, of course. They realize they have to look outside our borders to truly grow. But when you’re starting out, it can be hard to know where to begin making inroads in foreign markets.

How do you find investors and partners abroad? How do you compete against those VC-backed behemoths in Silicon Valley? How do you make connections with buyers, suppliers and partners in other countries?