Thinking about turning your passion into a paying gig? These steps will help you avoid some common mistakes as you set out to earn an income from your favorite pastime. Do you have what it takes? Unless you’ve run a business before, it’s easy to get carried away with the idea of how perfect it will be to get paid for doing what you love. Reality check: the stress of… Read more
It’s the start of summer! This means BBQ’s, spending time outside doing your favourite hobbies with your people! You’ve probably heard the maxim that it’s better to work smarter than harder. Working smarter means allocating your time, energy and money so vital tasks get done more efficiently, freeing up your personal time. Too many business owners think they must keep working harder—taking on more responsibilities and working longer hours—to be… Read more
Your business needs cash. Cash is what keeps your company in operation and enables it to grow, so you should know how much cash your business needs to survive. Although many people think the answer is linked solely to operating expenses, this isn’t the case. There is no single factor that determines how much cash every business needs to have on hand. Somewhere between 3-6 months of operating expenses is… Read more
Balancing customer experience against your budget is a difficult task. You need the right amount of staff working to keep customers happy, but not so many people that workers are standing around looking for things to do. If your customers have long wait times, that’s good news for you initially—it means your business is popular. The bad news is customers won’t wait around forever for you to fix your time… Read more
Traditionally, employers have relied on giving employees raises as a way to retain their staff and reward them for being hard-working and loyal. Raises can get expensive, and there is often an upper limit for what you can offer when it comes to increasing salaries and wages. Keeping your employees happy makes business sense. You want to keep your good employees, and it costs money to find, hire and train… Read more
The start of a business is an exciting time. You’ve got a great idea for a business and are enthusiastic to get started. It’s important to plan ahead to give your business the best chances for success. Planning ahead means anticipating challenges and developing ways to successfully address them, so they don’t upend your start-up. Here are three reasons why start-ups fail and ways you can avoid them Lack of… Read more
Bookkeepers can be highly beneficial for businesses of any size. They offer expertise and insight into areas that you may not have experience in. They can also take some tasks off your to-do list, freeing up your time and energy to focus on other matters. Here are 4 benefits to hiring bookkeepers to help you manage your business. Expertise A bookkeeper is an expert at managing, sorting and recording your… Read more
Businesses are increasingly moving online to expand their reach and provide the best possible experience to their customers. Being online, however, means more competition, so business owners must come up with ways to amp up their game to gain a bigger market share. If you own an ecommerce business or are looking to start one, read on to learn about ways to delight your online customers. Put the buyer’s journey… Read more
If you want your business to continue growing and thriving, you’ll need to find ways to bring in new clients. Here are 5 ways you can find new clients for your business. 1. Set aside time for marketing Regardless of whether marketing is your preferred activity, you need to set aside time for it. It’s easy to put marketing at the bottom of your priority list, but doing so makes… Read more
When you start a business, you’re typically your only employee and payroll is about as simple as it gets. But as you grow, you hopefully find yourself in the position of needing to take on more employees. Before you know it, what was once a very straightforward task becomes a giant undertaking that’s sucking up most of your time. This is when it makes sense to outsource your payroll. While… Read more
It’s an inevitability in every business – you have to raise your prices to continue making a profit. There are many factors that go into deciding how much to charge, all of which are dynamic. The rising cost of goods, inflation, and a changing market are just a few reasons why any small business has to reevaluate its rates regularly to stay competitive (and to stay in business). While it… Read more
Very few small businesses have a huge marketing budget to work with. Fortunately, there are a number of simple, free and low cost ways to get the word out about your company that are also highly effective. These tips will show you five simple ways to promote your local business without breaking the bank. Get free press Advertising rates for local newspapers and radio stations can be way too costly… Read more
Preparing for tax season is really a year-round endeavor. Tip number one for SMB owners is to update financials on a monthly basis, using a streamlined software or cloud-based system. This way, come tax time, everything you need is all in one place. And well organized SMBs are better positioned to minimize their tax bill while avoiding penalties associated with missing or inaccurate information. Here are four more ways to… Read more
Keeping track of sales, earnings, expenses, and purchases is fundamental to the overall health and sustainability of your business. Effective bookkeeping produces the data you need to evaluate your current practices, anticipate challenges, and set attainable future goals. But despite their proven importance, many business owners dread and avoid accounting tasks. In fact, 40% of surveyed entrepreneurs claim that bookkeeping is one the worst parts of running a business! Wondering… Read more
Good morning! You may have heard about the new Underused Housing Tax and are wondering what is the government changing? Does this affect me? What about that huge penalty for failing to file? What do do? This is a heads up about the filing obligations and some of the possible implications of this new UHT. What is the UHT? Take a moment to check out the Introduction to the Underused… Read more
Although most entrepreneurs recognize the importance of careful financial management, few want to spend their time dealing with numbers. Unfortunately, not keeping a close eye on your income and expenses can be very costly for a business. Here are five of the most common bookkeeping pitfalls, and some simple tips for getting back on track. Mixing business and personal All too often, entrepreneurs adopt a “buy now, sort later” approach… Read more
Good morning! Being Fraud Prevention Month, we have been learning about what is new on the scamming scene and how we can learn more ways to avoid becoming a victim of this. One handy way to inform yourself is through this test of your knowledge on scams. It’s great to be thankful if you haven’t been a victim, or an attempted victim, but being in the know of what is… Read more
On average, small business owners spend 10 hours each week recording, organizing, and processing financial transactions – everything from accounts receivable and payable, to employee payments, expense receipts and supplier invoices. While the process may be time-consuming (and tedious!), effective bookkeeping is the foundation of sound financial management – which in turn, is the lifeblood of your business. Feeling overwhelmed by mountains of paperwork and complex calculations? Here are three… Read more
March is recognized as Fraud Prevention Month. As individuals and business owners, we need to stay vigilant on the new schemes, and scams. Here is an excellent link from the Government of Canada, helping you stay informed! https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/competition-bureau-canada/en/fraud-and-scams/tips-and-advice/protect-your-business-fraud-what-canadian-businesses-should-watch Read more
There are some things in life that go together well and others that definitely do not. Business and personal finances are in the category of items that should not be mixed. Although it may seem like a headache to keep them separate—who wants to manage all those bank accounts?—your life will be greatly simplified once you separate your personal and your business finances, especially your expenses. Paperwork and taxes will… Read more