Welcome to the October 2004 issue of infosource News. We hope you enjoy our monthly e-mail newsletter, meant to keep you informed of the services and resources available at business infosource, issues that effect you and your business, as well as upcoming events.

"Business Registration On-Line" Web Site

Question of the Month

Question of the Month: Can you explain what a "target market" is and provide some pointers on defining my target market?

Response: Wal-Mart^TM didn't start with stores all over the world; rather they conquered their local market and worked out from there. Nike^TM didn't have equipment for every sport the first year of production - they began with running shoes and graduated to basketball, then soccer, and, after many years, golf and hockey.

These companies identified a target market. Who are those customers who are ready and willing to buy - the ideal customer? Where do they live? How much money do they make? Where do they look for information to make a purchase? Does gender make a difference? How often do they buy? How old are they? How many people are there that are like this?

When you've identified your ideal customer, you have to measure the profit potential of the group. First, how much will it cost you to reach them? If your product requires an on-site demonstration and you have 12 customers in the world - it may be too expensive to reach them. On the other hand, if you have a service that people in a small geographic area can use, it should be very inexpensive to tell those potential customers about what you have to sell. Second, can you make enough money from them to make your selling efforts pay off? Find out how much the target market spends, how often they buy, and how loyal they are. This will help you understand whether or not your investment in marketing to them will be a good one. If it will cost you a lot more to attract or keep those customers than they'll actually spend, it may not be worthwhile to target them.

Do your homework and your investment will pay off. Remember, the founder of Nike^TM started making his shoes on a waffle iron and look where the company is today!

Self Employment Program

The Self-Employment (SE) Program is a government-funded training program designed to assist people receiving Employment Insurance (EI)(or exhaustees) to successfully create their own employment. This program requires a commitment and contribution on the participant's part.

The SE Program content is focused on writing a business plan and taking participants through the start-up activities of beginning a business. There is heavy emphasis on market research, marketing promotion and financial aspects of the plan. At the end of the classroom time, participants have a completed business plan, as well as access to business counselors and success teams made up of peer business owners.

Some of the criteria participants must meet to qualify for the SE Program:

• At the start of class, be receiving EI Benefits or be an EI Exhaustee.
• Be a Saskatchewan resident and legally entitled to work in Canada.
• Have not participated in any self-employment program funded by HRSDC or EI in the past five years.
• Present a sound business idea.
• Demonstrate that they have the necessary skills, qualifications and experience to make their idea work.
• Start a new business, or take over an existing business in which they have no prior financial involvement.
• Make a personal investment of cash, inventory, equipment, or borrowed funds.
• Be prepared to work full time over the next year to get their business started.
• Be prepared to complete an acceptable business plan within a few weeks of starting the program.

Small Business Seminar for New Importers/Exporters

If you are new to exporting or importing, you will be happy to hear that business infosource, in Saskatoon, and the Centre for Business Development, in Regina, are hosting information sessions on importing and exporting. Individuals or small-business entrepreneurs who are thinking about importing commercial goods into Canada, who want to know more about the clearance of goods, or are planning on exporting goods from Canada will benefit from these sessions.

Topics that will be covered include:

• The import process
• Tariff classification and value for duty
• Tariff treatment (origin of goods under the North American Free Trade Agreement and the General Preferential Tariff)
• Self-adjustment and appeals
• Valuation of goods
• National customs rulings and advance rulings
• Exporting goods

On November 23^rd Staff of Canada Customs Client Services, a branch of Canada Border Services Agency, from Winnipeg will deliver the seminar in Regina; November 25^th they will conduct the session in Saskatoon. The seminars are schedule to run from 9:00 a.m. to noon and 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. Importing will be the topic of the morning and in the afternoon the focus will shift to exporting.

There is no charge to attend, however seating is limited. To avoid disappointment reserve your seat as soon as possible by contacting business infosource at 1-800-667-4374 or (306) 956-2323 to attend the Saskatoon seminar. In Regina call the Centre for Business Development at 1-877-780-8331 or (306) 780-9331 to register.

There are several other options for researching exporting and importing if you're unable to attend either seminar, or if you need information to supplement what you learned at the seminar:

Importers and Exporters, Test your Skills

So, you think you're prepared to export? Take this short quiz to gauge your company's export readiness:

• Does your company employ an experienced export manager?
• Does anyone in your company have experience in international marketing?
• Does anyone in your company understand letters of credit, INCO terms and customs regulations?
• Does anyone in your company have experience working in different cultures or languages?
• Does anyone in your company conduct research on foreign markets?

business infosource Library

We are very proud of the reference holdings in the business infosource library. With over 2500 hardcopy books and periodicals, as well as a number of electronic reference sources, and an extensive selection of audio and videotapes - we may be the best small business library collection in Saskatchewan.

Below is a sample of a few of the resources we have recently added to our library. Click on the title to view a full abstract.