Business & Personal Finance

ACCESS Community Capital Fund

Do you need a loan to start up a business, but have no collateral or credit history? Ordinarily it would be very difficult to obtain a loan under such conditions, but the ACCESS Community Capital Fund can help.

From their brochure:

"ACCESS is a Canadian registered charity granting micro-loans (first loan up to $5,000.00; second loan up to $10,000.00) where the abilities, skills and commitment of the applicant in conjunction with the strength of the business plan are key decision criteria."

Check the website to find out if you qualify, and how to apply.

It sounds like a wonderful opportunity!

 

 

The Canada Small Business Financing Program

The Canada Small Business Financing Program is well worth looking into if you are a small business owner.

This Industry Canada program, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, makes it easier for businesses that make $5 million dollars or less a year to obtain loans to:

• purchase or improve land or property
• purchase leasehold improvements or improve leased property
• purchase new equipment or improve used equipment

Industry Canada does this by sharing the risk with the lending institution. The amount of the loan can be up to $500,00.00.

About.com also has some more information about the program.

Check it out!

 

 

 

Holiday Spending

At this time of year, it is very easy to get caught up in the spirit of the season and then quickly spend a small fortune on gifts for family and friends. 

Here are a few tips that may help you come out of the holiday season debt free. 

According to an article entitled "Spending Guidelines : How to Avoid Holiday Debt - or Recover from It, you should:

• Save as early as possible and create a modest holiday fund. "Mentally mark certain funds as "off limits" for anything other than gift purchases - or even set aside funds in a savings account that you know you won't touch until shopping time comes".
• Limit yourself to a list and set a budget. "Both will help you stay focused on who you're buying gifts for and how much you planned to spend."
• If you have to use your credit card, only charge what you can afford to repay.

Moreover, in a similar article entitled "How to Ward Off the Ghost of Holiday Spending Debt" by Sunny Freeman, Tom Hamza of the Investors Education Fund, a not-for-profit financial advice organization, recommends that you should have a plan; i.e. "The spirit of giving is a great thing but you have to check it with the spirit of resources... Make sure you know how much you have to give before you start giving".

It is recommended that "consumers shouldn't spend more than 1.5 per cent of their total income during the holidays... that amounts to $750 for Canadians with an average household income of $50,000."  Additional recommendations are:

• Create a budget by reviewing the previous year's expenses.  If your money was spent wisely last year, a budget for the current year can be estimated.  If you overspent in the previous year, unnecessary expenses may be identified and avoided.
• Set a limit for each aspect of holiday spending, ; i.e "meals and baking, decorating, wrapping and cards, and gifts".  If you overspend in one area, reduce the amount to be spent in another category.
• Write a list of people you are buying for and price ranges for each gift.  If the total exceeds the overall budget, scratch some people off the list or lower the amount to be spent per gift.
• Use cash instead of credit.  Tom Hamze states its "easier to stick to that limit because it's far too easy to pull out the plastic and forget about how much that purchase contributes to the overall debtload".
• Start earlier to shop in the seaon. It may give you more time to "shop around and compare prices".  Tome Hamze states "if you know beforehand that you have a limited budget, or even limited time, you can start to make decisions that are, perhaps, a wiser use of your cash."

For more information on how to avoid debt during the holiday season, you may be interested in the following titles at the Toronto Public Library:

McBride, Tracy.  Frugal Luxuries by the Seasons : Celebrate the Holidays with Elegance and Simplicity on Any Income.  New York : Bantam Books, 2000.

Waldfogel, Joel.  Scroogenomics : Why You Shouldn't Buy Presents for the Holidays.  Princeton : Princeton University Press, c2009.

Wolson, Shelley.  Budget Celebrations : The Hostess Guide to Year-round Entertaining on a Dime.  New York : Filipacchi Pub., 2009.
 

Canada’s First Polymer Bank Note : Go Ahead and Feel, Look At & Flip It!

The Bank of Canada began circulating Canada’s first polymer bank note on Monday, November 14, 2011. 

The new $100 bill features a portrait of Sir Robert Borden, Prime Minister of Canada between 1911 and 1920, on the front.  The reverse side features images that focus on Canadian innovations in the field of medicine: “from pioneering the discovery of insulin to treat diabetes, to the invention of the pacemaker, and to the role Canadian researchers have played in mapping the human genetic code”.

The new polymer bank note incorporates many innovative technologies from around the world that will make it difficult to counterfeit.  For instance, there is a large transparent area that extends from the top to the bottom of the note and contains complex holographic features that can be viewed from both sides.  The Bank of Canada has produced an interesting video entitled “The New $100 Note” that encourages you to feel, look at and flip it so that you can see and identify its new security features.

 

There are also additional benefits.  The polymer bank notes will be more durable and are expected to last 2.5 times longer than the current cotton-paper bills. They will therefore be “more economical and will have a reduced environmental impact”.

In the near future, the following denominations will be issued as polymer bank notes:

The new $50 polymer note will be issued in March 2012.  A portrait of William Lyon Mackenzie King, the Canadian Prime Minister between 1921 and 1930 and again from 1935 to 1948, is on the front of the note.  The reverse side will feature “images of the Canadian Coast Guard Ship Amundsen in the North, reflecting Canada’s leading role in Arctic research. It also evokes the part that Canada’s northern frontier—with its vastness and splendour—has played in shaping our cultural identity”.

The new $20 polymer note will begin circulating in late 2012, followed by the $10 and $5 notes by the end of 2013.  The themes of the other denomination will be:

$20  The Canadian National Vimy Memorial - evokes the contributions and sacrifices of Canadians in conflicts throughout our history.  (Portrait:  HM Queen Elizabeth II)

$10  The Canadian train - represents Canada's great technical feat of linking its eastern and western frontiers by what was, at the time, the longest railway every built.  (Portrait:  Sir John A. Macdonald)

$5  Canadarm2 and Dextre- symbolize Canada's continuing contribution to the international space program through robotics innovation.  (Portrait:  Sir Wilfrid Laurier)

You will have to wait in order to see what these notes will look like because their "specific designs and detailed images will not be released until their official unveiling dates".

For more information about Canada's polymer notes and their "new look and feel" as well as benefits, visit the Bank of Canada web site. 

Minding her own business

In a recent "Globe and Mail" article, Barbara Orser, chair of the Canadian Task Force for Women's Business Growth, recommends the need for a national economic strategy for female entrpreneurs in Canada.  According to the article only 16 percent of all small and medium-sized businesses are owned by women. Annual revenues for these businesses are half of those made by similar male-owned businesses.  The task force believes that female-owned businesses represent significant untapped potential in the Canadian economy and that a national program for female entrepreneurs would lead to a 20 per cent increase in total revenues which would, in turn, pump an extra $2 billion into the economy.

In its recently released report in which it reviews existing  government business programs, the task force states that more could be done to support women entrepreneurs since many existing programs "are limited to geographic regions or emphasize start-up rather than growth."  The task force makes six recommendations in its report that they feel would not only increase productivity in women-owned businesses but would also ensure that Canada remains competitive in the global economy.

If you are interested in starting your own business or want to read about successful businesswomen, take a look at these books:

 

 

 

 

Shopping for a cause.

I have always been a big fan of Coke and its iconic red can, so the recent announcement by Coke to change the color of its can to all white for a brief time (from November 1, 2011 to January 15, 2012) to help support the World Wildlife Federation's efforts to save endangered animals in the polar region, caught my eye.  By buying a "white" Coke during this time I will be helping contribute to saving the polar bears!

With the Christmas season around the corner, and more shopping to be done than any other time of the year, do efforts like this influence how we shop? 

A number of companies donate a portion of their sales to worthy causes.  A few examples include Tom's shoes which donates a new pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair sold,  Better World Books, an on-line used book site that  helps find new homes for unwanted books, donating 3.3 million books to date to partner programs around the world.  Their five primary literacy partners are : Books for Africa, Room to Read, Worldfund, the National Center for Family Literacy, and Invisible Children and The Body Shop, which runs a program called Community Trade, that has the Body Shop purchasing ingredients, gifts and accessories from marginalized countries - giving small entrepreneurs access to a global distribution market. 

Corporate social responsibility (CSR, also called corporate conscience, corporate citizenship, social performance, or sustainable responsible business), has become one of the benchmarks when a company is evaluated by investors and well as potential employees.  If done right, it can elevate a company's profile and is good for the bottom line.  If done incorrectly, it can smack of hypocrisy and insincerity.   

Check out some other examples of CSR done right and wrong.  Toronto Public Library has a number of books on this topic.  Check out a few recent examples below:

         

TPL also subscribes to a periodical entitled Corporate Knights, which is devoted entirely to this topic, as well as having a number of websites bookmarked that discuss CSR. 

Do you support a company that is trying to make the world a better place?  

 

 

 

 

Free Help With Hiring And Keeping Staff - Through The Career Foundation

I attended the Enterprise Toronto Small Business Fair a few weeks ago, and came away with some great information about services to start-ups and new businesses.

One of the most impressive services I came across was The Career Foundation's Recruitment and Training Assistance Program.

The following is a quote from their information brochure about the program's benefit to you, the employer. They include:

• Having their experienced staff identify candidates with the right fit for your employment and retention success
• Advertising your job opportunities anytime, anywhere on their on-line database or searching for and recruiting job ready candidates
• Accessing financial incentives that offset your costs of training new employees and other services to support your training needs.

This is all free!

The Career Foundation is a "non-profit organization which partners with government agencies, private sector companies, educators and community organizations".

Check their website for eligibility requirements.

It sounds like a great opportunity for small businesses to get help with a difficult aspect of the process - hiring and keeping staff.