Why is a Mail Forwarding Service Better Than Post Office Change of Address Mail Forwarding?

April 21st, 2022|Comments Off on Why is a Mail Forwarding Service Better Than Post Office Change of Address Mail Forwarding?

When you are just starting out your small business, or when your business begins to grow, you will probably need to change your business address. You might need to change it once, twice or even more times – depending on the type of business, the type of location, or what your future office space needs and requirements are. With that in mind, it’s essential to understand how to protect your business from losing mail after conducting a post office change of address service. Sometimes, clients will use your old address without realizing you have moved, and your mail will get lost in the process. But using a mail forwarding service can stop this from happening. Learn how to forward mail in Canada, how to complete a post office change of address in Ontario, and why third-party mail forwarding services are better than Canada post mail forwarding services. What is a […]

The differences between a mail-forwarding service and a P.O. Box

March 7th, 2017|Comments Off on The differences between a mail-forwarding service and a P.O. Box

P.O. Boxes are usually offered by either the Post Office or a “CMRA” which stands for Commercial Mail Receiving Agency. It all depends on the services offered by the Post Office or CMRA that you are working with. A mail-forwarding service is typically offered by an office business centre that rents office space to small businesses and also offers virtual office solutions. The difference between a mail-forwarding service and a P.O. Box The first real differences between a mail forwarding service and a P.O. box is that a mail forwarding service provider offers you a real street address. This is ideal, especially if you are a running a small business that needs a more professional image than a conventional P.O. Box number. Another factor is that a P.O. Box cannot accept packages for you, especially when they are being delivered by a third-party courier company that requires a signature. A […]

Starting Your Home-Based Business

November 21st, 2016|Comments Off on Starting Your Home-Based Business

One of our office-space tenants who follows our blogs, asked us to do a blog series about home-based businesses because her husband took early retirement and wanted to keep busy at home. We want to first talk about the most profitable home-based business and what it takes to start one. Other topics in the series of posts will include: home-based retail (online); at-home wholesale and distributions businesses; and running a consulting business from home. Let’s start with talking about what are the most profitable and easy-to-start home-based businesses. Not surprisingly, the most profitable home-based businesses do not require a great deal of equipment, holding an inventory of goods or even renting office space. But you may want to pull out your calculator (or abacus) for the very top profitable home-based businesses. Yes, you guessed it, the most profitable home-based businesses you can start involve dealing with other people’s money. Forbes, […]

With back to school coming, are you planning to start a new business?

August 11th, 2016|Comments Off on With back to school coming, are you planning to start a new business?

For students across the country, the lazy days of summer are coming to a close and a new school year is right around the corner. As an entrepreneur thinking of starting a new business, where to begin can be your biggest obstacle. In our previous blog Getting the Kids Back to School is a Reason to get Serious About Business, we talked about how many parents start thinking about their business when their children’s summer is about to end and the are going back to school. But what about those stay-at-home parents who do not yet have a business? Maybe it is time to start a home-based business that allows you to send the kids off to school and be home when they return from school each day. So where to begin in starting a new business? Do your homework No small business is guaranteed to be successful. One way that will improve […]

Canada Posts Business Solutions

July 26th, 2016|Comments Off on Canada Posts Business Solutions

For the most part, we forget about the post office because letter mail has been mostly replaced by e-mail. But there is still some things that small business needs from Canada Post. There is still a need for outbound marketing and product shipments. Depending on what you are marketing and who your target audience is, Canada Post may have a direct-mailing solution for you. Last year, Telsec did a targeted mailing to the condo buildings nearby and got a good response from entrepreneurs in those condos who were looking for a virtual office address (that was not their home address). We had a number of calls from the flyer we put out. Canada Post can take care of most of your small business shipping needs – everything from sending out letter mail and invoices, to sending out product shipments to customers. A large portion of our office space tenants receive […]

International Mail Services Versus a Post Office Box

July 21st, 2016|Comments Off on International Mail Services Versus a Post Office Box

Whether you are in the USA or somewhere else around the world and you are doing business in Toronto, you most likely want a Toronto address for your Canadian mail. Postal Boxes may sound like an easy and secure way to have your business mail delivered, but are they? Let’s talk about the logistics of a P.O. Box first, before we go into the potential loss of business by using one. Unless you are a frequent flyer to Toronto or have someone picking up your Canadian mail as your Canadian representative, if a package or important documents are being sent using another courier such as UPS or FedEx, those packages cannot be delivered to a P.O. Box. Canada Post will hold your mail indefinitely, but is not set up to forward it to you. What good is it having a local mailing address if you are not getting your mail […]

How to Gain Trust for Your Home-Based Business

July 19th, 2016|Comments Off on How to Gain Trust for Your Home-Based Business

As we mentioned in our previous blog “How to Gain Trust for Your E-commerce Business,” trust, in general, is the key to the success of your business. You not only have to build and maintain trust with your clients, customers and vendors, you need to have the trust of employees and freelancers. Some say that if you lose that trust, you may just as well pack up your business and go home. But what if your business is a home-based business? How do you gain trust? As business owners and marketers, the assumptions you make about your target customers and the purchasing motivations you think they may have, will have a powerful affect on the health of your business. As a small business owner, your reputation means everything and you cannot afford to damage your personal brand. But trust is also very fragile. If you lose it, it’s very difficult, […]

How to do business in Canada: Choosing a business structure

April 7th, 2016|Comments Off on How to do business in Canada: Choosing a business structure

In the post expanding your service based business into Canada, we discussed some considerations you should examine before you begin to move a service-based business into Canada. In this post, I will explain the different types of legal entities that can be used to do business “with Canada” and “in Canada.” The legal structures open to your business are many, so taking the time to choose the best one for your needs is an important part of the process for a successful expansion. One of the best references for information about doing business in or with Canada is found on the Canada Trade Commission site. You’ll find information on everything from Visa and immigration to investing in Canada. A U.S. or other foreign-based company has many options to choose from when selecting a business structure in which to carry on business in Canada. The entities available to do business include: […]

Top 10 tips for Starting a Business That Will Succeed

December 15th, 2015|Comments Off on 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 […]

Virtual Office Services Can Be Great For International Entrepreneurs

July 15th, 2015|Comments Off on Virtual Office Services Can Be Great For International Entrepreneurs

When international entrepreneurs are looking to open shop in Canada, they often will often look to an office business centre in the city that they want to open up shop in and make arrangements for an international mail service that will forward their mail to their home in the country they live. But what about that globe trotting entrepreneur that is exploring various places? The great part of having a centralize business address in Toronto at a recognizable and iconic business address is that it is a great place for international entrepreneurs to start up with in Canada. Recently, a new mail address client from Brazil, upgraded to a VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) virtual office solution because they not only wanted a Toronto business address, but they also wanted a Toronto telephone number that they could be reached at regardless of where they were traveling. Our client from Brazil […]

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Choosing What Kind of Office is Right For Your Small Business

July 6th, 2015|Comments Off on Choosing What Kind of Office is Right For Your Small Business

While building your business, you might have to make some decisions about what kind of office space arrangement is best suited for your organization and business model. Before you make these decisions, you not only need to know what your business needs are, but also what types of office situations are available to your small business. Maybe your small business is best run from home or on the road. You will still discover that you need a proper professional business address, preferably one at a prestigious business location. In that case, you may only need a virtual office arrangement that offers mail service for a low monthly fee. Your customers see that you have a real physical business address – and not just a home office or a post office box. Some small businesses need a little more than just as small business address at an office business centre. They […]

‘Seniorpreneurs’ are Turning to Office Business Centres for Their Office Space

June 22nd, 2015|Comments Off on ‘Seniorpreneurs’ are Turning to Office Business Centres for Their Office Space

The terms entrepreneur and start-up have traditionally been associated with risk and starting off with nothing, but this new breed of entrepreneurs are the retiring "baby boomers" who have spent a lifetime building their wealth and are not interested in taking on too much risk.

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Having Access to Virtual Office Services During the Pan Am Games Can Be Good

June 18th, 2015|Comments Off on Having Access to Virtual Office Services During the Pan Am Games Can Be Good

With the Pan American Games in Toronto July 10-26 and Parapan American Games August 7-15, traffic in Toronto is going to be chaotic. In an effort to avoid the traffic congestion and other crowding issues caused by the games, many of our office-for-rent tenants are asking about working remotely from home or somewhere outside of the city. Because Telsec offers remote working services to their virtual office clients, we are able to offer our office-for-rent clients options to work away from the office, while their customers believe they are in the office and it is business as usual. Try doing that in a tradition rental office! Instead of having their postal mail and correspondence delivered to their office when they are away, some office tenants are opting to pay a small administrative fee to have their mail scanned and e-mailed to them – similar to services offered to mail-forwarding clients […]

Ongoing Planning has Never Been More Important to Your Business Success

June 16th, 2015|Comments Off on Ongoing Planning has Never Been More Important to Your Business Success

Whether your business is home-based or a fortune 500 enterprise, no individual and certainly no business can predict the future. Especially in these volatile times, businesses must prepare for unforeseen circumstances and have a plan in place well in advance for disaster recovery. A shocking reminder of this is the Boston Marathon bombings. Not only did innocent people lose their lives with hundreds injured, all businesses in that area were forced to close down for an undetermined amount of time. And let’s not forget about the havoc wreaked by Hurricane Sandy along the U.S. east coast a few years ago. Home-based businesses and SMB’s working out of their home need to have a plan for building a business or creating a good job for themselves. If you only see your business as providing a job, then the plan is simpler than if you are going to grow into office space […]

Top 10 Advantages of Renting Toronto Office Space from an All-in-One Business Centre  

June 2nd, 2015|Comments Off on Top 10 Advantages of Renting Toronto Office Space from an All-in-One Business Centre  

Many expanding businesses, start-ups, international businesses and even established larger forms are looking to downsize their real estate and office-space. They are turning to all-in-one serviced office business centres and executive offices for their businesses office needs. Business owners are realizing that, with an all-in-one business centre to fill their office needs, their company can see a significant amount of savings in all aspects of their total office expenses every month over traditional raw-office-space leases. Read on to discover the top 10 advantages of all-in-one office space for lease in Toronto. 1. Professional Receptionist at Your Disposal If you’re a business start-up or are significantly downsizing your company, you’re probably operating with minimal office support staff. So why spend your money on hiring a receptionist when most all-in-one office business centres provide a live receptionist? You can have a professional receptionist answer all of your calls as you direct, without […]

Small Home-Based Businesses are Moving into “Shedquarters” – but What Does That Mean?

April 19th, 2015|Comments Off on Small Home-Based Businesses are Moving into “Shedquarters” – but What Does That Mean?

For many years, small businesses have been started and run from home, but then there comes a time when that business outgrows the home office or finds it too distracting, so owners seek out office space for rent. But now there is a relatively new trend, “Shedquarters”, that allows small businesses (especially those with more than one employee) to have a home-base office without actually being in the home. The concept of using a converted shed as a place to work is not new to handymen, artists and musicians – but they are now becoming popular with home-based businesses who want to separate their home from their office. The size of the Shedquarters is only limited by the amount of backyard space the home/business owner is willing to give up, as well as any local building variances and codes. If you do a Google Image search on Shedquarters, you will […]

Another Reason why a Virtual Office Works Better Than a P.O. Box

April 13th, 2015|Comments Off on Another Reason why a Virtual Office Works Better Than a P.O. Box

While we have often told our readers about the benefits of virtual office arrangements over using a P.O. Box, this week we learned of a lost business opportunity caused by a small business owner that uses a P.O. box. One of our newest office-space rental prospective clients told us of a recent incident whereby his sister-in-law experienced running her home-based business through a P.O. Box. Seems that this entrepreneur made a major deal with a new supplier and then did not get the contract because the P.O. Box provider would not sign for the receiving of the confirmation letter from the originator of the contract, but instead sent it back to the sender marked “undelivered.” This ended up causing them to have to re-send the contract to a friend’s business address. Having to get a vendor, supplier or a potential customer to send mail and packages to a third-party address […]

Changing Your Corporate Colours and Logo Without Changing Your Address

September 30th, 2014|Comments Off on Changing Your Corporate Colours and Logo Without Changing Your Address

As many companies and professional sports teams are jumping on the re-branding bandwagon and updating their look, notice they are not changing their address or contact info. Your business address is important for current and future customers to know and remember. Having a prestigious address is important to any business, especially if you have had it for a long time. An established address shows stability to customers and to vendors. People want to know that a business is not constantly moving and changing where it is located – they want to see that a business is stable. If a customer looks for a contact address for a business, they give more attention to a business that has an address in an important building or at a prestigious location. When a potential customer sees that the business address is a P.O. Box or a storefront shipping location, they may worry if […]

More Reasons to use a Mail Service Rather Than a Home Address for Business

September 3rd, 2014|Comments Off on More Reasons to use a Mail Service Rather Than a Home Address for Business

Every business needs to start somewhere, whether from your kitchen table, the spare room or even your bedroom. Finding suitable office space can take a while and is a big investment when you’re only just starting up. Whether you are a lawyer, a web or graphic designer, a photographer, freelancer, or any number of other professions, you may have found that renting out a separate brick-and-mortar office space is not an expense that you would like to take on. So what are your options? Perhaps you’ve found that you are perfectly happy working out of your home office. Then you realize that this may create a conundrum when you are asked for a business address. Do you really want to give out your home address? Or are you considering using a mail service that gives you a more professional image as well as more privacy? Many start-up businesses and entrepreneurs will use […]

What is a Toronto Mail Service?

August 25th, 2014|Comments Off on What is a Toronto Mail Service?

Even though we explain what a Toronto mail service is (in two places) on our website (including a FAQ page), many people still want to know the benefits of using a Toronto mail service. First let us say that “A Toronto Mail Service is NOT a P.O. Box.” It is a professional business address at a prestigious business centre in a well known, historic Toronto office building. Unlike a Post Office Box, a Toronto mail service at a professional business centre is a place you can physically meet a potential client or prospective customer at and have an on-site meeting by renting an affordable boardroom or just meeting them in the reception area before taking the meeting off-site, if you wish. Your client can be given the impression that you have a physical office there, instead of seeing banks of mail boxes. Besides having a professional-looking business address and a […]