Consider the concept of globalization for a moment. Not too long ago, executives, economists, and politicians saw it as a big-picture notion: multinationals, banks expanding their reach, American fast-food goliaths spreading further into foreign lands, or Google setting up another branch on its march to world domination.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the global economic forum—entrepreneurs and small-business owners decided they wanted in the game. Part of their interest is spurred by necessity; the economic collapse of 2007 and 2008 made everyone nervous about their financial health, and it forced some to be creative about their futures. The efforts of these men and women to sell their homespun products on distant shores, to convince foreign investors to buy into some computer-based business, or to take advantage of the global labor pool and worldwide technical innovation to drive down their own costs, will significantly change how we all view globalization.

Today, Portfolio.com launches a yearlong project tracking the efforts of a handful of Americans who are looking beyond their borders for business opportunities. Through the work of news editor Kent Bernhard Jr., as well as through the voices of these entrepreneurs, we hope to accomplish two goals: First, we want to tell stories of perseverance and determination as we track the successes and failures of our subjects. And, second, we want to give others who have a dream of taking their businesses international the information necessary to do the job.

Each week, we’ll be adding new content to the project. Some weeks, we’ll have traditional news features like you see today. Other weeks, you’ll be able to read blog posts and view video from the entrepreneurs chronicling their own experiences and insights. And scattered throughout, you’ll be privy to conversations we’ll have with experts who can identify obstacles that Americans should watch out for as they do business far away from home or who can give pointers on how to maximize their potential.

Between now and the end of 2010, here’s who you’ll meet:

• David Duncan attended four colleges in five years, trying to find himself. It seemed he was going nowhere—then he met his wife, Gretchen, and the two of them together brought a candle business to life in Atlanta. So it doesn’t frighten him to go global during the worst economy in generations. Instead, the challenge fills him with enthusiasm.
• Craig Rabin has heard again and again that he is too young to make the ambitious plans he has happen. But that only makes the Seattle tech entrepreneur more determined to bring his businesses to life. “For me, with every form of “no” I hear, I find myself getting stronger…like Popeye eating a can of spinach. The real success comes when the once unthinkable becomes the now doable,” he says.
• When Eric Hansen was a kid, he sold ties to stockbrokers on Chicago street corners. If he could do that, the challenges of building a new way of business, one that leverages concern for the environment into bottom-line benefits, are more like opportunities. And while his business may seem intensely local, he’s reaching out to the world to spread those opportunities.
• Christine Mason McCaull faced the challenge of attending the Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern University while at the same time raising three small children. If she could do that, she believes she and business partner Chip Roberson are up to the challenge of tapping into the social-networking trend to build a business from Sonoma, California.
• When Nicole Donnelly started snowboarding, she heard from her coaches that she just wasn’t good enough. So she entered a competition independently and won a snowboard on her own, shocking those coaches. It’s the same confidence this young Seattle mom brings to entrepreneurship, to going global in the face of tough times. “It’s about showing up,” she says. “It’s about taking the opportunity. I think it’s the entrepreneurs who are going to win the snowboard.”

Tip O’Neill famously said all politics are local. Now, you could almost say all business, even the smallest, is global. But the economy is still uncertain. Any business can succeed beyond the wildest dreams of its founder—or fail miserably, even in the best of times.

We can’t know now whether these entrepreneurs will seize their opportunities. We can't say who will make their dreams come true. But we do know we’ll learn a lot from them on their journey.