Canada Small Businesses Now Can Have Free Websites

Google Canada Offers Free Small Business Websites

First Published: Mar 31, 2011 EntrepreneurJourney.com

In the past, I wrote about the importance of having a business website: Why Your Business Needs A Website? I have a great news for those who haven’t yet started a small business website. Google Canada has just launched their free websites and .ca domains program for one year for Canadian small businesses.

According to Google, there are roughly 2 million small businesses existing in Canada and only half of them have online presence. Google has teamed up with other Canadian partners to make this free website program “Canada Get Your Businesses Online” (GYBO.ca) a reality. These partners are: The Globe and Mail, RBC, Rogers, Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA), Silver Lining Limited, and Yola.com (free website builder tool).

Here is what Google is offering you for free for a year:

 Free .ca domain

 Free web hosting

 Free registering the domain

 Free advice

 Free tools

 Free $75 Google AdWords Credit

I encourage you to grab this opportunity. If you have been putting off getting your small business online, don’t delay and join the millions who are already benefiting from online presence. For more information, visit GYBO.ca and Google Small Business Blog 

Should You Hire Family For Your Business?

Hiring Family Members for Your Small Business

When you decide to start your own business, chances are you will not have the money to go out and hire employees. However, what do you do when you need some help but don’t have the money. Well, that is where family comes in. Family can be a huge help to your business in the early years of its formation but there are some things you need to keep in mind.

First of all, when you decide to hire a family member, even if they are not being paid, do they have the right attitude and personality for the position. You don’t want to force your kids to take part in the business if they are just going to hate it because that can cost you business, time and money in the end. You want to hire your family members if they are easy going, can accept challenges and don’t worry too much about stress. On that same note, they need to have a can-do attitude and be ready to help make the company a success. If they understand that their hard work makes the company successful, and by extension the family more successful, then they are the right people to be working at your business.

If you are worried about hiring family, then you can give them a trial in the company. Let them work in the company for a month and see how they do. If they don’t do well, then you may want to consider not having them in the company anymore. One person with a bad attitude can cause big problems for your company, even if it is someone you love.

When you hire family, especially siblings, it is very important that you ensure they know you are the boss. If you hire your children, this won’t be a problem, but hiring older brothers or sisters can cause problems with authority, especially if your siblings have always been the ones in charge. Make sure from the very beginning they know that you are the boss and they are the employee. On that same note, it does not mean you are just going to boss them around. Everyone needs to be treated well and with respect and you have to do the same with your family, more so than with other employees.

Another thing to consider is do your family members have the skill set to make the company successful? If you open up a mechanics shop, does your 15-year-old son have the skills to change a transmission? No? Then you may not want to get him doing that if he is not ready.

Hiring family can be difficult, and sometimes it can be hard to let family go if they are not working out, especially if you live with them, but that does not mean you shouldn’t hire family. Hiring family can save you money and it means the entire family has a vested interest in the success of the company.
First Published: Feb 2, 2011 EntrepreneurJourney.com

Why Your Business Needs A Website?

Do You Need A Website?

First Published: Dec 21, 2010 EntrepreneurJourney.com

As an entrepreneur, one of the most common things you will be asked is whether or not you have a website. This is a common question because people want to know so they can get information on your company, yourself and more. While many business owners will set up a business right away, especially if they work from home, there are some who do not see the need for it. This is a problem because in today’s world, you need to have a website that you can use to reach your customers and that you can have your customers reach you at.

Here are just a few reasons why a website is so important within your business:

1. It allows customers to talk directly to you and to learn about your company. There are many, mostly younger than 30, who feel that if you do not have a website, then you are not a legitimate company. You do not want to fall in this category. Even if your business has nothing to do with computers, merchandise or anything connected with the internet, then you want to have a website just to show that you are legitimate to the people who care about websites.
2. It allows you to see who your customers are. When you have a website, it usually comes with software that gives you the ability to learn where your customers are coming from, how they are finding you and what they are looking at on your website. That is important because that type of marketing information can go a long way in helping ensure that you are successful with your business.
3. Having a website will raise your productivity because your customers won’t have to call you and ask where you are, or find out what you sell. They can just go to your website and learn what they need to know. That frees you up to do business, rather than dealing with phone calls of a minor nature.
4. Your customer base can literally increase from hundreds to millions. Right now, there are roughly 1.5 billion people on the Internet. That means that you have the potential to reach all of those individuals. That is an immense opportunity for you and it is something that you need to take advantage of. If you do not, you are not doing your business any favors.

The Internet is not a fad; it is not something that is going to fade away. It is a world changing technology that has changed the world more in 15 years than most technologies do in 100 years. Even if your business does nothing on the Internet, doesn’t use computers and has no need for them, you need a website. A website is like an employee who works for you and helps to ensure that your company stays viable and profitable for many years to come. It is an essential technology these days, so do not do without it.

Toronto And The Programs To Help Entrepreneurs

Resources For Toronto Entrepreneur

First Published: Nov 14, 2010 EntrepreneurJourney.com

Toronto is the largest city in Canada, the cultural centre of the nation and the place where many businesses get their start. With 2.6 million people in the city, it is the economic engine of the country and the place where many businesses, the largest in the country, operate out of. While Canada has many programs in place to help entrepreneurs, there are also specific programs and services in place to help entrepreneurs in Toronto get their start. Here are a few to help you know what you have available to you.

Youth MicroLoan Pilot

This program was put in place by the city council of Toronto as a way of giving young entrepreneurs from west end neighborhoods the ability to start their own business. Currently, this is just a pilot program that is going to run for a year to assess how well it works. This means that if you are a young entrepreneur from the west end, then you will want to take advantage of this immediately.

The program is funded by the City of Toronto and is in partnership with the Toronto Community Foundation, Toronto Community Housing and Alterna Savings. It provides young entrepreneurs with skills they can use in life, business development training, mentoring in business and access to loans of up to $5,000. In addition, as part of the program, those who apply will get post-loan support, access to resources, networking opportunities and much more.

The concept of the program was actually planned back in 2007 and 2008 when Enterprise Toronto created a series of workshops in 13 neighborhoods called Youth Biz, as a way of urging younger individuals to start their own business and develop their own self-employment opportunities.

So, what do you need if you want to take part in this program? To participate in the program, the youth must have an idea and no access to any other sort of business or enterprise funding. The youth must be between the age of 18 and 24, no longer be in school and in a high priority neighborhood. These neighborhoods are:

• Jane and Finch
• Weston-Mt. Dennis
• Jamestown-Rexdale
• Lawrence Heights
• Westminster Branson

In addition, the youth must be unemployed and not receiving any sort of employment insurance. To apply, contact the UrbanArts Community Arts Council at 416.241.5124 or e-mail info@urbanartstoronto.org.

Enterprise Toronto

A one-stop source of services and programs for Toronto entrepreneurs, Enterprise Toronto helps to meet the needs of those who want to start a business within the Toronto area. Enterprise Toronto assists in training and helping new entrepreneurs make good decisions to ensure that their business keeps growing. The organization has the goal to help entrepreneurs who are at the initial growth stage of their business by giving them training on business decision making, management, finding information for marketing, leadership solutions and securing sources of financing. The organization wants to help entrepreneurs in Toronto reach their full potential and have their business succeed.

Enterprise Toronto is offered and managed by the City of Toronto Economic Development and Culture Office, which provides services and programs in area of small business.

Youth Entrepreneurship Program

The YMCA Business Centre offers a program that is designed for those between the age of 15 and 30, who are not in school, are living in the York region and are not collecting employment insurance, but who want to start their own business. Offered and funded by the Government of Ontario, this is a very important program that can help a lot of people make the important decisions when they are beginning their business venture.

Some of the programs that the Youth Entrepreneurship Program offers including:

• Leaning how to start a business.
• Gaining access to financial help.
• Developing a business plan.
• Attending workshops.
• Mentoring and coaching
• Business planning
• Internet marketing
• Financial forecasting
• Networking with business owners
• Using the business resource library.

If you are interested in this program, you can contact them at ybc@ymcagta.org or by calling 905.948.9622

Step Ahead

As a woman, sometimes it can be hard to find the help you may want to run a business. Thankfully, there are organizations in place to give you a hand. Step Ahead is a not-for-profit volunteer business mentoring organization that matches women entrepreneurs who want to build their business with experienced mentors. They have the motto of “Women business owners mentoring for growth”

The program involves a 12-month Step Ahead Mentoring Program that can begin at any time during the year, and it includes 10 educational workshops and one-on-one mentoring relationship that runs for a year.

Begun in 1992 by a group of women entrepreneurs, they wanted to address the problem they saw of female entrepreneurs finding the process of growing a business difficult while juggling other duties.

Toronto Business Development Centre

Established in 1990 as an initiative of the Toronto Economic Development Corporation and the Ontario Minister of Economic Development and Trade, this organization has helped over 4,000 businesses in the Toronto area since it opened its doors. The organization is committed to helping entrepreneurs make their business successful by offering several resources. These services include:

• Business incubation
• Planning a business
• Seminars
• Business mail services
• Entrepreneur forums

As well, the Toronto Business Development Centre also offers programs including:

• Ontario Self-Employment Benefit
• Ontario Works Self-Employment Development
• BIZ Futures
• Summer Company
• Canadian Youth Business Foundation
• Community Outreach

Toronto is a huge city with much to offer, but with so much there it can seem overwhelming to start a business there. You may feel like there is no way to compete but you won’t know that unless you start your own business. The programs and groups mentioned here will help you get your business off the ground and, most importantly, give you the training you need to make your business successful. There is nothing saying you have to go it alone in business.

The Canada Small Business Financing Program

Small Business Financing Program In Canada

First Published: EntrepreneurJourney.com Published on: Nov 7, 2010

Living in Canada, you have a great opportunity to start your own business. When you do, you may want to look at government help to build your business as time goes on. If you are looking for government help, then one of the main programs available to you is the Canada Small Business Financing Program. This program was created to increase the availability of loans for establishing, expanding, modernizing and improving small businesses within Canada. The way that it does this is by encouraging banks and other financial companies to make money available for small business. Much like the Small Business Administration, the CSBFP will share part of the financial risk with the person trying to get the loan. This program can then help you get up to $500,000.

When you get a loan through the CSBFP, the loan will cover roughly 90 per cent of the costs associated with buying or improving on land or property, purchasing leased property and equipment and purchasing new equipment or improving the equipment that you already have.

In order to be eligible for this program, the small business must be operating for a profit in Canada and must have annual gross revenue of less than $5 million. If you want to apply for this program, you need to apply directly with a bank or financial institution through the CSBFP, and the bank or financial institution will be full accountable for approval of the loan.

The CSBFP was created through the Canada Small Business Financing Act in April of 1999. It was created to build upon the extensive success of the Small Business Loans Act. The objectives of the act was to streamline loan administration and improve the cost-recovery ability of a business, while extending financing to small and medium sized businesses that may not get a loan otherwise. This then helps the economy by having more people working, more businesses in the country and more people working hard to make their business a success. The CSBFP makes it easier for these small businesses to get their loans from banks and financial institutions because they share the risk with the small business owner. Essentially, the CSBFP is the co-signor of the loan with you, no different than a family member of friend would be.

The objectives of the CSBFP come down to the following:

1. Help new businesses get off the ground and give the companies already started to make improvements and expand upon their past success.
2. To make it easier for businesses to get loans they may not have been able to get previously.
3. To promote economy activity and job creation in Canada.

How successful is the program? Each year, the program will provide 10,000 loans to small businesses in Canada, averaging $1 billion per year in total.

While you know the eligibility requirements for the program in Canada, there are some businesses that are not allowed to take advantage of it. These are farming businesses, which can get their own support from Agri-Food Canada, which has a similar program in place.

If you want to get a loan through the CSBFP, you can get a loan for up to $500,000 and no more than $350,000 can be used to buy lease equipment or improve upon leased property.

The program is provided through financial institutions and you can ask them about it when applying for a loan. It is very important to remember that Industry Canada, which operates the CSBFP does not accept or refuse loan applications and has no part in the decision process, that is all banks and financial institutions.

If you want to apply for the program, or learn more about it, you can contact Industry Canada at:

Small Business Financing Directorate

Industry Canada

1.866.959.1699 (phone)

1.613.952.0290 (fax)

www.ic.gc.ca/csbfp

If you are curious about other programs in place to help you, here are just a few:

Community Futures Development Corporations: Funded by the government, these corporations operate not-for-profit to provide loans, training, support and more to businesses located in rural communities across the country.

Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency: The government also operates this program and it provides interest-free loans and other opportunities to businesses that are located in the Maritime provinces.

Western Economic Diversification Canada: This program is operated through the government and it sponsors loan programs for those who are located in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

The Business Development Bank of Canada: This bank program is run through the government of Canada and it provides small businesses with low-cost consulting, venture capital and flexible solutions to financial problems.

Human Resources and Social Development Canada: This federal development operates several programs to help unemployed and underemployed Canadians by offering entrepreneurial start-up funding, training subsidies and hiring subsidies.

When you live in Canada, there are many opportunities for you to attempt to get work within Canada by starting your own business. When you start your own business, sometimes you need a helping hand and that is where the government comes in. Through the Canadian Small Business Financing Program, and other programs in pace, you can get the help you need to start your business and see it become successful in the future. It is easy to apply for these programs and generally you should be able to get approval. One of the great things about these programs is not only can you get money you may not have received previously, but you will also get loans on favorable terms with long repayment schedules, low monthly payments and very low interest, which makes it easier for you to pay back the loan.

As a Canadian, you have the right to start your own business, so look at some of these programs to see what is going to work for you and what you can do to make your business successful in the future.