Five tips for small business success
Just starting a small business can be difficult, but making it successful can be even more problematic. Before we get to the tips we had planned to offer, a suggestion is to keep searching for tips for small business success. Out there on the internet are helpful sites and experts who will have tips for you that are applicable to your small business. Just because your small business makes it past the start-up phase, does not mean that you should not stop trying new ways of making your small business more successful. Many entrepreneurs who have some success in their first small business will stop looking for tips and help. They think that if they have made it this much of a success, they can now rest and work on what they have learned along the way. Tip 1: Don’t Stop Networking! Your next big break could come along while […]
More small business tax tips and links to where to find them
As a provider of office space and virtual office services to our clients, we also strive to provide advice and assistance to help them be more successful small businesses. Back in February, we published a blog called “Tax Tips for Canadian Small Businesses and Entrepreneurs“. Since then, we have been asked to provide more links from our clients and followers, even some for USA tax tips. We did the search so that you did not have to. We also wanted to provide the best links, so you did not have to go through search results that do not apply to you. While most people see the CRA (Canada Revenue Agency) and The IRS (Internal Revenue Service) as the enemy, they are quite shocked to find out that both agencies provide help for small businesses with their taxes. Taxtips.ca has both a Canadian site and a USTaxTips.net that provide important links for […]
Is the cubicle dead or just dying?
As Millennials are becoming the largest group in the North American workforce, companies are changing their office strategy to attract and retain them. This is because, unlike previous generations, they are less loyal and more demanding. Millennials are not interested in being stuffed in cubicles and being told to just get the work done; they work differently than those who preceded them. Businesses are not just giving into the wishes and wants of Millennials, they are putting money into research to see how to best accommodate a group of people that are predicted to make up to 30% of North American retail spending by 2020. Happy and productive employees also make for good customers. Companies responding to their growing relevance are increasingly turning to human-centered designs to attract them. Researchers are observing human behaviour and envisioning a way to do things more efficiently, enjoyably, productively and intuitively. In doing this, […]
Who you hire to do your small business marketing reflects on your image
It is important to know who you hire to do your small business marketing, because their actions and work reflects on the image of your brand and your company. When an outside marketer makes a mistake, your audience will still see your brand and not theirs. Last week after leaving a meeting at my Telsec office, I encountered a poster stapled to a tree outside the liquor store a block away from my office. I could not believe that someone would actually put a poster on a tree in this day and age of being environmentally friendly. Nothing can ruin a company’s reputation faster than being seen as not being environmentally conscientious. I decided that I wanted to let my friends know what bad marketing is and to expose the company on my person social media accounts, not as the writer of this blog. I posted a photo of it […]
Things that anyone who works from home knows all too well
If you have experience working from home, there are things that you know all too well – and the crazy hours we keep is only the beginning. Yes, our home offices are just minutes or seconds away, but that morning “commute” can often get interrupted by a family member calling, or the dog wanting to go for his walk. Not every home office is the same and not everyone has the same experiences, but as someone who works from home, most can all agree on experiencing one or more of these things. Sometimes working from home instead of a traditional office space can put a strain on family relations, especially if you have children. When your kids see that mommy or daddy is home, they assume that it is playtime or that they can ask for help or anything else. If boundaries are not established, your work may suffer. Boundaries […]
Tax tips for Canadian Small Businesses and Entrepreneurs
Telsec Business Centres is not an accounting firm, but we do have a number of accountants that rents office space within our business centre. Some of the tips we want to share come from those office clients, while others are tips that they told us to share with our tenants and other readers of this blog. While not all Canadian businesses have the same year end, many small business owners and entrepreneurs file their business taxes at the same time as their personal taxes. This is because many of those small businesses are not corporations and are sole proprietary owners. Yes, most tax issues are the same for corporations and sole proprietor small businesses. There are tax tips that small businesses need to know that are either specific to small businesses, or that amy take a team of accountants to apply to assist corporations. Before we offer the tax tips […]
Small Business Budget Tips
So, you own a small business. That means it’s likely that you’re operating on a relatively limited budget. When you do make money, more likely than not you are paying back loans or interest on loans that you needed to get you business started in the first place. Is that a solid budget plan for your business? If you really want your small business to succeed and grow, you need to have a practical, workable budget plan. You need to realize that without a thorough budget plan, it can be difficult to track and manage your finances. This is especially true for any unexpected business expenses that may occur. These are the biggest worries when they happen and are not planned. Many entrepreneurs leave a secure job to run their own business. When entrepreneurs do this, they move from earning a regular income that they can budget around, to earning […]
Doing Your Small Business Homework
You have got your small business going, but are you still doing your homework to keep up on what you need to do to keep your business afloat and thriving? Yes, things may be good today, but what is coming up in your industry tomorrow? In a blog some time ago, we told our followers to watch other small-business blogs, but today we are telling you to also follow websites that are small-business-friendly to know what is trending and what you should do to prepare. Whether it’s about how to use social media, getting through the early days of a start-up, or about marketing your business, getting advice can help your small business succeed. For example, Smallbiztrends.com is a site that you need to monitor. The articles and research that come out of this site may not talk directly into your industry, but they will give you the insight to […]
Tips for building a productive virtual office
A growing number of companies are allowing their team to work remotely from home, but still wonder what they can do to keep their virtual team productive. If you, like many small business owners, choose to run your company from the comfort of your home, we have some tips for you to keep your virtual office place productive. The most important thing about running a virtual team is keeping the communication channels open and equal. To keep the communications that are most important flowing, you need to be organized and have a plan. Your virtual workplace needs structure to have good record keeping of communications that can be searched for later use, and so that you know what your team is doing. Some of the various tools that you would utilize in a physical office to keep communications flowing and records up to date, may not be the best for […]
Tips for finding office space that works for your business
If you are reading this blog and think “oh, another self-promotion blog” you would be wrong! Yes, Telsec rents office space to entrepreneurs and small business, but our office solutions are not perfect for every business. Every small business has its own unique needs and requirements. They are not the same for one business as they are for another. The first step in finding office space that works for your business is to establish what your needs are, especially in terms of how you need to work to get your jobs done efficiently. Yes, you are reading this and perhaps saying “oh, that’s easy – I just need a place to put a desk and my computer on top of it.” Maybe you are thinking that any place will do. Well, you would be wrong! There are many factors you need to take into consideration. When looking for office space, […]
Use Holiday Slow Time to get Some end-of-the-Year Work Done
During the holidays, many businesses experience a slow time between Christmas and the first few days of January. Some companies close during that time and others let some of their staff take vacation time. This helps to reduce payroll expenses during a slow period when not much work gets done. But there is work that should be done in preparation for the new year. Here are some things to consider getting done before the new year. Consider cleaning up your computer files before the new year. This will not only alleviate clutter on your computer, but it can also improve the performance of it as well. Look at the files that are on your computer and archive older files that are not in use. Portable USB hard drives can not only hold a great deal of files, but they can also keep files easy to access if you need them. […]
The Holiday Spirit is Alive and Well at 1 Yonge Street
Just last week in the reception area and reception boardroom, Telsec treated its office-space tenants to some holiday cheer and some amazing catered hors’douvres by Daniel et Daniel. It was great for tenants to have a chance to gather and be around other office tenants. Some took the time to talk to familiar faces they had seen or talked to in the hall, while some of the newer tenants got a chance to meet some of the other office tenants who have been around for a while and do some networking. On December 16th at the Toronto Star Building, all of the building tenants and Toronto Star staff were treated to a holiday breakfast in the main-floor lobby of the building. It was not a simple breakfast. They had a various selection of food, breakfast deserts and different beverages. Some of the food included western omelet, scrambled eggs, sausages, biscuits […]
Top 10 tips for Starting a Business That Will Succeed
A lot of people want to be their own boss and look to become an entrepreneur. But not every business idea will succeed. There are many reasons why a small business can fail, but we wanted to share some top tips that will help your small business succeed. While many of these tips are quite common and make sense, many entrepreneurs don’t follow these kinds of tips and wonder why their start-up did not take off. No business is successful in one day. Actually, almost no businesses are successful even after one year. 1) Is the product or service you want to offer, something that people want and is there a market for it? Too often, people jump into a business built around a product or service they think will be successful, rather than one that is already proven to have a market. It is important that you do your […]
Are you Really Engaging on Social Media and Your Blog
Many entrepreneurs believe that posting about their products or services is a social media engagement, but they are mistaken. To engage an audience is to hold their attention. It does not require a reaction from them, though certainly that spells a greater level of engagement. Just because you have a Facebook page, a LinkedIn business page, or a google+ page, does not mean you are engaging on social media. Social media engagement is not a passive experience. Engagement is not waiting for clients to reach out to you and visit your page. You have to proactively engage with anyone who mentions your brand or product. Entrepreneurs and small business owners need to create valuable content for their social community and present it in a way that works for that particular social network or community. In simpler terms, engagement is a two-way conversation. One of the great benefits of social media […]
An Interview with Jennifer Kelly of New Initiatives Marketing and Nimble Quotes
Recently Ian Payton sat down with Jennifer Kelly Founder & CEO of New Initiatives Marketing and NimbleQuotes and discussed Jennifer’s business challenges; her marketing services and more. Jennifer: Hi, my name is Jennifer Kelly. I am the CEO and Founder of New Initiatives Marketing and of NimbleQuotes.com. New Initiatives Marketing is a marketing company that works with business owners that are committed to growing their business and understand that marketing is a huge component in that growth. We make sure that the marketing strategy is sound, and then we implement and execute each element of the marketing every day, week, month in order to help the growth of their business. With Nimble Quotes, it is a content service for Twitter users, and what it does is users select over 60 categories of inspirational and motivational quotes. They can out in their Twitter stream as if they’ve tweeted it themselves. […]
How Does Returning to Standard Daylight Time Affect Your Small Business?
Did you remember to set your clocks back on Saturday night? If you forgot that it was time to “Fall Back” the clocks on Sunday, chances are you showed up at your office space an hour late.
Online Business Networking Should not Replace in-Person Networking
Networking yourself or your small business is said to go hand-in-hand with running a successful business. But be careful what you do while networking, because it can be your greatest undoing, if it is not well done.
Making the Most of Your Virtual Office
Do you really know what a virtual office is? When was the first time you heard the term “virtual office”? I never heard the words until I started my first small business and could not afford an actual office. But a friend suggested that I might consider having a virtual office to look more professional than working from my home. With business rents throughout much of Canada and especially the GTA continuing to increase, the virtual office solutions seemed to be sensible alternatives to the high costs of renting office space, particularly during those precious early years when working capital was limited. I needed a business address that was not my home address and I needed to look professional. I spend days looking at office space rentals that I thought I could afford, but the out-of-the-way addresses did not look appealing on a business card. They also did not look […]
How to Create and Promote Your SMB or Startup with Seminars and Training
So you are looking to get more exposure for your small business. Just how do you do it? Offering seminars and training sessions on the things your clients and customers need and want is the best way to engage them. There are two easy ways to have a seminar or training session that your customers will gain knowledge from, but you need to decide which will truly get their attention. Online webinars and seminars are great for reaching a broader audience, but do they really hold the attention of the customers or potential clients that you want? Having an in-person live conference with your small business clients in a conference room or meeting room will help to deliver your message better. Even if you only have a small group of people in your live session, and others in your live online session, your audience will feel more included because there […]
An Interview with Office Client John Barry
An Interview with John Barry John: Hello, my name is John Barry. I’m the North American Human Resource Manager for ECC Japan. ECC is large. We’re coming up on our 53rd anniversary, and we’re a large educational organization in Japan offering all sorts of educational opportunities and courses. My primary focus is to recruit native English speaking North Americans to go teach English in Japan, and have a great experience. Interviewer: And why do your customers or clients prefer ECC as opposed to other educational groups? John: ECC has a great name in the English conversation arena in Japan. And they have, for example, what we consider full-time positions. That is, twenty nine and a half hours per week. Doesn’t that sound pretty good? And seven weeks’ paid vacation. It’s just basically a sweeter package. Within the private sector, it’s pretty hard to beat, and it’s also got a […]