Small Business Opportunities for 2009

With 2008 coming to a close, the new year offers a fresh start for those interested in starting up their own business. Here are a couple of links to get you thinking about new opportunities for 2009:

About.com:Small Business: Canada includes its annual "Best Business Opportunities 2009". For last year's list, see "Best Business Opportunities 2008". Some other useful links from this site include "Best Small Business Ideas for Businesses That Will Prosper in Hard Times" and "Top Ten Home Business Opportunities"

Check out the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB)'s website for small business support and information. This website currently features the December 2008 Business Barometer: Results of December 2008 Survey on SME Business Expectations by Ted Mallett, VP Research & Chief Economist. The full report features the most optimistic businesses (health and personal care retailers, accountants, computer consulting, fast food restaurants) and most pessimistic businesses as well as how businesses are faring province by province and sector by sector, business influences and employment, wage and pricing plans.

From MSN Money's Investing and StartupNation, the article from Dec.8, 2008 called "Beating a Bad Economy -- From Home" discusses the increasing number of startups and includes StartupNation's Home-Based 100, a ranking of top entrepreneurs.

The Credit Crunch and Canadian Small Business

Uncertain economic times such as what we’re experiencing right now pose challenges to small business owners when it comes time to find financing. An October 14, 2008 article on the Financial Post’s Small Business page called “Pessimism in the Wake of Credit Crunch” written by Eric Beauchesne discusses the findings of a Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses (CFIB) survey which noted that “credit concerns have accelerated since early September, and the number of businesses reporting problems accessing bank financing has risen 25% in early October from 18% a month earlier”.

Notes Kristine Owram from the Canadian Press in an article published on September 17/08 in the Money section of Canoe.ca called "Credit Crunch Affecting Small Cdn Companies", “They (sic small businesses) have less options, and the less options you have the more expensive your funding is going to be…It just shows how this credit crisis is pretty profound.”

Another of Eric Beauchesne’s articles appeared in the Edmonton Journal on October 21/08 called “Hit by Credit Crunch, Small Firms Remain Resilient”. He indicates that the bad news is that small companies will be hit hard by the credit crunch and will not be able to escape the Canadian economic slump; the good news though is that small companies “have held up better than the economy” and he predicts that they “will be the first to rebound once the recovery gets underway next year”. He notes that the hardest hit businesses are those that operate in or serve manufacturing but that ones in the personal service sector are still doing well.

The CFIB’s Business Barometer, which is normally published monthly, is currently tracking the small business outlook on a weekly basis. Update #4 dated October 30, 2008 indicates that the bad news in international markets has dimmed operating plans for many small businesses. Check the site weekly until November 10, 2008.

As the credit squeeze continues, how and where can you get financing aside from banks and credit unions?

About.com’s Small Business Canada page offers insight and alternatives. It includes links to a variety of organizations including the Canada Small Business Financing Program and Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) along with a slew of non-profits and organizations providing grants and loans. An informative section of the site on community investment funds is called “Where to Get a Small Business Loan When the Banks Turn You Down”.

(Angel investors might help too (see my posts dated May 6 and April 23 called “More on Angel Investors” and “Angel Investors: An Alternative Source of Financing for Small Business”.)

Check out D&B Canada for a variety of commercial credit risk management tools to help you survive the credit crunch including DNBi which allows credit checking and monitoring changes to companies’ key customers.

Crisis Management for Small Business

As Canada’s Maple Leaf Foods makes its way through managing a food safety crisis, all business owners should give thought to their business’ crisis management plan. Crisis management can be defined as “a business plan of action that is implemented quickly when a negative situation occurs” (From “Crisis Management" in Encyclopedia of Small Business in enote.com). This “negative situation” could take many forms: natural disasters, embezzlement, product defects/recalls, workplace accidents/sabotage, computer viruses, etc. According to Gartner Group and quoted in the Canadian Federation of Independent Business’ document called “Basic Emergency Management Guidelines”, “43% of businesses that experience a major crisis never reopen”, and “a further 20% close within 2 years”. Good planning could help you minimize the negative impacts of a crisis.

Small Business Crisis Management

The Canadian Centre for Emergency Preparedness (CCEP) devotes a page to small business preparedness, including links to small business disaster management resources. The website includes free templates for downloading, like a business continuity plan and a crisis communications plan. Additionally, the CCEP produces a quarterly publication called Disaster Management Canada; back issues are available on the site in pdf format.

The British website, Business Link, which offers “practical advice for business” also offers a downloadable guide to business continuity management and a guide to developing a business continuity plan.

You can find even find background information on crisis management including models and theories, success stories, lessons learned and a variety of references, further reading and external links worth exploring on Wikipedia's crisis management page.

For further reading, don’t forget to visit your local public library to check out business planning and crisis management materials for free. A search of the term “crisis management” on the Oakville Public Library’s catalogue reveals several titles worth exploring, like one written by Ian Mitroff, a leader in business crises writing, called “Why Some Companies Emerge Stronger and Better from a Crisis: 7 Essential Lessons for Surviving Disaster”.

Save Money on Business Travel

Do high gas prices and airfares have you wondering how or if you’ll get that next sale or be able to meet with a supplier? The websites below might be able to help you find the cheapest airfare, accommodations or gas wherever you are.

Use Expedia.ca or Travelocity.ca to book your flight, hotel, car, activities, cruises and prepackaged vacations. In Expedia, use the Business tab for business travel deals and the use of the Travel Arranger. When searching for a hotel, don’t forget to click on the “Narrow Your Search” link beside “Hotel Amenities” to find accommodations that include things like business services (e.g. faxing, photocopying), courtesy breakfast, courtesy newspaper, high-speed internet, and room service.

Yapta.com bills itself as “Your Amazing Personal Travel Assistant”. It considers itself to be “the first travel shopping Web site that integrates customized flight search results with the ability to track airfare prices and create flight-specific savings alerts in a single click”. Airfare prices from more than 30 U.S. and international (yes, it has Canadian) carriers may be checked. To try it, simply type in where and when you want to go; it checks for the closest match to your preferred departure times and airlines, lowest price, fewest stops, and shortest duration but you also get to see all matches.

Check out GasBuddy.com if you are looking to find the cheapest place to buy gas in North America. Motorists provide the prices for the site. (If you live or are traveling in Ontario, you can go directly to its OntarioGasPrices.com website.)

SmartMoney.com’s Travel Guide includes a section on business travel (e.g. “Biz Travel Secrets”), city guides and related money-saving travel articles and videoclips.

While not devoted to business travel, web 2.0 travel tools is a blog “devoted to creating a list of web 2.0 websites and webtools that are, in some way, related to Travel and Tourism”.

Travel Agents and Corporate Discounts

Don’t forget about going to a travel agent because not all the best deals are available online. Travel agents negotiate volume discounts and are able to pass on these savings to their clients. Also, set up corporate accounts and join frequent guest programs with hotel chains to receive discounts. When booking travel, you and your employees should always ask for a corporate travel discount.

Save Travel Money with Online Desktop Sharing Tools

Do you really need to travel to meet with prospective clients, suppliers or colleagues? Consider using online communication tools that might help you save precious money and time; many are free or low-cost. Here’s a link back to a recent blog post that I wrote in April 2008 called “Online Desktop Sharing for Small Business”.

Technology for Small Business

Technology should allow you to operate your small business more efficiently and, therefore, more economically, right? Just how do you find your way around the myriad technologies? Of course, you can read Wired or PC Magazine, but there are some websites dedicated to helping small business understand technology better. Below you'll find some sites that can aid you in your search to find out what’s new, what’s good and what’s inexpensive:

The Globe and Mail: Special Report – Technology for Small Business - This special report from The Globe and Mail includes articles on the benefits of cloud computing services (web-based storage), small business servers for mobile access, inventory control systems, online customer relationship management (CRM) applications, internet telephony, biometrics, social networking sites, computer file backup devices, and online order tracking.

Backbone Magazine: This Canadian magazine’s aim is to “provide business people with a tangible tool to enhance the way they do business in Canada’s New Economy”. Notable contributors to the magazine include Don Tapscott and David Ticoll. The website includes: feature articles, Backblog (tech and business blog), press releases, Sync (tech and gadgets blog), Gadget of the Week (Canadian), Gadget of the Week (Japanese), lists of top tech companies, events calendar, and tech book reviews.

BusinessWeek’s Technology section has featured columns, computer reviews, digital entertainment, computer management, featured product reviews from cnet.com.

SmallBusinessComputing.com: Billed as the "Online Guide to Small-Business Technology", this site offers tips, product announcements, q&a on hardware and equipment, Excellence in Technology awards, online marketing tips, product watch, etc.

Technology for Business $ake: Helping you Make Sense (and $$$) out of Technology http://www.businesstechnologyradio.com/- Brent Leary hosts a radio program with podcasts of all shows on the site to help small business people make sense out of technology and use it to build their businesses.

smallbiztechnology.com promotes itself as a site for “tech insight & news for small business”. You’ll find news, articles, discussion boards, resources and events.

Business Investment and Economic Activity in Halton for Q1 2008

The Halton Region Business Development Centre has just released its first quarter 2008 report on business investment and economic activity in Halton. Included in the report are highlights for the region from the Statistics Canada 2006 census, investment highlights, key economic indicators, development activities, real estate market and residential overviews, and small business facts. View the full report called Q1 2008 Business Development Report.

Small Business Indicators for Halton Region

The following is notable for small business from the report’s economic indicators section (% change Q1 2007 to Q1 2008):

1. Total population for the region grew by 3%
2. Employment rate grew 3.4%; unemployment fell compared to the Toronto CMA by 1.6%
3. Number of businesses fell by 1%
4. Number of business bankruptcies increased by 13.8% (from 29 in 2007 to 33 in 2008)
5. Average household income rose by 2.3% to $113,100
6. Average housing prices rose by 25.9%
7. Speculative office construction was strong in Burlington and Oakville; industrial warehousing and distribution facilities grew in Milton
8. Total housing starts were up 46.3% with Milton showing an unprecedented 91.1%
9. 22% of all private sector enterprises employed 1 to 4 employees and 88% of all private sector enterprises had fewer than 10 employees; the total number of private sector enterprises in Halton was 37,065, mostly in Burlington and Oakville
10. The largest number of businesses in Halton were involved in the following industries: Professional Services - 20%, Finance/Insurance/Real Estate – 14.7%, Wholesale/Retail – 14.5%, Business Support Services – 10.2%, Construction/Utilities – 10%
    

Agflation - Are Canadian Businesses Insulated from Rising Food Prices?

Agflation

Agflation = “agriculture” + “inflation” = food price inflation. Coined sometime in the late 2000's, agflation can be described as rising food prices caused by a variety of factors including rising fuel costs, poor harvests, tight international supplies, and growing demand due to more people and alternative fuels.

Is Canadian Business Insulated from Rising Food Prices?

There has been lots of press over rapidly-rising food prices in the United States, China, Europe and elsewhere. According to a June 12, 2008 report by Statistics Canada called Food Prices: A Boon for Producers, a Buffer for Consumers”, consumer food prices rose 5.9% in the U.S., 7.1% in Europe and 22% in China while Canada’s increase rose only 1.2%. The abstract of the report reads: “Canada stands to profit from the surge in food prices. Producers already have seen food exports hit a record high early in 2008. While consumers pay more for bread and cereals, this has been offset by stable or lower prices for other foodstuffs.”

Is this positive or negative for small businesses like small retailers, independent grocers, bakeries, restaurateurs, independent brewers, and smaller food producers?

A CBCNews.ca article warns Canadian consumers and business that the picture is not all rosy. This excellent news report called Brace Yourself, Canada, for Higher Grocery Bills analyzes why the Canadian grocery bill is generally lower right now: A higher Canadian dollar has allowed fresh fruit and vegetables imported from the U.S. to be sold at lower prices. Marketing boards in Canada regulate the prices of items like eggs, milk, poultry and pork. This has off-set higher prices for items produced with wheat and other grain commodities. Also, large retailers like Wal-Mart have caused price wars which help consumers but lowers profit margins for Canadian chains. Consumers, then, have benefited and this benefit may have resulted in positive sales at retailers' cash registers. However, the article notes that higher food bills are coming because of: “A continuing increase in the cost of baked goods; a looming end to the bargains created by our rising dollar; rapidly rising farm costs; growing demand for basic food commodities around the world; rising food transportation costs and perhaps an end to below-average margins at the grocery chains.”

A Vancouver Sun article by Bruce Constantineau on April 26, 2008 called “Food Price ‘Crisis’ Denied by Grocers” details how retailers are asking suppliers for efficiencies in keeping their costs down. The Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers believes that while there will be food price increases, they will be manageable for Canadian retailers and consumers. The article also mentions “the global trend to buy more food from local sources should also help keep prices down over the long term”.

According to a CBCNews.ca article from The Associated Press on May 7, 2008 called “Soaring Food Costs Prompt Restaurants to Make Over Menus”, restaurant owners are “swapping expensive ingredients for cheaper fare and adding new dishes that won't break their bottom line”.

A similar article appeared on May 5, 2008 on CBCNews.ca called “Higher Beer Prices on Tap as Summer Approaches”. Independent Canadian breweries are experiencing the effects of higher malt, barley and hops costs as well as higher gasoline prices. This translates into a product that costs more to produce and get to market; ultimately these higher costs will result in lower profit margins for breweries or higher prices for consumers.

For more information on agflation, check out Reuters’ Agflation website. There are links to articles, graphics, and a map of countries with recent food-related turbulence.

Women Entrepreneurs and Mompreneurs

Are you a woman with a great business idea? Did you know that in Canada, “four out of five businesses launched today are started by women”? According to a May 8 article called “In the Company of Women” by Lisa Wright in The Toronto Star on page U1 (a special section on Small Business), there are “821,000 self-employed women contributing $18 billion to the Canadian economy”.

Networking Groups and Websites for Women Entrepreneurs

Should you be interested in starting up your own business, consider contacting networking groups like:

Company of Women: www.companyofwomen.ca
Women Who Excel: www.womenwhoexcel.com
Athena Oakville: www.athenaoakville.ca
Women Entrepreneurs of Canada: www.wec.ca
Businesswomen in Trade: http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/businesswomen/menu-en.asp
The Business and Professional Women’s Clubs of Ontario: http://www.bpwontario.org/public/home.php

The Canada-Ontario Business Service Centre’s Resources for Women (formerly Industry Canada’s The Network for Women Entrepreneurs) page offers an introductory “Women in Business Info-Guide”, a Q&A section (networking, business planning, mentoring, financing) and an extensive online business tools section.

When or if you require financing, check out the website for BDC, the Business Development Bank of Canada. A portion of their site called “Woman Entrepreneur” is dedicated to Canadian women entrepreneurs.

Want to do some reading? Your local public library might have just what you want; a search on entrepreneurial women at the Oakville Public Library indicates that there's lots on this topic.

Mompreneurs

A subset of women entrepreneurs who are growing in numbers are mompreneurs. The term “mompreneur” refers to women who have left the corporate workforce to care for their families and during this time have started home-based businesses; these businesses are generally based on the creation of products/services that they have found a need or desire for during the care of their young children and families and that still allow the business founder to balance her home and work lives.
In February, 2008, the CBC website profiled mompreneurs as a trend on the “Fortune Hunters” page. “The Mompreneur Trend” profiles three women and their businesses. Don’t forget to check out the SavvyMom Mompreneur of the Year Award website, celebrating innovative ideas by Canadian mompreneurs.

More on Angel Investors

Angel Investors Continued...

(see also Angel Investors: An Alternative Source of Financing for Small Business, a post in this blog dated April 23, 2008 which also features several links to angel investor groups)

Profit magazine featured a great article in its May 2008 issue called "Private Investing: After the Handshake" written by Kara Aaserud. Ms. Aaserud reviews how angel investing can result in a double-edged sword business relationship between entrepreneurs and their angels.

This article links to related, previous Profit or Canadian Business Online articles:
1. "Two Days in the Dragons' Den: Tips for Pitching Your Business Idea" focuses on pitching your product idea to various types of investors; this article appeared in the June 2007 issue of Profit and was written by Rick Spence.
2. "Angel Investor Groups: Heavenly Bodies" reviews the process of getting in front of angel investor groups and what to expect; this article was written by Jeff Dennis in Canadian Business Online and appeared on December 5, 2007.

Find Out More about the Elusive Teen Market

Do you have a product or service that you think would appeal to the teen or youth market? How do you find out more about this market that represents a large demographic having a fair amount of disposable income?

Check out the census portion of Statistics Canada’s website for demographic information by age and sex. The Portrait of the Canadian Population in 2006, by Age and Sex, 2006 Census paints a good picture of Canadians according to their age and sex and where they live in every province or territory. Starting on page 16, check out the descriptions and age pyramids province by province. You will see differences between 2001 and 2006 and, generally, the aging of the population with most provinces exhibiting large demographic “bumps” in the baby-boomers and children of the baby-boomers (born between 1975 and 1995).

PBS Frontline produces “incisive documentaries covering the scope and complexity of the human experience”. One of the recent documentaries is called “The Merchants of Cool: A Report on the Creators & Marketers of Popular Culture for Teenagers”. The show can be viewed online or you can read the interviews and reports. One of the companies profiled on this site that specializes in “cool hunting” or research on youth culture is Look-Look.

Should you wish to do some reading on selling to teenagers, check out your local public library for copies of books like Alissa Quart’s “Branded: The Buying and Selling of Teenagers”.

Angel Investors: An Alternative Source of Financing for Small Business

If you have exhausted your pursuit of traditional bank financing, you may want to consider using an angel investor to get that great idea off the ground. Read on to find out more about who these angels are, what they can do for you and where you can find them.

What is an Angel Investor?

Typically, an angel investor is an affluent individual seeking to invest in a startup company and provides their own capital for that startup. In return, an angel investor generally expects some form of equity and control in the company. Sometimes angels group together in a syndication to pool the financing; they are known as angel groups or angel networks. Angel investors may also be corporate investors who are looking for strategic synergies from an alliance with an entrepreneurial company.

Find out more:

Wikipedia’s “Angel Investor” article gives further background on angel investors.

Entrepreneur.com has a how-to page called “Angel Investors” which is devoted to the concepts of what an angel investor is, who might use one, how much they cost, what the investor expects in return for their capital and how and where to find them.

An article appeared in the March 17, 2008 edition of Canadian Business called “Angel Investors: Spreading Your Wings”. Written by Megan Harman, this article discusses exploring all financing options like those provided by angel investors.

Where Can You Find an Angel Investor?

Check out About.com Canada’s article called “How to Find an Angel Investor”.

Below are some links to some organizations that bring investors and businesses together in order to secure financing and allow businesses to grow:

The National Angel Organization (NAO) considers itself to be “Canada’s Voice of Angel Investors”. The NAO’s directory includes links to 21 angel groups from 8 provinces in Canada as well as links to U.S. national and regional angel groups.

The Angel Capital Education Foundation (ACEF) provides information on angel investing and lists 22 Canadian angel groups with links to their websites from across the country in its ACEF directory. There are many more links to American groups and ones located in Mexico.

Calling itself “North America’s professional alliance of angel groups”, the Angel Capital Association (ACA) is an association of 265 angel organizations in the U.S. and Canada; the ACA member directory with Canadian and U.S. links is also available online.

Online Desktop Sharing for Small Business

Do you have team members, colleagues, suppliers or customers who are offsite or located in other parts of the country or world that you want to share information with or conduct meetings with and you don’t have the time, money or need to get together in person? Do you want to conduct an online meeting without installing software on your computer or servers? How about allowing your online meeting attendees to be able to share their mouse or keyboard to allow for live collaboration? Do you want to host webinars? What about conducting virtual training? Do you want to share files? There are more and more online desktop sharing applications that allow you to do all of these things without installing any software. The great news for small business is that some of these services are free. Here’s a list of some of these fee-for-service and free-service providers:

Yugma: http://www.yugma.com/
Share your mouse and keyboard (remote control); not just for tech support
Use an online whiteboard and allow meeting participants to make comments or edit work in progress
Record your meeting
Share files
Compatible with Skype
Fee-based professional service with subscriptions allowing you to connect with 20, 100 or 500 attendees

LiveLOOK: http://www.livelook.net/
Share your screen but not your mouse or keyboard
Per Minute Plan: $0.025/minute/participant for up to 100 participants
Monthly Plan: $39.99/month (U.S.): includes 15 participants per session but can allow up to 100 participants

TeamViewer: http://www.teamviewer.com/
Remote control for tech support
Share your screen (e.g. for product demos and presentations)
File transfer
6-Month Use Term, premium packages available

Mikogo 1.0: http://www.mikogo.com/
Free
Host online meetings with up to 10 users simultaneously
Screen sharing plus remote control of keyboard and mouse
File transfer

Dimdim: http://www.dimdim.com/
Audio/video/screen sharing
Free for up to 20 participants
Professional product starting at $99/year for more than 20 participants

Vyew: http://vyew.com/
Free for 20 participants with ads. Plus pricing starts at $6.95/mo for up to 25 participants, 5 with no ads. Professional pricing starts at $13.95/mo for up to 45 participants, 15 with no ads.
Show your desktop in real-time and show your cursor (e.g. point to something on your screen); no remote control
Screen capture, whiteboarding tools
Upload files and collaborate
Broadcast your video with your webcam

Here’s a couple more:
WebHuddle: http://www.webhuddle.com/
Lotus Unyte: http://www.unyte.net/
HelpMeetingPresenter: http://www.hostpresentation.com/

Statistics Canada's Market Research Handbook: Great Info for Small Business!

Statistics Canada released the latest edition of its Market Research Handbook on April 8, 2008. This 378 page document is available to download for FREE. Should you wish to review a paper copy, check with your local public library in the next week or so as many of them will receive copies for use in their collections.


Why should you use this handbook? It contains tons of annually-collected statistics plus census 2006 data suitable for planning and growing small businesses with topics such as:

• Population Demographics, including B2B Demographics
• Labour Market and Income Statistics
• Consumer Expenditures
• Housing and Household Characteristics
• Macroeconomic and Financial Statistics including Supply Chain
• International Trade
• Business and Industry Statistics including Business Demographics
• Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations
• Projections
  
  

Rising Minimum Wage: Hurting Small Business in Canada?

At a time when the Ontario economy is taking a downturn, small business owners are being forced to cope with a rising minimum wage. Six provinces in Canada raised their minimum wage effective either March 31, 2008 or April 1, 2008 with more set to rise later this year. Ontario’s minimum wage will be the highest at $8.75, up from $8.00. By 2010, it will be $10.25 which is an increase of 10% a year since the increases began in 2003. See the table below for rates in all the Canadian provinces and territories. Aimed at fighting poverty, a rising minimum wage is likely to take a hit on small businesses that are already paying more for things like insurance and utilities and who generally have a thin operating profit. Manufacturers, in particular, have voiced concerns about the poorly-timed increase; in February alone, the manufacturing sector lost 24,000 jobs according to the Statistics Canada website (note that manufacturing "represents 11.6% of total employment"). Many economists indicate that the timing will undoubtedly lead to job losses.

Called “Minimum Wage Set to Rise”, The Toronto Star, published an article on March 30, 2008 by Andrew Chung, profiling the economic arguments.

Says Elaine Flis, Ontario Vice President for the Canadian Restaurant andFoodservices Association (CRFA) in a news release, "Numerous economic studies have concluded that targeted tax relief, credential recognition and job training programs are far more effective ways to reach those in need."

To read about the NDP’s viewpoint on the need to raise the minimum wage, check out “Raise the Wage”.

Report Flags Poverty Concerns in Ontario is an article from the Canadian Press that appeared in The Globe and Mail on April 2, 2008 which details the point of view of anti-poverty activists.

Minimum Wage Across Canada

Alberta $8.40 as of Apr.1/08 up from $8.00
Alberta Employment and Immigration

BC $8.00
B.C. Ministry of Labour Citizens’ Services

Manitoba $8.50 as of Apr.1/08 up from $8.00
Manitoba Labour and Immigration

New Brunswick $7.75 as of Mar.31/08 up from $7.25
New Brunswick Dept of Post-Secondary, Training and Labour

Newfoundland and Labrador $8.00 as of Apr.1/08 up from $7.50
Newfoundland and Labrador Labour Relations Agency

Northwest Territories $8.25
Northwest Territories Education, Culture and Employment

Nova Scotia $7.60 as of May 1/07
Nova Scotia Labour and Workforce Development

Nunavut $8.50
Government of Nunavut

Ontario $8.75 as of Mar.31/08 up from $8.00
Ontario Ministry of Labour

PEI $7.50 as of Apr.1/07 going up to $7.75 on May 1/08 and
then $8.00 on Oct.1/08
PEI Communities, Cultural Affairs and Labour

Quebec $8.00 going up to $8.50 on May 1/08
Quebec Commission des normes de travail

Saskatchewan $8.25 going up to $8.60 on May 1/08 and then $9.25
on May 1/09
Saskatchewan Advanced Education, Employment and Labour

Yukon $8.50 as of Apr.1/08 going up annually on April 1st
Yukon Department of Community Services

Human Resources and Social Development Canada also includes a chart indicating current and forthcoming minimum hourly wages for experienced adult workers in Canada

Small Business Fraud: What to Do

With a tagline FRAUD: RECOGNIZE IT. REPORT IT. STOP IT., March is Fraud Prevention Month. Announced on March 19, 2008, the Canadian Government’s Competition Bureau prepared a campaign called FACT: Fraud Awareness for Commercial Targets. This educational website for businesses and not-for-profit organizations includes tools and information on everything from scam techniques and training your staff to spot fraud to building an anti-fraud plan and reporting a possible scam. Here’s the news release. Other fraud prevention events and announcements may be found at www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/fraud.

The Canadian Anti-Fraud Call Centre can be reached at:
www.antifraudcentre.ca OR
1-888-495-8501

The Bank of Canada includes a section of their website dedicated to fighting fraud for retailers. Called “Fighting Fraud on the Front Lines: A Retailer’s Guide”, there are downloadable fact sheets on identity fraud, payment card fraud, bank note counterfeiting, cheque and money order fraud. There is also an order form available for a dvd with video clips and tips on protecting yourself from fraudulent scams.

Other sites you might like to visit on this topic include:

Better Business Bureau (Canada)
Better Business Bureau (United States)
Consumers Council of Canada
Canadian Intellectual Property Office

Online Slideshows and Presentations

Do you want to create and/or share slideshows and presentations? Maybe you have PowerPoint and maybe you don’t. You’re a small business owner, so you might be interested in doing this for free. Maybe you need some fresh presentation ideas for your business. Here are a few places to help you out:

Slideshare: www.slideshare.net

• This site is sort of like YouTube for slides…tons of slideshows to search and watch!
• Once you’ve created your slideshow (i.e. in PowerPoint), upload your presentations for public or private viewing
• Add audio to create a webinar or create a slidecast (slides + mp3 mashup)
• Upload slides without creating an account
  

Slide: www.slide.com

• Create and save slideshows on slide.com and share them via email, Facebook, etc.
• You must be a member
• Upload images from your own files, Friendster, Bebo, MySpace, Slide, Photobucket, Facebook, Flickr, etc.; then add skins, themes, and music/video
• Slide.com’s products also include FunWall and SuperPoke! which are popular on sites like Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, Blogger, etc.
  

Spresent: www.spresent.com

• Create Flash presentations online for FREE and share them via email or publish them on your website or blog
• According to its website, Spresent is “a free Web-based alternative to PowerPoint.”
• Create an account and you’re on your way!

Rising Exchange Rate / Strong Canadian Dollar

"Loonie Tunes"

Statistics Canada published a feature article in the March edition of the Canadian Economic Observer called “Study: Loonie Tunes: Industry Exposure to the Rising Exchange Rate”; the article was written by Z. Ghanem and P. Cross. What industry is the big winner with a strong Canadian dollar? According to the summary, it’s the construction industry. Also, the “best-positioned industries are those that use large amounts of imported inputs and sell mostly in domestic, not export, markets”.

Check out the complete March edition of the Canadian Economic Observer to review current economic conditions, February economic events, tables and charts (e.g. GDP, CPI, trade volumes, labour force stats, etc.) as well as the feature article.

Posts on the Rising Canadian Dollar and Small Business

Want to review previous posts on the rising Canadian dollar and the affects on small business? Please see:

February 5/08 post called “More on “How will a strong Canadian dollar affect small business”?"

and

November 5/07 post called “How will a strong Canadian dollar affect small business?”

What Does Canada's Budget 2008 Mean for Small Business?

Lots of sources have discussed the implications of the Canadian government’s Budget 2008 on small business. According to The Globe and Mail, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is working “to sell a plan that he said prepares the country for an economic slowdown”. Here’s a short list of what some reliable sources are saying about the budget with respect to business as well as a number of links to their respective websites:

How Does the Budget Affect Small Business?

• Assistance for manufacturers
• Improved employment insurance management
• Improvements to the immigration system, including speeding up the process
• Enhancements to the cross-border business system
• Streamlining vehicle expense claims
• Provision of more claimable tax credits under Canada’s Scientific Research & Experimental Development (SRED) tax incentive program
• Money to farm programs
• Money for the aquaculture industry

Here is The Globe and Mail’s Budget 2008 Report: articles, editorials, videos and more.

Here is the Financial Post’s page on the Budget. They also include a nice highlight of the budget.

Canadian Business Online includes a report written by Kim Shiffman called: Budget 2008: A Small Budget for Small Business

Where Can I Get a Copy of the Budget?

Budget 2008

The Government of Canada's Department of Finance will table the 2008 Budget at approximately 4:00 p.m. EST today. Go to the Budget 2008 website to see the budget documents free of charge. You will also be able to see a live video broadcast of Minister of Finance, Jim Flaherty, delivering the budget speech to the House of Commons.

What Are People Buying and Where Are They Buying It (aka Spending Patterns)?

Spending Patterns in Canada

Check out a report released today called Spending Patterns in Canada. From Statistics Canada, with data from 2006, this is a direct quote from the report’s highlights:

“Household spending in 2006 continued to show the effects of the strong resource economy in the West. Spending growth in Alberta surpassed all other provinces by a wide margin.”

This publication is available online for FREE. For a quick read, browse the Analysis section; navigate through the various sections of the report using the sidebar links. For those of you who like numbers, there are tables of data to look at. There is also a pdf version of the whole report available too.

Hardly surprising, most money was spent on personal taxes, shelter and transportation (both vehicle purchases and public transportation). Other big expenditures were on wireless communication, new computer hardware, and new audio and video equipment. Notably, people spent more on health care in 2006 and less on tobacco products (a nod to an aging and more health-conscious population?).

Alberta Business

To learn more about Alberta and to take advantage of the growth taking place in that province, check out AlbertaFirst.com. This website is a provincial, municipal and industry partnership created to provide information to businesses and individuals interested in starting a business or locating to Alberta. There is a a Business Directory Search as well as a Profile page which provides links to extensive statistical data for all Alberta communities and census divisions. If you click through to the Regional MarketPlace Profiles, you will see demographic, labour force, household income and expenditure and other statistical data for 11 distinct regions in Alberta. Click through to the Investment Profiles section and you will be directed to the Government of Alberta’s Investment Attraction System, which provides economic indicator information.

Another credible website for small business information in Alberta is The Business Link: Alberta’s Business Information Service. The Business Link is a not-for-profit organization supported by the Government of Canada and the Government of Alberta.

Note: Don’t forget about The Business Link for other provinces too. The main page has flags at the bottom representing each province which you click on to get to the various provincial small business pages.

Doing Business in India

As a complement to my posts on doing business in China (see Feb.1/08 and Jan.18/08), this post is about doing business in India. India, too, is emerging as an economic powerhouse. Back in 2003, Goldman Sachs recognized the market potential of four countries: Brazil, Russia, India and China and coined the term BRIC for the four named countries. Jim O’Neill, the Head of Global Economic Research at Goldman Sachs proposed the thesis that the BRIC countries would become four of the most dominant economies by 2050. This thesis is still supported and more information and resources about doing business in India are being produced. If you are planning on taking advantage of this growing market, please read on…

What are BRICs?

Click here for the website link to everything BRICs on the Goldman Sachs’ website. Among other things, you’ll find an interesting video interview called “BRICs at 6” from February 2008 with Jim O’Neill, Head of Global Economic Research.

To review the original 2003 report on BRICs produced by Goldman Sachs called “Dreaming with BRICs: The Path to 2050”, click here.

Read up on BRICs on Wikipedia by clicking right here.

From the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, click here for information on understanding India, its economy, investment, industry and services, trade and travel information.

The Economist is always a reliable source of credible information. Below are a number of links you might want to check out:

1. This link is a Special Report called “Technology in India and China: Running Fast” which appeared on Nov.8/07.


2. This link is a short background on India’s economy from Dec.31/07.


3. This link is a country briefing on India, most recently updated on Feb.9/08.

Click here for the Doing Business Project’s Report on India.

Ernst & Young has a number of reports and surveys on business in India. Click here to see them.

Cultural Differences

There are lots of books written on doing business in different countries, including India. One that I enjoyed is called “Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands: The Bestselling Guide to Doing Business in More Than 60 Countries” by Terri Morrison and Wayne A. Conaway, 2nd edition, 2006. Check to see if your local public library has a copy of it in their collection before you run out to buy it. Click here to see some titles that the Oakville Public Library has in its collection on doing business in India. Click here to see materials on business etiquette in other cultures, including the “Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands” book.

The Canadian Government’s Foreign Affairs department includes an article by Rajesh Kumar on the cultural differences between India and the West: Click here to read it.

From Canadian Business Online, this article (click here) from June 2005 by Matthew McClearn discusses cultural differences, outsourcing, India’s infrastructure, government, relationships and more:

Click here for a link to a number of YouTube videos on doing business in India. Below is a presentation that I found there on doing business in India. While it is aimed at Brazilian businessmen, the content is about Indian culture.

More Online Spreadsheets

Lots of you have been looking at the information that I’ve posted on Google Docs and Microsoft Office Live (see Oct.2/07 ). Don’t forget about the Small Business Online Tools section of this blog (left sidebar) for more resources that could save your small business time and money!

Are you looking for an alternative to Excel or Google Docs to work on or store your spreadsheets online? Thanks go to a colleague of mine who discovered a great blog post from Mashable.com on a bunch of online spreadsheet applications. Click here to see this post by Sean P. Aune from Feb.6/08. Called "Forget Excel: 14 Online Spreadsheet Applications", this post provides links to these 14 applications, some that are free (like Google docs) and some that are not. Enjoy!

More on "How Will a Strong Canadian Dollar Affect Small Business"?

My Nov.5/07 post was on how a strong Canadian dollar might affect small business. The loonie continues to sit at or near parity with the American greenback. Here's a sampling of some more interesting articles and reports for you to browse:

Rising Canadian Dollar = Grief for Small Business?

From The Globe and Mail online - Click here for “The Buck Stops Here: Renegotiating the Dollar”, an article by Rasha Mourtada from Jan.21/08 that discusses how and why you might consider renegotiating existing business deals.

This article (click here) is a media release from the Ontario Chamber of Commerce. In the article, The Chamber discusses how businesses are resisting “suggesting that governments interfere with market forces”.

This article (click here) appeared in the Financial Post on Dec.31/07; it examines various challenges that small businesses face, including sensitivity to a fluctuating dollar.

This CBC article from Jan.29/08 is headlined “Manufacturers Expect Tough 2008: Report" - click here to see it.

Click here for a Frost & Sullivan research report on the Canadian Automotive Industry which appeared in Businessworld.

If you’re interested in the IT sector, click here for an article from the Nov.5/07 issue of ComputerWorld Canada called “IT Sector Explores Impact of Canadian Dollar’s Rise".

Follow this link for an article entitled “High Dollar is Causing Widening Grief” which appeared in businessexaminer.net, a part of BClocalnews.com.

While many of the articles above are doom and gloom, this article (click here) called “Silver Lining to Expected Slowdown” on financialpost.com, presents some reasons for optimism.

More on Doing Business in China

Many of you have looked at the post from January 18, 2008 (thanks, by the way!). Below are a few more good articles, links and videos on Doing Business in China that I’ve uncovered since then. This is lots of discussion around environmental issues, inflation worries, cost of petroleum and therefore plastic, and industries with safety problems (i.e. toys).

Click here for an article from the International Herald Tribune online from today (Feb.1/08) called “Costs Rising, China to Export Inflation" by David Barboza:

I really like this site: The China Business Network: Who’s Who in Chinese Business. It includes interviews, China Talk Radio podcasts, featured blogs, news, videos, and a whole lot more on everything from business culture/strategy to technology, HR, finance/investing, retail and law.

From the University of Florida Business Library: George A. Smathers Libraries, click here for a site that offers lots of good links to other sites, business cases, and reports.

Click here for a link to the China Business Information Center on the U.S. Government Export Portal. It includes advice, faqs, webcasts, outreach events like webinars, etc.

Click here to see some YouTube videos on doing business in China.

A "Recession-Proof" Small Business?

In this current state of economic uncertainty, do you dare start a new small business? Is it possible to create a recession-proof business? What about"recession-proofing" your existing business?

For a start, you might want a better understanding of what a recession is. Click here for a definition and information from the Canadian government on recession and what it means to Canadians.

Monthly Economic Trends / Canadian Economy

Looking for monthly economic trends and insights on the Canadian economy, trade and economic analysis, or sector/industry-specific economic business information? If so, click here. There are links to Agriculture Canada, Fisheries and Oceans, National Energy Board, Statistics Canada, Industry Canada, Canada Mortgage and Housing (CMHC) and much more.

After looking at a number of websites, I've compiled a list of the types of businesses that some people consider "recession-proof", meaning that you might start these types of business regardless of the economic outlook. If you are already in business, take a fresh look at the products and services that you offer in order to reap the benefits of a population who is looking for more reasonably priced products and services.

“Recession-Proof” Businesses?

Health - People get sick regardless of the economy, plus a huge portion of the population is aging

Food - People still need to eat but perhaps choose less gourmet / expensive foods

Death - People still die during a recession and require palliative care and funeral services

Home and Vehicle Repair and Maintenance – Home plumbing, electrical and roofing maintenance and repair are still necessary and cars still break down during a recession

Cosmetics - People want to look their best regardless of the economy, but perhaps choose less expensive products

Home Renovation / Improvement - People may decide to renovate existing homes since that's generally cheaper than purchasing a new home

Debt Collection - Bills still need to be paid and payments are more likely to be late when income is down

Tax Preparation - Taxes still need to be paid

Career/Job Search Related Businesses - People lose jobs during recessions, so more people would be looking for work

Vices - People may be unwilling or unable to give up their vices like tobacco/smoking, alcohol, pornography

Here are some of the links that I looked at and listened to:

Click here to listen to a podcast from BennettGold’s BusinessCast. There are two podcasts on recession called “The Recession Session”, parts 1 and 2.

Click here for a link to Rick Spence’s blog entry called “Your recession survival guide". Rick Spence writes a weekly column on small business in the Financial Post.

Click here to link to an article called "Can you recession-proof your business?". It is written by Jason Safar in the financialpost.com from today.

Click here for Wikipedia's entry on recession-proof industries.

Click here for a March 13, 2002 article called “Want a Recession-Proof Business?” written by Jean Latz Griffin in The Chicago Business Ledger. While written in 2002, the principles still apply.

Click here for 10 tips from bytestart.co.uk to deal with risks to your business during a recession.

Click here for a blog entry written by Robert W. Ply called "9 Recession Proof Strategies". The entry details business sales strategies and may be found on The Direct Marketing Club of New York's site.

Click here for an Ezine article by Susan L. Reid called "Recession-Proof Your Small Business in 2008"; the author discusses seven ways to boost productivity including providing a great guarantee and adding value not price.

Doing Business in China

Everyone’s talking about the great Chinese economic engine. How can your small business get a piece of the action? How can you find out how to do business with China?

Here are some suggestions:

1. Visit your local public library in person or online.

I know I say it often but your local public library is always a fantastic place to start to look for any kind of information; best of all, the information is FREE! Visit your local public library or search their online catalogue from the comfort of your home or office for titles (books, CDs, DVDs, etc.) including the terms “China” and “business”. New titles are being published all the time to take advantage of opportunities. For example, click here for a sampling of titles found at the Oakville Public Library.

Not only can you search the physical holdings of your library, but you likely have FREE access (with your library card) to the full-text of thousands of newspapers, magazines, journals, encyclopedias, tv and radio transcripts, and reference books. Go to what most libraries refer to as online or electronic databases and, with your library card as your username, do a search using the terms “China” and “business”. These databases are just like searching Google or Yahoo! but your library pays for your access to the articles! Click here for a link to the suite of databases at Oakville Public Library that provide business information (they have others too!).

2. Go to your regional business or economic development centre.

For example, if you live in Halton Region, the Halton Region Business Development Centre offers information, business advice, seminars and contacts for small business entrepreneurs to do business locally and globally. These centres partner with local libraries and government agencies to run inexpensive and sometimes free workshops for small businesses. Take a look at the upcoming seminars in Halton Region – click here.

3. Do online market research.

Here are several good sites:

Statistics Canada recently published a document detailing Canada’s trade with China from 1997 to 2006. This document (click here) includes information like leading imports and exports. Notably, “Imports from China were five times higher in 2006 than in 1997 while exports to the country tripled.” Also, “By 2003, the country (China) had emerged as Canada’s second largest trading partner surpassing the U.K. and Japan.”

Industry Canada (Strategis)’s Trade Data Online site (click here) provides import and export data on more than 200 countries including China.

http://www.exportsource.ca/ and http://www.importsource.ca/ – These Government of Canada exporting and importing sites providing a wide range of tools from a network of federal, provincial and territorial departments and agencies to help Canadian businesses do business globally.

The Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) offers research, financing and consulting. Click here.

Export Development Canada is Canada’s export credit agency and enables Canadian exporters and investors to expand their international business; here is a link to their China report plus links to much more on China.

The Canadian Trade Commissioner in China assists Canadian companies looking for market opportunities in China. The site also links to:
The Embassy of Canada to China
The Consulate General of Canada, Guangzhou
The Consulate General of Canada, Shanghai
The Consultate General of Canada, Chongqing

According to their site, the World Bank’s “Doing Business” project (click here) provides “objective measures of business regulations and their enforcement across 178 countries and selected cities at the subnational and regional level.

http://business-china.com/ – This site provides access to information on more than 120,000 Chinese businesses in six major languages as well as industries, products and services.

http://www.chinapages.com/ / http://www.ectrade.com/ – This site contains trade categories to search for companies or products. This site is updated with news and economic information.

The National Bureau of Statistics of China site provides demographic and economic statistics for China.

The People’s Daily Online is China’s national newspaper. Click here.

The Conference Board of Canada is also an interesting place to find information. Most of their information is pricey but surprisingly you can get some of their outstanding reports for free. Here are links to two free reports:
“China’s Productivity Boom: The Contribution of Restructuring to Growth and Competitiveness” and
“Can China’s Growth Trajectory Be Sustained? "

New Year's Resolution: Be a Social Entrepreneur

Do you have a New Year’s resolution? Do you dream of establishing a viable business that also has a positive social impact? Make it your resolution, then, to become a social entrepreneur.

What exactly is a social entrepreneur? According to Wikipedia, “A social entrepreneur is someone who recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create, and manage a venture to make social change”. Social organizations can be set up as either for-profit or non-profit but the real bottom line is to make social improvements.

More and more information about social entrepreneurship is being disseminated. For example, on December 4, 2007, The Globe and Mail featured a special section called “Report on Social Entrepreneurs”. To view these articles, either go to The Globe and Mail website and search for “social entrepreneurs” or search the online databases at your local public library; note that you will have to pay to view the articles directly from The Globe and Mail website. To save yourself some money, visit your local public library's website to see if they subscribe to an online database like the Canadian Periodicals Index (CPI.Q) which contains newspaper and magazine articles, often with the complete text and access is FREE. (It’s free because public libraries pay for access to databases for their customers’ use. Your library card number is your way in!) For example, click here to access the suite of databases that the Oakville Public Library subscribes to.

If you are seeking to establish an enterprise with social entrepreneurship as its foundation, consider contacting the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship to gain access to their incredible resources and networks.

For further reading on social entrepreneurship, check out what the New York Times calls “a bible in the field”: How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas by David Bornstein, published in 2007 by Oxford University Press. (Tip: To save money, borrow it from your local public library! Like this - click here.)

U.S. Economic Census: Get the Facts on Doing Business in the U.S.

Do you do business with the U.S.? Do you want to set up a business in the U.S.? If you answered yes to either of these questions, consider looking at the U.S. Economic Census data.

The U.S. Economic Census takes place every five years in years ending in 2 and 7. Recently, 4,700,000 census forms were mailed out. The Economic Census profiles American business from the national to the local level.

Click here to see an interesting "Facts for Features" collection of U.S. statistics relating to various types of businesses. For example, find out what the average per capita spending is at drinking establishments and what services landscapers typically offer. To see more economic census releases with data from the last census (2002), click here.

The main U.S. Census Bureau page is located at this address: http://www.census.gov/. It includes population and state/community facts and figures as well as economic indicators and statistics (i.e. housing starts, total business sales) too. Click here for links to business and industry data.