Category Archives: Established & Growing Businesses

Build a Local Small Business Marketing Plan

Established & Growing Businesses, Marketing & Branding, Start Ups, , ,

Small businesses have a competitive advantage versus the larger businesses in the local market. So why wouldn’t you take advantage of this?

Walk through the best practices of a marketing plan and then have it fine tuned in order to reach out to the local, regional market. Then learn to use and implement the local marketing tools.

The overview of the video is:

Step 1: Marketing Goal
Step 2: Marketing Budget
Step 3: Target Market
Step 4: Your Message
Step 5: Your Local Marketing Tools

Contact Your Expert

Carla Langhorst
carla@smallbusinesssolver.com

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Crowdfunding in Canada

Established & Growing Businesses, Finance & Accounting, Regulations & Legal, Start Ups, , , ,

Crowdfunding is one of the new up and coming ways to finance your business. If we look at the international market place, there is $3-5 billion dollars that has been raised in crowdfunding efforts.
 
This is through over 300 portals internationally with 45 of them available to Canadians. Traditionally crowdfunding works by donation or reward.
 
The latest and greatest is that crowdfunding will soon be available in Canada to raise equity. This is going to make raising equity less expensive to do and easier to do.
 
Now is the time to prepare your business for this new opportunity. Learn how in this 20 minute video.
 

 
Contact the Expert
 
Mike Hook
e:  mike@intrepidlaw.ca
www.intrepidlaw.ca
@MikeHookLaw
 
 

Revenue Generation

Established & Growing Businesses, Finance & Accounting, Sales & Business Development, Strategy, , , , ,

Increasing our small business revenue generation is something that most entrepreneurs are concerned with. In this video we learn why all entrepreneurs need to make it the top priority and we walk through the 4 main things that we need to focus on to help our revenue grow.
 
1. Number of leads
2. Improve conversion rates
3. Increase the price of the average sale
4. Increase the number of sales per period
 
Plus we walk through all of the tools we have at our fingertips to help improve these 4 areas. Watch it now!
 

 
Contact the Expert
 
Gary Brown
FocalPoint Coaching
gbrown@focalpointcoaching.com
 
 

How To Do A Quarterly Review?

Established & Growing Businesses, Management & Human Relations, Strategy, , , ,

How do we know if we are on track for our yearly goal? How can we ensure that our strategy is working?
 
Small business owners need to do a quarterly review!
 
Without a quarterly review we are falling into the trap of working in our business and not on it. All of our activities become tasks rather than things that will help our business grow.
 
This video walks through:
1. Why is a review so critical? What are the reasons why our quarterly review might be higher or lower than we expected? What are the reasons why we might have to tweak the rest of our annual plan?
2. Super quick overview of strategic planning
3. How to do a quarterly review. What to be analyzing and what to be considering for the future.
4. Best practices and the top things to avoid when executing a strategic plan.
 

 
Contact The Expert
 
The Small Business Solver Team
info@smallbusinesssolver.com
 
Additional Resources
 
Like the PowerPoint? how do to a quarterly review
Want a template to use for your quarterly review? Quarterly-Review-MODEL
 

Avoid The Top Reasons Why Small Businesses Fail

Established & Growing Businesses, Start Ups

Small business owners don’t have it easy. It is an uphill battle and we are always told that the odds are forever against us.

So what are we supposed to avoid and really look out for as small business owners?

This starts off with the reality check of how many small businesses actually fail and what the success rates are.

Then we look at what industries are more successful, what areas of Canada are starting businesses, and if Canada is competitive.

Then we look at the top 5 things to avoid.

Finally we compare this to what non-profits should be considering.

Contact the Expert

Carla Langhorst
e: Carla@smallbusinesssolver.com

 

Universal Management Principles

Established & Growing Businesses, Management & Human Relations, Operations & Efficiency,

It is impossible to be good at everything. In this webinar, SEF Canada teaches us that we don’t have to be!!
 
Success lies in understanding that all of the functions of a business can never be done perfectly by one person. Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses. By knowing what you are best at and what you love, you will simply be more successful.
 
What do you love to do? Isn’t that what you should be doing if you are starting your own business?
 
Here are the main buckets of skill sets that you need to have in your business. Now that you know, you can get started in the right direction.
 

 
Contact the Expert
 
Suzette McFaul
SEF Canada
suzette@sefcanada.com
 
 

The Secret To Getting More Sales

Established & Growing Businesses, Sales & Business Development, Start Ups, , , ,

The Secrete to Getting More Sales is all about following these 7 keys steps:
 
1. Do pre-contact research
2. Tell better stories
3. Ask better questions
4. Get commitment
5. Get broader agreement
6. Influence the influencers
7. Justify the cost
 
Great 35-minute video that will make a huge difference in how you look at sales!
 

 
Contact the Expert
 
Adrian Davis
adavis@whetstoneinc.ca
 

Action Planning

Established & Growing Businesses, Start Ups, Strategy, , , ,

Get Started. Keep Going! This is the life of the small business owner and entrepreneur in 2014 trying to get their business ramped up or growing.
 
The number one reason why a small business owner is successful in the short term is based on how much they are moving forward.  Every time that you say the words ‘I will’, are you?  Not that you necessarily have to be on time, but you need to do it if you said you would.  Being action oriented and getting things done is critical to success.
 
The Action Planning Process includes the following steps;
1. Goal Setting
2. Action Planning
3. Implementation
4. Measure the Results
5. Assess/Reassess
 

 
Contact Information
 
Gary Brown
gary.brown@fsainc.ca
 
Like the Slides? SBS-action planning webinar

What’s Your Business Worth?

Established & Growing Businesses, Finance & Accounting, Regulations & Legal, Strategy, , , , ,

Business valuation is critical for all small business owners as there is a high probability that you will be needing to evaluate how much your business is worth due to needing a loan, going through a divorce, or selling your business either voluntarily or involuntarily.

 

When it comes down to it, the value of your business is the price that someone is actually willing to pay you for it. But if you are trying to put a dollar value on your business without this step or before this step, there are some things to consider;

 

1. Net tangible assets
2. Identifiable intangibles
3. Goodwill (transitioned and non transitioned)
4. Redundant assets

 

If you are selling your business, there are some great ways to increase the value of your small business. And there are some specific value drivers to be aware of.

 

If you are buying a business, there are some specific details you should be looking for and specific circumstances where you may buy a small business for a lesser amount.

 

Watch this video for all of the details.

 

 

Contact The Expert

 

Fabyelle Chevalier, CPA, CA
Manager – Financial Advisory Services
BDO Canada LLP
Direct: 705 726 6331 ext. 8523
fchevalier@bdo.ca

 

Like the Presentation? Valuation Presentation

Finding Time For Yourself

Established & Growing Businesses, Management & Human Relations, Start Ups, , , , , ,

 
Finding time for yourself is critical in running your business for a ton of different reasons.
 
1. It helps you perform better when you are working.
2. It increases personal satisfaction.
3. It allows for worklife balance and overall satisfaction.
4. It prevents burnout which is one of the leading causes of business failure.
5. It is better for your personal well being and health.
 
When all is said and done, making time for yourself could be the difference between business success and failure.
 
 

 
Contact The Expert
 
Elise Manolakos
elisemano7@gmail.com
 
About Elise: Her main inspiration comes from providing physiotherapy treatments to long-term care patients and living with her 85 year old Greek grandmother.

A quote that keeps her going: “Thinking is easy, acting is difficult and to put one’s thoughts into action is the most difficult thing in the world.” – Johann Wolfgang Goethe

 
Like the Slides?  Making time for yourself