One example of how international business effects entreprenuerism is an understanding of discretionary spending. In my marketing career, the conept of discretionary money was made clear by the “open to buy” concept I learned working for Visa. If the average person earns $40,000 annually, you may have only $5,000 left (or about $400+ per month) after you pay your taxes, rent, utilities, and transportation expenses. Marketers in non-essential categories make up the vast majority of entrpreneurs. Therefore an understanding of the consumer requires and understanding of how your audience might spend its discretionary money. In the example of the person who earns $40,000 annually, their open to buy is only $400 per month. Another concept I found helpful is share of wallet. The more cross-selling I can do do, the greater my share-of-wallet.
Every nation has a unique set of demographics. But demographics alone do not tell the story of open to buy. For example, sales of $2,000 handbags from Gucci or Louis Vuitton are brisk in Tokyo’s swanky Aoyama or Ginza shopping districts, but rarer in the US with the possible exception of elite or rich urban centers like Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles or 5th Avenue in New York. As an entrepreneur you must analyze the risk and rewards of these opportunities. Who would know that the average Japanese woman had $2,000 to spend on a luxury handbag? Without knowledge of the culture and recent shifts in consumer behavior you could be blindsided by a competitor or miss out on a profitable opportunity.
A good example is the Chinese domestic market.
Many entrepreneurs ignored China in the 1980’s because of the lack of intellectual property protection and poor infrastructure. However, in the 1990’s billions were invested in the hope of selling Colgate toothpaste or Toyota cars to the 1.4 billion “buyers” in that market. During the late 1960’s and 1970‘s the average Chinese experienced the cultural revolution. This experience shaped their cultural view of an acceptable lifestyle and what constitutes an appealing product. But that older Chinese consumer is in their 70’s and they are still price sensitive. They responded negatively to new Japanese products or aggressive promotional tactics because they remember their parents and WWII.
Without an understanding of how older people are respected and followed in China, we would not understand why this influential generation in China continues to drive market behavior in many important segments. If your product or service targets those non-essential segments or your main competition conducts business in China, knowledge of that market will become a competitive advantage.
Businesses not aware of international events and market disruptions will find out the hard way that everything is interconnected. The political instability in Egypt sent a negative shock to markets all around the globe.

Apple Computer is a company that has been successful in developing new products internationally in a corporate environment (Clayton Christensen, 149). However, many people do not realize how many initiatives Apple has funded that never made it to market. Steve Jobs and others promote the Apple spirit of finding new market opportunities from these exercises, and they are willing to fund these new initiatives like the i-Pad from profitable products such as i-Phone, i-Pod, i-Tunes, and the Mac. This corporate culture fosters entrepreneurial behavior, and sends a loud message to employees about the value of innovation at Apple.
But the greatest success at Apple is its marketing saavy and success getting a major share or percentage of most teenagers discretionary spending. If a kid has $50 to spend, Apple is likely to get $15-20 of that spend. It is as true in international markets such as China, South Korea, and Japan as it is in the US.