Buying vs leasing vs renting office space – different perspectives!

December 15th, 2016|Comments Off on Buying vs leasing vs renting office space – different perspectives!

When a growing small business reaches that point where operating from a home office is no longer an option, the owner is faced with the choice of buying, leasing or renting office space. There are plenty of other articles on the Internet to help you through the legal and financial options of leasing over buying, but most do not address the potential of renting office space without a lease at an office business centre. For the purposes of this blog, we will define the three options more practically. Buying office space: This would be space within an office condo complex or a business complex, but it could also be a stand-alone building that is not in a business area. Leasing office space: This refers to traditional raw office space that is in an office building or tower, meaning that the space is yours to set up as you like. Renting office […]

Can corporate use coworking space to accelerate growth, innovation and collaboration?

December 8th, 2016|Comments Off on Can corporate use coworking space to accelerate growth, innovation and collaboration?

When most people think of coworking office space, they usually think of a large open space filled with millennials, freelancers, one-person or two-person small businesses and start-ups looking to get off the ground. Some small business owners and corporate business executives might be a little concerned by the fact that their employees are hanging out with other businesses’ employees and holding sensitive telephone conversations just a few feet away from a potential competitor or someone looking for a new idea. Along with worrying about how employees are using their time, corporate privacy, intellectual property loss and potential security issues are some of the reasons why many corporations have been reluctant to place their team or a sub-team from utilizing coworking space. The problem is that forward-thinking team managers see the benefits of using a coworking space for creative teams to thrive, despite the perceived risks that may or may not […]

How to start a retail business from home

December 7th, 2016|Comments Off on How to start a retail business from home

This blog is the third in a series about home-based profitable businesses that you can start without having to carry large inventories or to have a full-time presence in a physical office or storefront. It is often mentioned that small businesses employ more people than all large businesses combined. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play a major role in the Canadian economy. Industry Canada says that 99% of businesses in Canada have fewer than 500 employees and they employ 64% of workers in the private sector. A great deal of those businesses are retail based. In the USA, the retail industry provides a way of life for the more than 24 million people who earn their livelihood from it. Regardless of the type of retail business you want to start, you cannot ignore the power and reach of the Internet. Each type of retailing has strengths and weaknesses, so you […]

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

November 16th, 2016|Comments Off on Things you could have done in 2016 (and still can) to grow your business

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 […]

Toronto Office Space for American Businesses

November 14th, 2016|Comments Off on Toronto Office Space for American Businesses

Toronto Office Space for American Businesses For those thinking of relocating their business to Canada A sense of shock still hangs in the air. People are contemplating their futures in the midst of extraordinary change. Several times on election night, the server hosting the Immigration Canada website crashed under the load of Americans considering leaving the United States temporarily or permanently. Even before the election, the Telsec Business Centre in Toronto has fielded calls from American businesses looking to expand into the Canadian market. In the last week, Telsec has taken calls from businesses concerned about their foreign business relationships. Telsec has a short primer on Doing Business in Canada and a number of blog posts over the previous months. Entries such as like Registering Your Business In Canada, US Startups should begin international expansion in Canada , Canadian businesses are having a 30% off sale – well, almost!  and Canada: A […]

Tips For Small Businesses To Appear Much Larger Than They Are!

September 22nd, 2016|Comments Off on Tips For Small Businesses To Appear Much Larger Than They Are!

Having one address at a prestigious location can be good, but what about having multiple location addresses with a 800 number to 1 location? Your small business can saves money and appears like have multiple locations for less than the cost of 1 office space with the 1 800 number meaning you only need 1 phone + address account. So how is this done? You can have virtual office locations with several Alliance business centers that are located around the world in over 80 countries. With several virtual office locations and a 800 number, your client or prospect will call you and ask to speak to the location nearest them, but the call will be forwarded to where you are working or to your Toronto head office location. When your small business has a live receptionist answering your calls with your business name, your customers believe that you are bigger […]

How to Negotiate For Lower Business Expenses

September 15th, 2016|Comments Off on How to Negotiate For Lower Business Expenses

Every expense that your small business has, ends up adding to your overall cost of doing business and can eat away at your bottom line. What is the answer? Lower your re-occurring costs by negotiating discounts and lower rates with your vendors. While small businesses have been cutting back on their spending over the past number of years, according to one report, costs for goods and services togrther can be has high as 28 percent of your small business’ budget, making those costs the second largest expense after payroll. It is true that some fixed expenses such as rent, office equipment and utilities can be more difficult to negotiate, but with the right amount of knowledge, you might find some alternatives or ways to get these expenses fixed. Knowing what your big expenses will be each month will make it easier to budget and allow you to focus on negotiating […]

Getting Virtual Teams Right

September 8th, 2016|Comments Off on Getting Virtual Teams Right

First let’s talk about “Virtual Teams” as some people do not know what the term means. Basically, Virtual Teams are people that work together on various projects, but are located in different physical locations. This concept of people collaborating from various locations is one that is on the rise and has become easier as internet and telecommunication technology advances. These dispersed teams rely on shared work spaces, public WiFi, libraries and other places that they can connect to the Internet and communicate with their coworkers. Basically, they can work from almost anywhere and still be able to interact with other team members. We don’t need discuss the appeal of this type of work environment for employees, or their satisfaction in working in a flexible environment that speaks for itself. Most remote workers will tell you that they are happy to work alone, but they are most happy when they are […]

Where to locate your business

September 6th, 2016|Comments Off on Where to locate your business

It is often said that the three most important factors in making sure a business is successful are ‘location, location, location.’ Even if your business is not retail and does not rely on walk-in traffic, your location is important to your customers and prospective clients. Yes, you prospective clients will often research your small business to find out if you are local and if you at a real business address. You may not need to maintain a physical presence near your customers, but your business address should be where your customers are – or where they expect you to be. You could have a head office location at a prestigious business address and have a majority of your production or staff working from another location that better suits the work that is being done – or where you are paying less rent. You want your customers to see your primary […]

Five Tips Every Small Business Owner Needs To Know

August 30th, 2016|Comments Off on Five Tips Every Small Business Owner Needs To Know

While there are plenty of tips all over the internet for small businesses, few are aimed at the business owner. As a business owner, sometimes you have take a step back and look at yourself in the mirror – and decide if you are making decisions for yourself or for your small business. Here are five proven strategies: Be unique. Have a unique product or service offering, or a point of view that your competition does not. Your offering must stand out and have its own point of view that is uniquely yours. If your potential customers cannot distinguish between your product or service and that of your competitor’s, as the new person in the marketplace you will probably not get the sale. Remember that consumer expectations today are heavily influenced by the larger players who have established a track record for what they are offering and how they deliver […]

Tips On Hiring And Managing Employees

August 25th, 2016|Comments Off on Tips On Hiring And Managing Employees

As you get your small business off the ground, you will at some point need to hire employees to take care of the day-to-day functioning of your business. Before you start to look for employees, you need to define their job descriptions and what qualifications they should have to fill that position. You want to recruit the best and brightest, and create a workplace environment that they want to be a part of – and one that will retain them, so they do not get lost to your competitors. You also want a workplace environment that stimulates creativity and productivity at the same time. Just look at what Google, Bing, Apple and Yahoo have done. Yes, those are extreme examples, but there are many things they do that you can scale down to fit your own workplace. Happy and healthy employees are productive and will keep your business going strong. […]

Planning Your Business Is Like Going Back To School

August 16th, 2016|Comments Off on Planning Your Business Is Like Going Back To School

When you decide to start a business for the first time, it is important to know that creating a solid business plan is vital to your success. A good business plan will help you know where you are headed long before you get there. Writing your business plan requires doing your homework and making some decisions. The research and choices will have a great deal of influence on how your business is structured and in what direction your business should go. The first thing you need to do is to decide what type of business structure will work for you . You have to decide if you are opening your business as a sole proprietorship or other structure, such as a partnership or corporation. Your choice of business structure will have liability and tax implications, so you really need to do your research and find out what works best for […]

Characteristics To Look For In A Remote Worker

August 4th, 2016|Comments Off on Characteristics To Look For In A Remote Worker

When you are looking for remote workers, you want people who have experience with little supervision (well, little in-person supervision) that are able to show results from the work that they are being asked to do. Your business has to be able to count on them, without you standing over their shoulder and making sure that they are getting the job done correctly and efficiently. Even though they are working remotely, they have to be team players. If an applicant does not demonstrate the ability to work with other team members or understand the concept of constant communication with head office and other team members, they might not be suited for your team. Because wherever your team members are located, holding daily meetings can keep them united and working towards one goal. You need a remote worker who can also check in with other team members a few times each […]

Office space versus a virtual office: Which is best for you?

July 12th, 2016|Comments Off on Office space versus a virtual office: Which is best for you?

There is no reason not to have an upscale professional business address. But you do not necessarily need to have a physical office at that particular location. Sometimes a physical office space is important to your business, but what if it is not? Let’s talk about the best options for your small business. There are a range of business address options to choose from, including traditional raw office space, serviced office space and virtual offices. But which one is the most flexible and cost-efficient fit for your small business? Many small businesses owners and entrepreneurs may not have the financial capacity to lease traditional physical office space and pay for the infrastructure that type of space requires. The cost of office furniture, telephone systems and other office equipment such as photocopiers adds up. This has caused serviced offices and virtual offices to increased in popularity, because small business owners want […]

U.S. start-ups should begin international expansion in Canada

June 23rd, 2016|Comments Off on U.S. start-ups should begin international expansion in Canada

Often when we think about start-ups, we think of technology start-ups. But in reality, every business that is starting out is a “start-up” – so it is not just technology companies we are referring to.  It is any company in the early stages of growth. Every successful start-up reaches a point where all the advantages of being first to market with little competition are gone. Many start-ups will look to international expansion to maintain a rate of growth that maximizes resources that become redundant, without new accounts to service or more products to make for new customers. Many start-ups are overlooking Canada, preferring larger emerging markets. But start-ups in particular should be looking at Canada for the following reasons: Logistics enables the leveraging of U.S. assets Skilled workforce Increase online visibility Better understanding of the laws, language, culture, people and markets Canada and the USA have a long trade history […]

Why a Business Centre is the Best Solution for Opening a Canadian Branch Office

June 21st, 2016|Comments Off on Why a Business Centre is the Best Solution for Opening a Canadian Branch Office

Opening a branch office or other corporate or legal Canadian business type in Canada is much like starting your business all over again! You have an expansion plan; researched the best business “entity” for your business and decided upon whether to have a virtual office from your home or rent office space, warehouse or storefront. Then you have to set up a legal entity to do business under and to carry out setting up the business. All of these activities will require a Canadian address. Without a Canadian address, you are in bureaucratic ‘quicksand.’ The Virtual Office Options There is not much to consider when deciding whether a P.O. Box is appropriate over a virtual address because a P.O. Box is not a legal address for the purposes of incorporation or almost any legal business entity that a U.S.-based or foreign company can use. A Business Centre’s virtual office and office space services provide your business […]

Virtual Office Services Provide the Perfect Corporate Image

June 14th, 2016|Comments Off on Virtual Office Services Provide the Perfect Corporate Image

When you are starting a new business, you want to establish yourself with as much credibility and present the most professional image for your new business. Have a professional business address is one of the first steps in building your brand. Even if you cannot afford to rent office space when you first start out, a virtual office service can be a great place to start. Simply put, using a home address or a P.O. Box as your business address does not help in establishing your professionalism. These days, people are very weary of doing business out of a P.O. Box, because they worry that the business might disappear overnight. When you are trying to obtain business credit for your new venture, banks and other lenders will be more likely to take your application more seriously if they see that your business has a professional address. If you work from […]

Three questions all business leaders must ask about their office space

May 27th, 2016|Comments Off on Three questions all business leaders must ask about their office space

How important is good company culture to your business? Just ask the people at Deloitte University Press, who conducted a 2013 study on business culture and employee engagement. They found that 87% of organizations cited culture and engagement as one of their top challenges, while 50% called them a problem. This is a major factor that companies face in terms of the “Brain Drain” from their workforce. Top performing workers are the backbone of any company, especially in the tech sector where finding and retaining talent is challenging. One of the best ways that a company can satisfy employee engagement and satisfaction is having the right work space environment. A great work space is one that makes sure that the office space encourages collaboration, but also fuels play and creativity. In order to have a great work environment for your employees, you have to ask yourself the following three questions. Does […]

Why Open a Branch Office in Toronto, Canada?

May 5th, 2016|Comments Off on Why Open a Branch Office in Toronto, Canada?

In the digital age, the number of opportunities available to businesses is greater than ever because ubiquitous connectivity means the world is at your fingertips. So your customers can be almost anywhere! The only barrier to opportunities becoming realities is your ability to communicate and compete in new markets. Whether it be a large or small business or technology start-up, there comes a time when every business must expand its market in order to maintain growth and continue to gain market share. If you’re a local business delivering local services, you’re looking to grow into other cities or nationwide. But if your business is already reaching its full potential nationally, then businesses will generally look to expand internationally. Why international expansion should start in Canada For U.S.-based companies, countries like India, China and Asia with large populations and huge perceived markets are often the first choices for international expansion. The more logical country […]

Suggestions on managing the virtual office revolution

April 26th, 2016|Comments Off on Suggestions on managing the virtual office revolution

In a previous blog Ways grow your Small Business quickly, we mentioned that one of the fastest ways to grow your business is by hiring virtual office staffers that you do not need to create office space for. To some companies this might be easy; but others have the fear of losing the ability to track employee progress. The trick to making it work is by having the right tools and constant communications with the remote team. Implementing a remote-workforce team allows you to source talent from any location, meaning you have access to the smartest, most capable workforce in your industry. This means that not everyone on your team needs to live within driving distance of your main office. In most cases, you will want a new hire to spend their first weeks at your office for training and meet the rest of your team in person. This not […]