Recently, while attending a conference, there was a lot of discussion about the difficulties that women face in business. The challenges range from the social bias that women encounter to the dual role that many have as homemakers and primary caregivers. As we plan what content we should include in our upcoming learning centre, we decided to include content that helps our woman members to overcome these challenges. The video below is a YouTube playlist of excerpts from our “Entrepreneurs Interview Series” where we ask all the women what challenges they have encountered as women in business. In the past we have written a few posts especially for our women members: Women Entrepreneurs and the Challenges They Face Glass Ceilings Are A Catalyst for Women Entrepreneurs More Senior Women Entrepreneurs Take Office Space for Rent

Before beginning your search for a mentor, you need to be able to understand when and where you need help. This will improve your chances of finding the right mentor to help you. You do not want to look for a mentor who is specialized in accounting, when you need help with marketing and distribution. In other words, be sure to seek out individuals with expertise in your weak points, not your strengths. One of the first steps in finding a mentor is to identify people you admire for their expertise and can learn from. Research their backgrounds and then reach out to request a meeting or phone call. It is important that when you reach out to someone, be sure you clarify your intention and respect a potential mentors’ time. The worst thing that can happen when reaching out is that person says “no.” So move on to the […]

When an offer mentions the word “free,” it is not uncommon for a small business owner to get excited – particularly when free means something of value to them and their small business (such as website improvements and/or online marketing assistance). There have been countless free website builders that have come and gone, and that’s one of the main reasons why you will want to be careful in choosing a free website builder. This blog idea was submitted to us by one of our office-space tenants who spent months cleaning up the problems he had after using a “Free Website Builder.” They told us that they now believe the only thing free they can count on as being truly free, is the free coffee, tea or filtered water they get at our office space. So, we decided to look into the problem with free website builders and share it with […]

Almost every other blog posting that you might see from various sources is telling you about the trends to watch for in 2015 – but there are few that remind you to improve on your 2014 successes. Many small businesses discovered some great things that were successful for them in 2014. Just because the year has changed, does not mean they will not work again in 2015! As a small business owner, you have to look back at what worked and what did not. Think of ways to improve upon your successes. Yes, you may have to modify or tweak those strategies and plans to gain even more, but never let a supposed “trend” make you abandon them. When a random blogger tells you that you have to watch for certain trends in 2015, go ahead and monitor them – but do not let them stop you from improving on […]

This week (October 19 to 25th, 2014) is BDC (Business Development Bank of Canada) Small Business Week. The idea behind this series of events is to celebrate entrepreneurs, as well as Canada’s small and medium-sized enterprises. This is an annual celebration of entrepreneurship that the Business Development Bank of Canada has been organizing for 35 years. Each year, around 10,000 business people come together at Small Business Week events across Canada to learn, network and socialize. These events are conferences, seminars, information sessions, luncheons and trade fairs. Your small business should find out about your local events and consider attending one, even if it is only to network with other small business owners. As part of Small Business Week, there is also a webinar hosted by EDC (Export Development Canada) on “How to Grow Your Business Through Exporting”, to let small business owners hear from exporting companies (who started out […]

Communication is something that most of we do instinctively just like breathing, but that does not mean we always do it effectively. While it may seem easy and we believe that we are doing it correctly, some small business owners forget that communicating effectively actually takes quite a bit of finesse.