| March
2006 - Issue 46 |
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If you plan to sell to U.S. customers
from your website, plan your banking accordingly.
It's not possible to have an account that
receives deposits in both Canadian and U.S. currencies.
Banks exercise this practice because the interest rates
on a U.S. account will differ from those on a Canadian
account.
There are a few options you have such
as opening a U.S. as well as a Canadian account and
have the respective transactions conducted as such.
The alternative is to engage a foreign exchange intermediary
to handle the U.S. account on your behalf.
Find out more by contacting your financial
institution, or by contacting The Business Link's
Export Link at 1-888-811-1119 or visiting www.exportlink.ca.
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As a small business owner, if you understand
how consumers make purchases you can be more effective
in making sales. In the past, a sales representative’s
job would often involve educating the client on a product,
creating interest and then making the sale.
Today, the Internet provides a new way
for consumers to access almost limitless information,
and is starting to change the way many consumers shop.
Now, consumers can research their options on the Internet
to gain a better understanding before they make the
purchase.
This new trend may mean your company will
have to adjust its sales practices and look at new channels
to get information about your products or services into
the hands of potential clients.
To read more about the effect of the
Internet on consumers, click
here (http://www.e-future.ca/alberta/blog/?p=93).
For more information on e-business, contact
The Business Link's Alberta E-Future Centre
by phone at
1-800-272-9675, by e-mail at info@e-future.ca
or visit our website at
www.e-future.ca/alberta.
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Financial management is critical in business
because it's not only how much you make, but how much
you keep that counts. Our library can help.
Beat the Taxman: Easy Ways to Save Tax in Your Small
Business (2006 ed.) / Stephen Douglas Thompson is
a perennial favourite for tax tips.
Do you find your company running short
of cash from time to time? You will want to read Winning
the Cash Flow War by Fred Rewey. The McGraw-Hill
36-Hour Course In Finance For Nonfinancial Managers
by Robert Cooke will help you understand basic concepts
and help answer your accountant's questions.
If you're a retail business, Merchandising
Mathematics for Retail / Cynthia R. Easterling [et
al] could be very useful.
These are just a few of the many items
on financial management that you can get through our
library. For more information, visit the
library catalogue on our website.
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Cliquez ici
pour accéder, ou vous abonner à ce bulletin
électronique en français. |
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The Business
Link
Business Service Centre
100-10237 104 Street NW
Edmonton, AB T5J 1B1
Business Info Line:
780-422-7722 or
1-800-272-9675
Fax: 780-422-0055
E-mail: buslink@cbsc.ic.gc.ca
Website: www.cbsc.org/alberta
Click, call, or visit
us for your Alberta business information needs.
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Do you have a succession plan for your business?
If you don't, you're certainly not alone. At a
recent Symposium, organized by The Business
Link and the Community Futures offices
of Taber, Medicine Hat, High River, Lac La Biche
and Hinton, it became clear that many Canadian
small business owners plan to retire in the next
ten years, and surprisingly few have a plan in
place for their exit.
Many small business owners tend
to start thinking of succession just months before
their retirement. Having invested so much time
and energy building their business, will a few
months of "last minute" planning allow
for a smooth transition of business ownership
to a family member or new owner? What about unforeseen
circumstances that push that "retirement"
date to the present?
Without good planning, current owners
are likely to risk maximizing their financial rewards,
and in many cases, seeing their businesses close
rather than transfer to a next generation of ownership.
To heighten awareness of this important issue,
our "Business Feature" in the
next few issues of E-News! will
discuss various aspects of business succession
preparedness and planning.
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Our superb line-up of spring seminars and brown
bag sessions continues in March! If you live outside
of Edmonton, you can take in any of our brown bag presentations
through an Entrepreneurship Learning Centre (ELC) site
via video conferencing; for Edmonton residents, you
can see our presentations in person at The Business
Link office in downtown Edmonton. Of special
note, our March 29 session on "After One Year in
Business" comes from the ELC network site in Red
Deer at the Centre for Business Development. For information
on the events and registration, check out www.cbsc.org/alberta/events.
For locations of ELC sites, visit www.elcnetwork.ca.
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 Video-Conferenced Event |
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If you need to cross the border to do business
in the United States, this event is a "must attend"!
It will provide information to business people and
exporters on the regulations governing business entry
into the U.S. under the North American Free Trade
Agreement.
This seminar will feature live presenters in Edmonton,
Calgary, Red Deer, and Lethbridge, and will all be
joined by way of video conference with Medicine Hat,
Taber, Two Hills, Vegreville, and Warburg. Times may
vary for this session, depending on hosting location.
The cost to attend in Edmonton and Calgary is $30
(+ GST) and includes training materials and a light
lunch. Please note: fees and times may vary at other
locations.
For more information or to register, contact The
Business Link's Export Link at 1-888-1119
or visit http://www.cbsc.org/alberta/content/DD_Info_Package_2006.pdf.
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The Olympic torch has been passed to Canada! This
FREE 3 hour workshop will provide you with an
understanding of the range of business opportunities
associated with the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic
Games. In addition, you will be provided with
suggestions and advice on how your business can
be successful within the competitive bidding process
to be a goods or service provider for the Games.
There will be 2 workshops held
in Alberta, in Edmonton at The Business
Link on Monday, March 13 (9 a.m.
to noon), and in Calgary on Monday, March
20 (1 p.m. to 4 p.m.) at the Calgary Business
Information Centre. To register for the Edmonton
session, please contact The Business Link
at 1-800-272-9675; for the Calgary session, please
contact the Calgary Business Information Centre
at (403) 221-7800.
The Alberta Chambers of Commerce announced
the recipients of their 2006 Alberta Business
Awards of Distinction in Calgary on Wednesday,
February 22. In addition to the 13 categories
presented, the Premier's Award of Distinction
went to Edmonton based Upside Software Inc.
More details on the awards are available at
www.abbusinessawards.ab.ca,
with the full media release of the recipients
at http://www.abchamber.ca/accresources/rel/2006feb22rel.pdf.
Come to this one day event in Calgary on
Tuesday, March 7, and get information from
experts pertaining to: visas and business entry
into foreign markets, finding partners abroad,
building credibility in new markets, and preparing
to deal with the challenges service exporters
face. It will take place at the Calgary Zoo from
8:15 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. For more information, please
refer to: http://www.alberta-canada.com/tta/events/eventDisplay.cfm?id=1453
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How would you like to make the connection
with other Alberta Aboriginal businesses?
The Business Link’s
Alberta Aboriginal Business Service Network
(Alberta ABSN) has an online tool which
can help: the ABSN Alberta Aboriginal Business
Directory. Linked to AlbertaFirst’s
Business Directory, this tool can assist
you in locating different types of businesses
whose majority ownership is First Nation,
Métis, or Inuit. Also, you can increase
the visibility of your Aboriginal business
to other entrepreneurs. Registration is
FREE.
For more information on this online search tool,
or to register your business in the
ABSN Alberta Aboriginal Business Directory,
please visit The Business Link’s
ABSN website.
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Succession is defined as "the act or
process of following a sequence of order".
In the business sense, a succession plan
will prepare you--as the business owner--to
exit the business comfortably, financially
sound, and confident that your business
will continue as a viable part of your community,
albeit under someone else's ownership. It
could also help save the business in the
event of an unexpected illness or death.
So why is there such an aversion to creating
a plan to "pass the torch" to the
next owner?
There are most likely a number of reasons, but
a few come to mind…
I can't let go. When you've put your
own blood, sweat and tears into making your
business successful, it's hard to think you'll
no longer be involved in the day-to-day operations.
What would you do with your spare time if you
didn't have a business to run? Besides, who
could possibly manage the business as well as
you do?
I can't choose between my children. For
family businesses, nominating one family member
over another to take over the business may cause
friction. Joint ownership may be out of the question
if family members don't get along, or don't see
eye to eye on aspects of the business.
I can't find a successor. Perhaps that
family member isn't interested in carrying on
the family business. Others may not be financially
or emotionally prepared to take it on, at least
not now.
The key is to face those doubts and fears,
and realize that planning now will alleviate
pressures when the time comes to succeed the
business to someone else.
Next issue: Things to consider when preparing
a succession plan.
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