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About Small Business Canada: Weekly Roundup May 22 to May 28

2012-05-28T07:08:39Z

Think you may have missed something this week at About Small Business Canada? Here's your round-up of everything I've done in the past week at About Small Business Canada so you can catch up with all the new content, blog posts, updates to older articles, and new reader submissions!

New Articles and Features

Before You Buy a Printer

Blog Posts

SWOT Analysis: The Swiss Army Knife of Business Planning

Independent Contractor? Make Sure You Don't Lose Your Tax Advantages

7 Inexpensive Business Ideas

Your Elevator Pitch Could Be Worth $10,000

5 Secrets of Customer Service

Top Multifunction Inkjet Printers for Small Businesses

About Small Business Canada: Weekly Roundup May 15 to May 21

Updated Articles

How to Answer the Phone Properly

8 Rules for Customer Service

6 Sure Ways to Increase Sales

Quotes on Leadership

Business Registration in Nova Scotia

New Reader Submissions

Advice on Starting an Online Business

New Blog Comments

25 Cheap Advertising Ideas

Canadian Income Tax: What's Your Industry Code?

About Small Business Canada: Weekly Roundup May 22 to May 28 originally appeared on About.com Small Business: Canada on Monday, May 28th, 2012 at 07:08:39.

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SWOT Analysis: The Swiss Army Knife of Business Planning

2012-05-27T07:09:11Z

Swot analysis is one of the most popular business planning tools, probably because it's so accessible and so versatile.

Besides using it as the basis for your small business's annual planning, you can also use it to start a marketing action plan, as a way to vet a business idea if you're thinking of starting a business, or even as a personal planning tool.

Here's how to do SWOT analysis for your business and an example of SWOT analysis you can use as a model.

More on Business Planning

Image (c) Jonathan Evans / Getty Images

SWOT Analysis: The Swiss Army Knife of Business Planning originally appeared on About.com Small Business: Canada on Sunday, May 27th, 2012 at 07:09:11.

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Independent Contractor? Make Sure You Don't Lose Your Tax Advantages

2012-05-26T07:02:40Z

The Canada Revenue Agency recently audited 234 small businesses and found 96 to be Personal Service Corporations, and every one of them was re-assessed on their Small Business Deduction and Expenses, having their expenses disallowed, according to CA4IT, Chartered Accountants for IT Professionals, Independent Consultants and Small Businesses.

So what's a Personal Service Corporation and how do you avoid being classed as one?

The first and most obvious thing that the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) looks for is your business's number of clients and number of employees.

From that point, it's a matter of assessing your business in terms of:

control
ownership of tools
profit or loss possibility
integration

You can read about all the details and see how they apply to your business in my article The 4 Point Test for Determining Whether You're a Contractor or an Employee.

If you have any doubt about your status as an independent contractor, you should consult an accountant or lawyer for professional advice.

Meantime, Eagle Online, a Canadian professional staffing company, points out in their newsletter that The National Association of Computer Consultant Businesses (NACCB) is actively working to help solve these issues and protect independent contractors from any future situations (including providing financial support in an appeal process going to court this fall).

More on Canadian Income Tax

Image (c) Dimitri Vervitsiotis / Getty Images

Independent Contractor? Make Sure You Don't Lose Your Tax Advantages originally appeared on About.com Small Business: Canada on Saturday, May 26th, 2012 at 07:02:40.

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7 Inexpensive Business Ideas

2012-05-25T07:07:16Z

Want to start a business but don't have a lot of money to invest?

Then you'll want to have a look at these 7 Inexpensive Business Ideas, ideas for profitable businesses you can start inexpensively and quickly.

For even more ideas for businesses you may be able to start without making too much of an investment, visit the Small Business Ideas section of this website, where you'll find a collection of small business idea articles, including Best Business Opportunities 2012 and Top 10 Home Business Opportunities.

Image (c) Martin Ruegner / Getty Images

7 Inexpensive Business Ideas originally appeared on About.com Small Business: Canada on Friday, May 25th, 2012 at 07:07:16.

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Your Elevator Pitch Could Be Worth $10,000

2012-05-24T07:05:51Z

Is your elevator pitch good enough to actually persuade someone to give your business $10,000 on a real elevator ride?

If it is, you could win $10,000 in Visa's Small Business Elevator Pitch Contest.

But they mean it. If you're selected as a finalist, you'll only have 49 storeys to convince the contest judges to award you with that $10,000 to help grow your small business.

Start the process by entering at Visa's Small Business $10,000 Elevator Pitch Contest Facebook page. (Note that you need to like the page to register and enter.)

The Elevator Pitch Contest is only open to Canadian residents. Entries close June 27, 2012. Finalists will present their elevator pitch to a panel of judges on an elevator ride of approximately 60 seconds in Toronto, Ontario at One King West Hotel & Residence the week of July 16, 2012.

More on Elevator Pitches

Make the Right Elevator Pitch to the Right Person
Don't Forget Your Promotion Kit!
Stop Abusing Your Elevator Pitch
The New Elevator Pitch (About Small Business: Information)

Your Elevator Pitch Could Be Worth $10,000 originally appeared on About.com Small Business: Canada on Thursday, May 24th, 2012 at 07:05:51.

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5 Secrets of Good Customer Service

2012-05-23T07:05:44Z

Advertising? You don't need to bother with it much if you treat your customers right.

Albert E. Schindler shares 5 Secrets of Good Customer Service, including how to build business to customer loyalty.

Read More About Good Customer Service:

Image (c) Siri Stafford / Getty Images

5 Secrets of Good Customer Service originally appeared on About.com Small Business: Canada on Wednesday, May 23rd, 2012 at 07:05:44.

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Top Multifunction Inkjet Printers for Small Businesses

2012-05-22T07:16:06Z

Multifunction printers can be ideal printing solutions for small businesses. Besides their obvious space saving features, having a single multifunction printer that prints, faxes, copies, and scans can be much more economical than buying four separate machines.

Epson Pro WP-4540 Multifunction
Color Inkjet Printer

Combine that with the fact that many of the newer printers let you print and/or scan from mobile devices and the cloud, and you're definitely going to want to have a look at these top multifunction inkjet printers.

The selection includes a color inkjet that can scan media that's up to 11" x 17" and another that comes with comes with a 35 mm film and slide scanning adapter.

More Printer Choices

Top Multifunction Inkjet Printers for Small Businesses originally appeared on About.com Small Business: Canada on Tuesday, May 22nd, 2012 at 07:16:06.

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About Small Business Canada: Weekly Roundup May 15 to May 21

2012-05-21T07:20:51Z

Here's your round-up of everything I've done in the past week at About Small Business Canada so you can catch up with all the new content, blog posts, updates to older articles, and new reader submissions!

And don't forget to check out the new comments on How to Improve Your Business Networking for some hot tips you can put to work right away.

New Articles and Features

Top Multifunction Inkjet Printers for Small Businesses

Blog Posts

How to Start Your Own Business as a -------

Canadian Ecommerce Lagging Badly

How to Create a Great Brochure

Tips for Canadian Marketers When Doing Business with US Markets Online

Top 10 Start Up Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make When Starting a Business

Should Your Business Use Pinterest? And If So, How?

About Small Business Canada: Weekly Roundup May 8 to May 14

Updated Articles

Writing the Competitive Analysis Section of the Business Plan

Customer Complaints Create Profit

Top 10 Business Startup Mistakes

Top Father's Day Gifts for Business Dads

How to Buy a Business

New Reader Submissions

Customer Service Tips

Sample Mission Statements

New Blog Comments

How to Improve Your Business Networking

About Small Business Canada: Weekly Roundup May 15 to May 21 originally appeared on About.com Small Business: Canada on Monday, May 21st, 2012 at 07:20:51.

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How to Start Your Own Business as a -------

2012-05-20T07:07:22Z

If you've already filled in the blank and know exactly what kind of small business you want to start, this article is for you

- a collection of How to Start Your Own Business articles from craft businesses and catering through web designers and wedding planners - and everything in between including opening a restaurant or becoming a mobile apps developer.

Check out How to Start Your Own Business as a ----------- and see if the business you want to start is listed.

More starting a business advice

Advice From Readers

Image (c) Maguey Images / Getty Images

How to Start Your Own Business as a ------- originally appeared on About.com Small Business: Canada on Sunday, May 20th, 2012 at 07:07:22.

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Canadian Ecommerce Lagging Badly

2012-05-19T07:06:43Z

"E-Commerce in Canada: Half-Assedly Pursuing the Promise."

That's what Peter Nowak says the government's Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology's report on ecommerce in Canada should be called instead of "Pursuing the Promise".

Because, as he says in Canada lags in e-commerce, report confirms (Canadian Business), despite Canadians being among the most prodigious users of the Internet, they really aren't doing much online business-wise.

According to the Report, only 1% of retail expenditures in Canada are from online transactions, compared to 8% in the United States.

This is the kind of statistic that doesn't trouble me. I don't think comparisons of Canadian ecommerce to American ecommerce are particularly useful as the U.S. population is so much bigger than ours.

What I find troubling is the current statistics about ecommerce within Canada, which clearly show that ecommerce is just not happening here. From the Report:

"Although 71% of connected Canadian SMEs reported making online purchases, only 18% reported making online sales. Even among larger SMEs (between 100 and 499 employees), only 30% reported online sales. Among Canadian SMEs selling online, 72.5% indicated that the share of their online sales represented 25% or less of total sales."

"The Canadian Chamber of Commerce provided the Committee with a report entitled Powering up the Network, which surveyed small businesses' use of ecommerce in Canada. Results from this survey show that 96% of companies have a website they use for business purposes. However, only 27% of respondents were able to accept online payments, 31% provided the opportunity for online ordering and tracking, and 51% are sending and receiving electronic invoices."

And, just to drive the nail into the Canadian online business coffin, In 2011, only 8.2% of all SMEs indicated that they had a mobile-friendly website.

After delivering the bad news, the rest of the Report is what Peter Nowak calls a list of reasonable explanations or a litany of excuses, depending on your perspective.

The list of obstacles includes the cost of implementing an ecommerce platform which prevents businesses from accepting online payments, inadequate access to funding, the high cost of shipping, the lack of robust supply chains, the costs of online payment options, etc.

Personally, I think one of the main obstacles to Canadian ecommerce is our abysmal provincial tax system - an obstacle the Report overlooks. The fact that different provinces have different retail taxes and that it's such an onerous compliance burden for businesses to follow the rules is killing a lot of potential ecommerce in this country. (See Charging Provincial Sales Taxes on Online Sales for details.)

I know of Canadian small businesses that only sell their online goods to customers out of the country. It's a sorry state of affairs when businesses find a tax regimen so confusing that they'll forego potential profits to avoid having to deal with it in my opinion.

Reports are good but actions are better.

Related Reading

Canadian Ecommerce Lagging Badly originally appeared on About.com Small Business: Canada on Saturday, May 19th, 2012 at 07:06:43.

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