With only a month and a half left in 2016, there is still things you can do before years end that will help to grow your business in 2017.

Most small business owners feel that they can not afford to lose a customer, but what if that customer is taking up most of your time or that of your staff (without paying more than other clients)? It might be time to fire those clients or customers whose business only causes daily stress to you and your team, this could free up more time for new customers who are less demanding and easier to deal with.

While you are firing bad customers who are time wasters, you want to take that time and concentrate on reaching out to new prospects. You will be surprised how many customers you can get by cultivating your list of prospects on a regular basis, because to really grow your business, you need to add new clients on a regular basis.

Before the year ends, consider what new markets you want to expand your business to. Once you formulate a strategy for entering a new regional area or sector of the industry, prepare to launch that strategy with boots on the ground come the new year. Even if you can get one new customer that is outside your current market strategy in the first few months of the new year, you could find that you will get other leads and referrals from that one new client. Take that step that could turn into a leap for your business.

When was the last time you physically shook hands with your top or potentially top customers? If you have a few clients in a distant city, plan to meet several of them on a single trip, you will be surprised at the power of an in person meeting where you have made the travel to visit them. Instead of thanking large clients with a Christmas gift that is sent by courier, show them that you truly value their business by delivering it yourself.

The best way to keep up with what is going on in your industry is to attend conferences and trade shows. Often small business owners do not see the direct benefits of these types of events and forgo attending, but what they are missing out on can greatly help them to expand their business and their business contacts. You would be surprised to know what you can learn from someone you see as a competitor, but they do not see you as direct competition to their business.

If you have less than 10 or 15 employees that work out of your office, you could save a great deal of office management expenses and capital costs by locating your business in a serviced office space. Often referred to as executive offices, serviced offices or business centres, these types of office situations relieve you of having to deal with managing your office and the things you deal with on a daily basis. At an office business centre, you do not have to worry about office furniture, office equipment (such as photocopiers or fax machines), paying full time for meeting space that is not always in use or hiring a receptionist to answer your calls and direct them to the appropriate person or department. Not having to manage your office means that you have more time to concentrate on developing new customers and servicing existing ones.

Using a business centre does free you of hiring a receptionist, but what other tasks can you outsource? Firstly, a business centre can offer you secretarial services to handle mundane tasks that take you away from handling your core business responsibilities, but they can also introduce you to other office clients that offer services that you need and would rather outsource than try to train staff to do. This will allow you to hire staff for their unique skill set and not as general knowledge employees.

What are you doing outside of your office time? Is there a hobby or group event that you have been meaning to get involved with? You need to set time aside each week to pursue things that make you happy and takes the stress away from the work you do. Not only will spending a few hours a week of stress free enjoyment help you not to burn out, a group activity might even introduce you to new contacts to your network or even get you some leads on new potential customers without trying.

The end of the year can also be a time to evaluate the online presence of your company beyond just your company website. These days having a website is just not enough, you need to be actively participating with social media. Facebook, Google+ pages and communities, LinkedIn and other popular sites are where your next clients and customers are getting their information, you need to be adding your content for them to see. Participating in online communities will not only give you more potential exposure to your customers, it can also have indirect affects on how your website ranks on search engines.

As the calendar year starts to come to an end, take this time to make sure that you have your goals and expectations set up and in place for the coming year.

Restaurants

1. Ryan Halsall

CRAFT BEER MARKET (OUTDOOR COURTYARD)

Courtyard backs onto our Telsec building, 18 King St. E

1 Adelaide St E (enter on east side of Yonge St., south of Adelaide)

Toronto, ON

M5C 2V9

Tel: 437-922-BEER (2337)

Website: www.craftbeermarket.ca

2. Michael Pagliaro

Carisma (Italian)

15 Toronto Street

Toronto, ON

M5C 2E3

Tel: 416-864-7373

Website: www.carismarestaurant.com

3. Patti Shaw

Terroni (Italian)

57 Adelaide Street East

Toronto, ON

M5C 1K6

Tel: 416-203-3093

Website: www.terroni.com

4. Declan

Restaurant 20 Victoria – Michelin guide approved

20 Victoria Street

Toronto, ON

M5C 2A1

Tel: 416-804-6066

Instagram for reservations: https://www.instagram.com/twentyvictoria/

5. Mana

Nami (Japanese)

55 Adelaide Street East

Toronto, ON

M5C 1K6

Tel: 416-362-7373

Website: www.namirestaurant.ca

6. Restaurant Lucie

100 Yonge Street

Toronto, ON

M5C 2W1

Tel: 416-788-9054

Website: www.restaurantlucie.com

7. Niam H

Cantina Mercatto

20 Wellington Street East

Toronto, ON

M5E 1C5

Tel: 416-304-0781

Website: www.cantinamercatto.ca

8. Siva Sathasivam

Uncle Tony’s

38 Wellington St E

Toronto, ON

M5E 1C7

Tel: 416-455-6650

Website: https://uncletonys.ca/

9. Pizzaiolo

104 Yonge Street

Toronto, ON

M5C 2Y6

Tel: 416-860-0700

Website: www.pizzaiolo.ca

10. Robin Singh

Woods Restaurant and Bar

45 Colborne Street

Toronto, ON

M5E 1E3

Tel: 416-214-9918

Website: www.woodsrestaurant.ca

11. Amadeusz Domyslawski

GUSTO 501

501 King St. E

Toronto, ON

M5A 1L9

Tel: 416-477-5647

Website: www.gusto501.com

Health and Wellness

1. Thom Tullo

Morpheus8 by Inmode

47 Colborne Street

Toronto, ON

M5E 1E3

Tel: 416-863-6564

Website: www.amanspa.ca

2. Altitude Athletic Training

56 Colborne Street

Toronto, ON

M5E 1E3

Tel: 416-366-3838

Website: www.altitudeathletictraining.com

3. Physioheath Studios

33 Victoria Street, #130

Toronto, ON

M5C 2A1

Tel: 416-368-2525

Website: www.physiohealth.com

Hotels

1. Jennifer Smith

General Manager

The Omni King Edward Hotel

37 King Street East

Toronto, ON

M5C 1E9

Tel: 416-863-9700

Website: https://www.omnihotels.com/hotels/toronto-king-edward

2. Mark Perry

General Manager

Executive Hotels and Resorts (Boutique)

8 Colborne Street

Toronto, ON

M5E 1E1

Tel: 416-350-2419

Website: www.spazen.ca or www.cosmotoronto.com

3. Emeline Boul

General Manager

Hotel Victoria (Boutique)

56 Yonge Street

Toronto, ON

M5E 1G5

Tel: 416-363-1666

Mobile: 647-574-5832

Website: www.hotelvictoriatoronto.com

4. Omkar Sawant

Reservations Manager

One King West Hotel

1 King Street West

Toronto, ON

M5H 1A1

Main: 416-548-8100

Reservations: 1-866-470-5464

Website: www.onekingwest.com

5. Van Nguyen

General Manager

Cambridge Suites Toronto

15 Richmond Street East

Toronto, ON

M5C 1N2

Direct: 416-601-3757

Hotel: 416-368-1990

Website: www.cambridgesuitestoronto.com

Our Amenities

We are by far the most experienced and best coworking team in the market – established in 1980

We are the highest Tech centre in the market

We have a very modern, high quality, brand new facility located at:

18 King Street East, Suite 1400

Toronto, Ontario M5C 1C4 Canada

- 18 King Street East is a boutique Class A building – East of Yonge: easy street parking, less traffic, excellent restaurants and lovely parks – St. James Park @ Church & King and Berczy Park @ Wellington East, Scott and Front Streets – Very high energy and engaging area
- A few steps (a few seconds) to the Yonge Street subway/underground PATH network and streetcar available outside building
- Building is located in Toronto's vibrant financial district
- Plenty of parking available in the area including street parking and reserved parking in the 18 King building
- Adjacent to the building huge outdoor food courtyard - Beer Bistro www.beerbistro.com and Craft Beer Market www.craftbeermamrket.ca restaurants and bars with onsite catering services
- Onsite amenities: Tim Horton's, Beer Bistro, Convenience store and Starbucks across the street
- Nearby amenities: underground PATH network, numerous restaurants, banking, Starbucks plus a wide array of nearby shops and services
- New modernized office layout fully furnished with meeting spaces and training rooms plus café lounge area
- We are leaders in the service of training/meeting rooms with full conference facilities, high quality hot and cold catering
- Largest training room and conference facilities accommodate up to 60 people classroom style
- Ultra-high-speed - 1 GIG pipe = 1,000 x 1000 fiber-optic network, which will deliver internet connection speeds faster than most North American services
- Private shower room
- Indoor Reserved Parking at the current building rental rate
- Bicycle parking
- Rent a space to accommodate your team for meetings, training sessions, corporate events or coworking space or flexible office space for one day, one week, one month or one year, or whatever term suits your business
- Telsec has over 650 locations in 40 different countries worldwide available for their clients. Office clients receive up to 8 hours of meeting space per month at no charge at any ABCN member location. Plus, Office and Virtual Office clients may rent a space from any member location at special member rates which varies depending on the location
- King Edward Hotel is located across the street - recently completed a $40 million renovation and boutique hotels close by within walking distance

Dining and entertainment at high quality restaurants only minutes away – Carisma, Terroni, Woods Restaurant & Bar and Michelin Rated - Restaurant 20 Victoria. Plus numerous lunch and takeout eateries nearby

Please check out our 70 second video, click below:

Take a look at our facilities www.telsec.net

Telsec will Customize Your Client’s Office(s) Layout to Meet Their Requirements.

You are welcome to drop-in any-time, a quick call would be appreciated to ensure our availability Vanessa 416-574-1112 or Josie 416-606-4349 or e-mail josie@telsec.net.

Things you could have done in 2016 (and still can) to grow your business

Looking to Learn More?

Toronto Office Space for American Businesses

Using Business Centres As Contact Points for National & International Market Expansion