Unless you’re an accountant you probably hate accounting. Heck I’d even bet that most accountants probably hate accounting, but it’s an essential part of any small business. Accounting – when done correctly – helps small business owners record transactions, prepare financial statements and tax returns, and also maintains order in their day-to-day business operations.

Unfortunately many small businesses are still relying on a shoe box full of receipts to prepare their records. The shoe box method can be dangerous because it can lead to creeping expenses, overdue accounts, cash flow shortages, data insecurity, added personnel costs, audit risks and even bankruptcy (eek!). These risks are very real, so I asked Kirk Simpson President and CEO of Wave Accounting why so many small businesses are still using this method.

“People don’t start small businesses because they love accounting,” he said, “They start them because they want to be a photographer, or real estate professional or a life coach.” For many small business owners accounting is the necessary evil that comes with running the business they are passionate about. And naturally, the tasks that small business owners hate the most are often the ones that they tend to neglect.

“The accounting process is very painful and very manual for small business owners,” he continued. Even with the help of online spreadsheets and expensive accounting software, many small business owners still find the task daunting. According to Kirk the problem with traditional accounting systems is that they aren’t intuitive for small business owners. “Many of the accounting programs still make you manually enter your expenses. At Wave, we atomize the process as much as possible so there is less manual entry.” Through partnerships with financial institutions, Wave will automatically import and categorize small business banking transactions into the software so business owners can see where they are spending their money.

Another problem with accounting software according to Kirk is that it makes small business owners keep their business and personal spending separate. ”The reality is that many small business owners use the same credit card on the weekends to buy diapers as they do during the week to buy office supplies.” Wave makes it easy for small business owners to categorize their spending based on whether it’s for business or personal use.”

The secret to the company’s widespread success and adoption is that they developed the service based on the accounting needs of small business owners (what a genius idea!). “We spent a lot of time developing the software based on how small business owners actually work, not the way an accountant, bookkeeper or software program tells them they should,” he said. With over twenty years of combined experience in the digital media and small business accounting industries, both Kirk and his co-founder James Lochrie strive to keep the perfect mix of utility and usability at all times. Maintaining this fine balance has helped them become a leading provider of free accounting software and is why thousands of small businesses are starting to use their service.

The key thing to take away from this is that accounting doesn’t have to be difficult. With the free tools that are available, small business owners can be more informed when it comes to running their business. Being more informed not only leads to better organization at tax season, but it also ensures that small issues are dealt with before they turn into major problems.

For more information about this topic, attend one of our free small business webinars.

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It seems like ‘Made in China’ is branded on just about everything we buy these days. From clothing, to electronics to furniture – so much of the manufacturing process is being conducted outside of Canada. And, while I’m not opposed to outsourcing, I don’t believe it’s the best solution for every small business.

Just ask Ricky Pacheco – Founder of Pop49 – a Mississauga based company that provides signs, point of purchase materials, and other promotional items for a variety of businesses. “99% of what we make is sourced from Canadian suppliers,” he said. “We support a lot of small businesses in Mississauga, and if we can’t find a small business to use here, we’ll expand our search to the GTA.” Ricky noted that he will use a Canadian company wherever possible, and he will only outsource to the US or China when a Canadian supplier does not exist.

Just as I was about to praise him for his dedication, Ricky insisted that his strategy isn’t all altruistic. “Logistically it just makes more sense. We have a lot of customers who need things in a rush and if we buy everything locally we have a lot more control over the final product.” This is understandable since there are a lot of risks with using international suppliers such as geopolitical instability, inadequate vendor capabilities, and decreased managerial control over things like product quality and delivery timing. For small businesses whose livelihood’s depend on exceeding the needs of their clients; the risks simply aren’t worth it.

Not only is it important to meet and exceed the needs of your client as a small business, but it’s also important to build relationships with them as well. “By maintaining control over our product we’ve built trust with our clients who know we always deliver on time and under budget,” said Ricky.

Meeting your obligations can help you build a reputation for being reliable. Being reliable and building trust with your customers can also help you get more repeat and referral business. As the 80/20 rule states, 80% of your business comes from 20% of your customers, so keep your current customers happy.

In the end it’s up to you to decide whether or not outsourcing is the right decision for your small business. But, before you do business with a company located across the Globe, you must consider whether or not the benefits outweigh the potential risks. Make your decision carefully as the future of your business may depend on it.

For more information about Pop49 or custom designed point of purchase materials please visit www.pop49.com.

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1. Excellent communication skills

2. Passionate about what they do

3. Ambitious and goal oriented

4. Committed to the business—prepared to invest the time, money and energy it takes to develop a company

5. Willing to take risks

6. Continuously embrace opportunities to improve, personally and professionally

7. Exceptional listeners and learners

8. Good people skills

9. Problem solvers

10. Strong work ethic and self-discipline.

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Finally a platform has launched where small business owners can take advantage of corporate sized deals. Rewardli, a San Francisco based company founded by two Canadians George Favvas and JS Boulanger, launched today at TechCrunch Disrupt. The launch came with positive feedback and high hopes for the platform as more and more SMB’s recognize the benefits of group buying.

“It just doesn’t seem fair that large corporations are the ones getting bulk discounts, while small businesses can’t because of their lack of volume purchases. We launched Rewardli to help small business owners group together to receive the same sort of treatment”, says Mr. Favvas, Co-Founder.

Rewardli lets small businesses tap the buying power of their social graph by offering better deals on the products and services they need most. With 60 vendors and counting from Expedia, GoDaddy, and Priceline, Rewardli is the best way to earn cash back on the services and products small businesses buy anyway.

The browser extension adds even more opportunity to get cash back. Once installed, the user is notified when the site they are visiting is a participating vendor. The savings show up as a drop down menu that quickly dissolves to show the site. Clicking on the drop down brings you to that deal for instant savings.

Participants can even create their own groups to increase their buying power and ultimately their savings. The more people a user invites into the platform the more they all save. It’s win-win for all.

It’s free to use. Join thousands of small business owners today at www.rewardli.com.

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People – your most important asset. If your employees, or their loved ones, don’t feel that the workplace is safe, what are the results? Lack of productivity? Absenteeism? Abandonment?

A safe and secure environment increases engagement. High engagement directly impacts profit, retention, and makes your business a desired destination for talented employees and loyal customers. Highly engaged employees become your competitive advantage. A recent study revealed that at work, 60% of employees are not engaged, 15% are actively disengaged, and only 25% are actively engaged.

What does this mean to Canadian businesses? Statistics show that unhappy workers cost the North American business economy well over $350 billion annually in lost productivity. Today’s businesses face unprecedented threats to people, property, and information. Canadian retailers lose approximately $9 million dollars or 1.2% of their net sales to internal/external losses and paperwork errors – every day.

How many sales transactions were not properly recorded by your employees at your cash registers today? How confident are you that your business correctly received all of the merchandise and supplies that you paid for this week?

Employee engagement is the level of commitment an employee has towards the organization. Highly engaged employees speak positively about the organization to co-workers, potential employees and customers while exerting extra effort to contribute to the organization’s success. Disengaged employees aren’t born that way. They’re created by ineffective, badly trained managers and a lack of strong human resource management. As leaders, we need to proactively improve engagement as part of our strategic plan. How? Train and develop. Involve your team. Give your team the tools they need to do their jobs. Reward and recognize. Communicate. Be consistent. Engaged employees are more likely to not steal, or turn a blind eye when a co-worker steals. They go the extra mile to help that customer and develop in to walking billboards that drive your profit. What policies, procedures, and systems do you have in place to protect your people, assets, and proprietary information? How much safer, how much more profitable, would your business be if your employees were more engaged?

Dean Correia is the owner of Correia Security Resources, a Canadian company that specializes in customized security training workshops and services for businesses and schools in order to protect people, safeguard assets, and optimize profit. Visit his website at www.correiasecurity.ca.

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One day I had a hole in my shirt and didn’t want to throw it out. I had been crocheting a lot in my spare time, so naturally, I decided to cover the hole with a crocheted chick. I liked the texture and look of it. I happened to be in a designer consignment store one day in Port Credit, Mississauga, ON, and was chatting with the owner, who expressed interest in my creation. I came back another day to show it to her and she allowed me to sell more clothes with crocheted designs on them on consignment in her store. Now I have clothes and accessories in 7 stores in the GTA, an online website, and can be found at craft shows such as the Distillery Art Market at the Distillery Historic District in Toronto, ON. I sell kids/babies, women’s, and men’s clothing.

Most of my original designs are inspired by nature and wildlife. My part-time work and study in environmental/biological sciences has inspired me to green my business, and so I have developed an eco-line for which I  use 100% organic cotton shirts for my crochet appliques. I currently use acrylic yarn for my designs, which is machine washable and dryer friendly. In an effort to conserve and be more eco-friendly, I have been experimenting by making my own yarn out of old clothing. I will be continuing to look for or develop more eco-friendly yarn.

Click here to visit Katnip

Tell us your story. Send an email to: andrew@bizlaunch.com

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Check out this new service from Deluxe for Business

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1. Innovation and small firms, By Zoltán J. Ács, David B. Audretsch.

2. Innovation and Entrepreneurship, By Peter F. Drucker

3. Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers, By Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur.

4. The Innovator’s Dilemma: The Revolutionary Book that Will Change the Way You Do Business, By Clayton M. Christensen

5. Innovation and industry evolution, By David B. Audretsch

By Guest Blogger: Vernon Mascarenhas

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1. The E-Myth: Why most small Businesses don’t work and what to do about it
- Michael E. Gerber

2. Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers and Challengers
- Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur

3. Getting to Plan B: Breaking through to a better Business Model
- John Mullins and Randy Komisor

4. Guerilla Marketing: Easy and Inexpensive Strategies for making Big Profits for your small business
- Jay Conral Levinson

5. Growing Pains: Transitioning from and Entrepreneurship to a Professionally Managed Firm
- Eric Flamhaltz and Yvonne Randle

Guest post by: Karan Sequeira

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