Business & Personal Finance

Sales Techniques for the Small Business Person

Enterprise Toronto is hosting a workshop on Wednesday June 6th at the Scarborough Civic Centre, entitled "Sales and Marketing Techniques to Get Your Business Off the Ground". The session is described as follows:

"Getting your sales and marketing right is crucial to the success of your business. Creating a marketing  strategy will help you identify potential customers and target them with appropriate products or services. Using the correct sales techniques will help you turn interest in your product or service into customer orders." 

The session is free!

The library has many books on the subject of sales. Here are just a few:

 

Small Message, Big Impact	Pitch Anything	Ask Questions, Get Sales

You don’t close a sale, you open a relationship if you want to build a long-term, successful enterprise.
-Patricia Fripp
 

Red Rocket Coffee Visits TRL's Small Business Network

Hold on to your hats, because Red Rocket Coffee is blasting into the Small Business Network on Tuesday May 8th, 6pm - 7pm!

Liako Dertilis and his business partner Pamela MacDonald will be talking about aspects of starting and running their coffee shops (now in three locations in Toronto). The talk will be fifteen minutes long, after which there will be ten minutes for you to ask questions. Then we will have our networking time.

The Small Business Network is for anyone who is dreaming of starting a small business, or is in the process of starting one, or who is actually a small business owner. All are welcome.

Come join us and discover the wealth of knowledge, wisdom and experience that the group can offer.

Meet at the Toronto Reference Library, 789 Yonge Street, 3rd floor, Business, Science and Technology Department. It's free - don't miss it!

 

Deciding on what business to start now..

For a number of years in the mid to late 1990's, every other person who came to us in the Business Department was looking to start up a business relating to pets.  Consumers, it seemed, had lots of money to spend on their pooches or cats. 

What a difference a few years makes.  An article that recently appeared entitled "Pet love on the cheap: Downturn takes bite out of pet product market, once thought recession-proof"  by Matthew Boyle (Toronto Star, March 4, 2012, p A13), indicates that owners who once lavished their pets with customized pet food and deluxe services, are now, because of the down turn in the economy, shopping at discount chains such as Wal-Mart and Target. 

So how does someone, who is considering starting their own business, decide what type of business to start?  One of my favorite sources that I refer people to is Profit Magazine's annual issue entitled "The Next Big Thing"  This issue, which usually appears in the magazines December/January issue each year offers up the best bests for start-up and expansion. North York Central and Toronto Reference Library both have previous years issues (as we all know, everything old is new again) for more ideas.

Some ideas from this issue include:

• Services to the stay at home consumer
• Development of apps for small business
• Tapping into the "buy local" movement

And once you have decided on a business to go into, try searching the catalogue for books on that particular business.  The library has a number of books in different series.  There is a "How to start a home-based" type of business, as well as "How to start and run" type of business and "How to start and operate" type of business. 

And have a look at a couple of titles from TPL:

    

And while it is important to have a business that is timely, being passionate about whatever business you go into is equally important.   Good luck pursuing your dream!

 

 

 

A Few Books About Managing Your Small Business Finances

The careful day-to-day management of your small business finances is a major factor in the success of your enterprise.

As always, the Toronto Public Library has resources to help! Here are just a few of the books in the system about how to manage your finances properly:

Finance For Non-financial Managers	Financial Management 101: Get a Grip On Yor Business Numbers	Small Business Financial Management Kit For Dummies

Before you can really start setting financial goals, you need to determine where you stand financially.
- David Bach

Blogging Your Business

When thinking about social media and small business, don't forget about blogging!  It's another great way to share current information about your company. Blogs and blog responses are the beginnings of conversations, and conversations are the beginning of a sense of community between you and your customers.

The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging is a great book to read to get you started. It includes information on all kinds of blogs, not just business blogs, and includes sections on finding your voice, getting noticed, and creating and building community. When I began blogging, this was the first book I read. I highly recommend it.

The book also has lots of advice from Huffington Post bloggers of all types. Perhaps most importantly, the book will whet your appetite for blogging, and get you excited about giving it a try.

Here are some of the Huffington Post's key principles to blogging:

• Blog often
• Perfect is the enemy of done
• Write like you speak
• Know your audience
• Write short

Each one of these points is explained more fully in the book. Have a look.

Also, have a look at What A Blog Can Do For Your Business, at About.com. This article includes specific examples of business blogs.

Once you've found the enthusiasm to blog and you understand its value, read up on how to do it! The Toronto Public Library has lots of books on this subject, including video blogging: 

 

Content Rules	Blogging to Drive Business	Get Seen

 

Don't overlook this great business tool.

Sacha Chua Blogs the Small Business Network

Sacha Chua, author of the blog Living an Awesome Life, frequently attends TRL's Small Business Network, and "writes" about our guest speakers in her own inimitable way. Here are a couple of her works (click on each one to enlarge):

 

Red Rocket Coffee's Visit, May 8th, 2012:

 

 

 

Fetching's visit:

 

 

Sacha's own talk at the Network:

 

 

Thank you very much, Sacha!!

Our next Small Business Network meets on Tuesday, June 12th, 2012. Don't miss it!

 

 

Managing Your Cash Flow: An Enterprise Toronto Program

Cash flow issues are a constant source of concern for small business owners. But help is on the way!

Enterprise Toronto is offering Managing Your Cash Flow, a program that will provide you with practical tips to deal with cash flow issues. 

The program takes place on 18 April 2012 From 10:00am to 11:30am, at Toronto City Hall, 100 Queen St. West, 2nd Floor, Committee Room 4. It is offered in conjunction with TD Canada Trust.

And check out the following book on cash flow, located in the Toronto Public Library System:

 

 Cash Flow for Dummies

Ask a librarian for other books on the subject as well.

Don't let cash flow problems get in the way of your small business success!

 

Next Small Business Network Session Takes Place April 10th

Entrepreneurs, keep Tuesday, April 10th, 2012 open on your calendar! This is the date for the next Small Business Network Session, held at the Toronto Reference Library. All are welcome.

We'll have a special topic this month: shyness and entrepreneurship. Our hour of conversation will begin with this focus, and then may turn to any of the many topics of interest to entrepreneurs, or would-be entrepreneurs, like yourself.

Meet on the third floor of the Toronto Reference Library, at the Business, Science and Technology Reference Desk, shortly before 6:00.

See you there!

The March 13th Small Business Network Session Will Be Fun!

Once a month, Toronto Reference Library hosts the Small Business Network. The network is for you if you are either running, starting, or dreaming of starting your own business. It gives you the opportunity to get to know people like you, ask questions, trade knowledge and wisdom, and make contacts.

Often we invite a small business person to talk to the group. This month we are lucky to have Sal Sloan joining us. Sal owns Fetching, which runs exercise programs you do with your dog, bringing you closer together and improving your fitness at the same time.

Sal will talk about her experiences running her business for about fifteen minutes. Afterwards, there will be ten minutes for questions. Then the members of the group will have time to talk with each other.

There is no charge. The meeting lasts one hour, and promises to be a lot of fun!

The upcoming session is Tuesday, March 13th, 6pm - 7pm. Meet on the third floor of the Toronto Reference Library, at the Business, Science and Technology reference desk.

See you there!

 

Start your own restaurant business

Do you ever wonder how much work it must take to run a restaurant?  Being successful in the food-service industry takes a lot of hard work, dedication and commitment but there are many rewards, be it financial, emotional or creative.

Many things need to be considered before starting such a business:  who is your competition, who are your potential customers, what are the industry trends and so on. Or maybe you want to start small with a pizzeria, sandwich shop or bakery. In any case it is very important to do your research and do it thoroughly.  Speak to people in the business, read books, get financial advice, check statistics and demographics. The Ontario Government provides individuals interested in starting a business with information on funding, taxes, how-to guides and much more through its  ONe-Source for Business . The Canada Business Network is a federal government site that also provides entrepreneurs with information on topics such as how to develop a business plan, how to finance your business, how to buy an existing business and more.

If you need a bit of inspiration to start your restaurant, take a look at these books:

Or if you're already inspired and just need to know where to start, check out these titles: