CanadianSME Small Business Magazine July Edition 2022 by CanadianSME

ISSUE NO. 44 JULY 2022

CANADIANSME Empowering Canadian Small & Medium Businesses

INSPIRATION

Sustainability: a thing of beauty

TOP TEN CANADIAN STARTUPS THAT ARE RESHAPING THE ECONOMY. PAGE - 20

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Our July issue is officially here, and we are very excited about all the great content we have included in this month’s issue! We strive to be Canada’s top magazine, providing exclusive insights, strategies, and advice to small business owners and entrepreneurs. Our mission is to include the best inclusive interviews and top business insights from reputable industry experts. Our team works very hard to deliver the most valuable content to our readers to ensure that you stay up to date on all the latest business trends. Empowering small and mediumsized businesses is our prime goal. This month, CanadianSME is focused on startups in Canada. We have featured top startup companies, inspiring business leaders, Businesswoman of the Month and funding opportunities for small businesses in Canada. This issue will also feature interviews and specialist advice from industry experts. Learn more about “Speeding up payments for Canada’s small businesses” in Interac’s exclusive article; Read There's No Such Thing as a "Magical Unicorn of Marketing " by Go To Marketers. Hiring Waterloo co-op students is affordable, with many grants and funding options available to subsidize student talent. Check out “Student talent is here to solve tomorrow’s problems today." Learn how every entrepreneur is driven by the power of a dream by reading this exclusive article by UPS, “Sustainability: a thing of beauty.” And read our exclusive interviews, such as "Why Black Mom entrepreneurs are making waves in the personal care industry” with Tiffany Callender, CEO of FACE. Nominations for the 2022 CanadianSME Small Business Awards will open on August 1st. The CanadianSME Business Awards is designed to recognize and applaud small business owners' contributions to Canada’s economy. Because the SME industry plays such a crucial role in Canada’s economy, we want to provide our support and recognition to the entrepreneurs who work hard to make their small businesses successful. We at CanadianSME Small Business Magazine understand that during this time of pure chaos, small and medium-sized businesses need more support than ever before. These articles provide insights into the tools and resources available and 2022 startup trends to keep top of mind this year. We hope this month’s issue will help give you the knowledge and information you need to stay ahead in the market. Don't forget to subscribe to our magazine to get the latest trends and stay up to date on all of our events.

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IN THIS ISSUE Canadiansme small business magazine

Ways to Drive Traffic for Your Newly Launched Website

Dream Your Way Out of Your Dead-end Job By Lisa Desjardins Owner of Candlehaven.ca

Indigenous-Owned Businesses You Can Support Across Canada

How Cloud Computing Can Upscale Your Small Business

There's No Such Thing as a "Magical Unicorn of Marketing "

3 Small-But-Impactful Ways to Cut Monthly Costs in Your Company By Nathan Liao - Founder of CMA Exam Academy

3 Ways Business Execs Can Fight Inflation trail monster By Deborah Fell and Kevin Scott

Holly Atjecoutay Director of the Indigenous Entrepreneur Startup Program (IESP) at Futurpreneur

TRM18: How to Effectively Market a Business For Sale? By:Nunzio Presta Founder & CEO of BuyAndSellABusiness.com

IN THIS ISSUE Canadiansme Small Business Magazine

How Small Businesses can accommodate Employees Working Remotely

Encouraging Diversity and Inclusion in Tech with Edward Kim

18 Why Black Mom entrepreneurs are making waves in the personal care industry

11 Sustainability: a thing of beauty

IN THIS ISSUE Canadiansme Small Business Magazine

The Lesley Hampton Story of Success

Meeting the Demands of our Digital Era

The State of Digital Marketing Education in Canada

51 Cultivating Effective Leadership, Employee Well-being, and Culture

Speeding up payments for Canada’s small businesses

News NETPARCEL PARTNERS WITH CANADA POST TO HELP CANADIAN BUSINESSES GROW IN AN EVOLVING MARKET ECONOMIC GROWTH

The Council of the Federation meeting is an opportunity to bring down the cost of doing business

The partnership between netParcel and Canada Post brings incredible value and opportunity for small business owners who are looking to gain efficiencies and optimize their business model,” said Derek de Hooge, co-founder of netParcel.

Linktree launches new mobile app to make it faster for users to update, optimize and monetize on the go

BUSINESSES

Every cent counts for small businesses, especially as they navigate skyrocketing input costs and labour and product shortages. Three provinces – Ontario, Alberta, and Newfoundland and Labrador – have provided temporary relief at the pumps—now the federal and other provincial governments need to follow their lead,” said Corinne Pohlmann, Senior VicePresident of National Affairs at CFIB.

MOBILE APP

Linktree – the ‘link in bio’ category leader – is today announcing the launch of its new mobile app on iOS and Android so users can spend less time creating and managing their Linktree, and spend more time doing what they do best. The launch of the new mobile app is Linktree’s next milestone move during a summer of transformation, as the platform advances beyond the ‘link-in-bio’ category it created.

Tax Tip – Do you have questions about filing as a business for the first time? The CRA is here to help TAX TIP

The CRA encourages you to file your income tax and benefit return or your T2 corporation income tax return online and sign up for direct deposit to get any refund you may be eligible for more quickly and to avoid delays.

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News

Seven Ontario entrepreneurs receive top EY award ENTREPRENEUR

Seven Ontario businesses that are leading our economic vitality and finding new solutions to the world’s growing challenges have been recognized as EY Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2022 Ontario winners.

Mastercard Changeworks™ Launches to Accelerate Work of Canadian Not-for-Profit Organizations PAYMENT

Mastercard launched Changeworks™, a social-impact

program that helps Canada’s not-for-profits harness the power of technology and data to create positive change. To

put this commitment into action, Mastercard has made its first anchor grant to national not-for-profit, CanadaHelps, to launch a digital transformation program for charities across Canada.

Canada’s Youth Face Career “Scarring,” Learning Losses Post-Pandemic EDUCATION

Canada’s youth face career scarring and learning losses post-pandemic, according to a new report released by the C.D. Howe Institute. In “Lives Put on Hold: The Impact

of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Canada’s Youth,” authors Parisa Mahboubi and Amira Higazy find that youth were disproportionally affected by work and education disruptions.

eQuo Launches #GoSmallCanada Campaign to Support Small Businesses Hit Hard by the Pandemic SMALL BUSINESSES

Small businesses will get some big love this summer with the launch of eQuo’s #GoSmallCanada campaign. A marketing initiative to support entrepreneurs, the new matchmaking platform connects small businesses with investors, capital, customers, and talent, while accredited and retail investors get access to great small businesses.

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T H I N G

O F

Every entrepreneur is driven by the power of a dream. For Jenn Harper, founder of Cheekbone Beauty, putting her head down was literally and figuratively the impetus for creating the business. “I recall putting my head down on my pillow and having this vivid dream of seeing three native girls covered in lip gloss, with the rosiest little cheeks, and watching their pure joy and laughter,” remembers Harper. “I woke up, grabbed my computer, and started writing: Figure out how to make a lip gloss…”

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B E A U T Y

Since its inception in 2016, Cheekbone Beauty has made it its mission to help Indigenous youth see themselves in a beauty brand, paving the way for sustainable product development and manufacturing. As a Certified B. Corporation and member of 1% for the Planet, Cheekbone Beauty intertwines its Indigenous roots with westernized science to craft the best product for people and the planet.

Indigenous Entrepreneurs “We want to honour the gift that is this planet,” says Harper. If you look at nature, it is perfect; everything is used and recycled and repurposed. This is the vision for the Cheekbone Beauty brand: Sustainable by Nature.” Based in St. Catharines, ON, Cheekbone’s definition of success is not based on what you attain for yourself, but instead on what you give back to your community. To date, Cheekbone Beauty has donated more than $150,000 to a wide variety of causes focused on Indigenous youth education.

For National Indigenous History Month, Cheekbone Beauty partnered with Sephora for its latest

philanthropic endeavour (#GlossedOver) to raise awareness about water contamination issues in Indigenous communities, where an estimated 94—or

approximately one in six—First Nations communities in Canada don’t have access to clean water either intermittently or continuously. From the sale of Cheekbone Beauty products

throughout June, the beauty retailer will donate all proceeds to Water First, a charitable organization which has collaborated with 60 Indigenous communities while supporting Indigenous youth and young adults to pursue careers in water science. As an Anishinaabe woman who battled alcoholism and has been sober since 2014, Harper expressed her surprise at how far she has come in an interview she gave to Postmedia at the launch of the campaign:

“When I look back now, it’s bananas that someone with no experience in this industry would even think that they have the wherewithal to even begin, but I was really working off passion. This whole idea of why isn’t there an Indigenous-owned and operated brand that’s bringing our ways of knowing and being into this space? And the more time I spent in the beauty industry, the more I realized, "oh my goodness, there’s so much room for change.” As a small business managing exponential growth, the need became much greater for a

more sophisticated supply chain and logistics solutions that would make order fulfillment easier and the customer experience more seamless.

“We started working with UPS, and it’s been amazing because you never feel small with UPS – and we’ve grown so much together,” says Harper. But Cheekbone’s growth has been purposeful: it opened its Indigenous Innovation Lab in 2021 and hired an in-house chemist to create formulations with local ingredients and by-product ingredients from local industries. After gaining popularity following an

appearance on the hit TV show “Dragons Den,” Harper is intent on forging a path to true sustainability, in line with the teachings of her Indigenous roots, creating a perfect circular economy in the cosmetics space.

“The Cheekbone culture and tone is based on an Indigenous worldview; our customers are our community, and we gather in circles to share what we have,” says Harper. It has indeed come full circle for the little girl who remembers sitting and smelling her mom’s palettes and feeling the powders in her hand – and now inspires other young women to dare to dream.

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Speeding up payments for Canada’s small businesses Despite the hardships of the pandemic, small businesses have demonstrated resilience every step of the way by adapting to public health restrictions and changing consumer behaviours that impact the bottom line. Some have expanded their services, pivoting to provide online shopping and more eCommerce-driven offerings, while others have partnered with peers to bolster the success of the entire small business community. A key driver for these changes is the new ways through which Canadians are interacting with small businesses. Three-quarters (75 percent) say the pandemic has made shopping and supporting businesses in their community more important, and more than half of Canadians (55 percent) say their desire to support local businesses is causing them to shift their spending by shopping closer to home, according to an Interac survey.

Digital, contactless payments are also an important driver of choice for consumers when shopping small. Many are reducing their use of cash as a payment method and are relying instead on digital payments In fact, the same survey revealed that two-thirds of Canadians believe businesses that fail to adapt to allow digital payments will struggle.

These needs are fuelling demand for innovative business payment solutions, such as Interac eTransfer® for Business. An enhancement of the existing Interac e-Transfer service, this tool was built to meet the needs of Canadian businesses and offers higher transaction limits up to $25,000 depending on the financial institution, fast money transfers with instant confirmation and rich remittance data, allowing businesses to reconcile transactions with less paperwork. In other words, it can help streamline accounting processes and accelerate a paperless office strategy. For those who own small businesses, this would mean being able to make just-in-time supplier payments as these payments will be confirmed and deposited within five seconds, minimizing the likelihood of late payments and maximizing eligibility for supplier discounts. Further, businesses could settle bill

payments for regular expenses such as rent or utilities more efficiently.

From an internal standpoint, it could mean the ability to manage payroll in real-time, with employees receiving payments or tip-outs at the end of a shift, maximizing cash flow for the employee and employer alike. With flexible routing options, these payments could also be routed directly to an account number or via an identifier like an email or SMS. With Interac e-Transfer for Business, the company is now able to manage this new abundance of relatively small B2B transactions directly from its online banking and can receive payment instantly, reducing the number of cheques and cash they receive. Getting paid in seconds means money arrives in the bank right away, which helps improve cash flow and save time. For this growing business, freeing-up time is key, so team members can spend less on repetitive backoffice tasks and more on dealing with renewed demand and growth from consumers. In a recovery-focused economy, these examples demonstrate that the demand for digital payment options within the small business sector is showing no signs of slowing down. Assessing how a business can revamp its payment processes and financial management to become more efficient and effective with tools like Interac eTransfer for Business is necessary to equip small businesses as they embark upon growth and recovery plans.

Those interested in using the solution are invited to learn more by visiting Interac.ca/business, In The Know.

Interac commissioned Hill+Knowlton Strategies to conduct a national survey of adult Canadians. A total of 1,000 adult residents of Canada were surveyed online in April 2021. The sample was randomly drawn from a panel of potential survey respondents. An associated margin of error for a probabilitybased sample of this size would be ±2.5%, 19 times out of 20.

Interac and Interac e-Transfer are registered trademarks of Interac Corp.

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How Small Businesses can accommodate

Employees Working Remotely More than two years ago, COVID-19 compelled all businesses to shutter their offices, and small businesses were no exception. Work from home became a common practice. With offices reopening and the pandemic still ongoing, most employees prefer the flexibility to work from anywhere. Pandemic uncertainty and a changing workforce make it more important for small businesses to

pivot effectively and quickly. How can small businesses adapt to this change, keeping the needs of employees and business productivity at the centre? A hybrid workplace is an answer. It offers immense flexibility to employees to work in or out of the office. “Flexibility is not a fad, it’s now foundational, and

technology plays a big role in that flexibility,” said Lenovo’s Brian Mignault. For a hybrid workforce to be most effective, employers must choose the best technology for each location to ensure smooth and effective working without impacting working-from-home employees.

CanadianSME spoke with Mignault and Rob Silver of Lenovo, who provided the Top 5 Advantages of maintaining a hybrid workforce for small businesses:

Productive and focused employees: The hybrid workforce remains happy, engaged, and efficient because of a balanced workload. Employees feel a sense of empowerment which leads to greater business outcomes.

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Digital Marketing Acquisition and expansion of skilled workforce: To run a successful business in this global age, you must recruit from a diverse talent pool. With a hybrid model, you can employ talented people throughout the country or around the world. It simply liberates you from the limits of your local area.

Major technologies for working remotely The right technology is necessary to provide an equitable experience for all employees. To facilitate technology choices for your business, a list of the major technologies related to the hybrid working model is shared below: Videoconferencing is an essential tool for keeping

Non-stop learning with a moderate budget: Webinars, virtual conferences, and

online workshops facilitate endless elearning. It saves the cost of training and networking for SMEs with limited budgets.

Lower operation costs by reducing real estate budgets: Indeed, real estate is no longer a cost-

effective option for innovative businesses. Are you looking for ways to reduce the expenses of an office building, desks, printers, and reduction in utility bills? Switching to a hybrid workforce gives you an easy way forward.

active communication alive with employees. It provides visual treatment, streamlines collaboration, saves money and time, and allows greater productivity – helping amplify the company’s development. Thus,

small businesses must have licenses for platforms like Zoom, Cisco, Webex, or Microsoft to operate in a hybrid environment effectively.

It is equally important to install hardware like smart cameras and conferencing solutions. The smart tech

hardware allows for convenient display, meetings, and recording sessions, no matter where your employees are. Lenovo has developed collaborative solutions to equip your employees – from attending conferences or virtual meetings to utilizing tech in their daily lives.

These solutions are easy to operate, so no matter your

team’s tech experience, they can walk in and get started. Depending on your office space and how many employees you anticipate being in the office at a time, there are three different hybrid workplace technology scenarios to consider:

Better company culture: When employees come to the office with readiness to contribute to the company’s mission, company culture surely improves. Switching between remote and onsite work creates this willingness in employees and enhances their overall performance in the company.

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For a small focus room with space for 2-3 people, consider a Lenovo mounted monitor display and the Lenovo ThinkSmart Bar to allow for a collaborative view and interactive discussion in a small space.

2. If you have small conference rooms that hold 4-6

people in person but need to accommodate your virtual team simultaneously, the Lenovo ThinkSmart Hub + Lenovo ThinkSmart Cam ensures control and visual capture of meetings from a central location.

3. Large conference rooms with 7 or more attendees

may require a more custom solution in order to capture the full in-person view along with your hybrid workforce. Consider implementing the Lenovo ThinkSmart Core Kit with additional microphones for accessible audio to ensure everyone is heard.

Brian Mignault Sr Director, Smart Collaboration & Solutions

Conclusion Small business owners tend to wear many hats, and

technical prowess for installing and purchasing smart equipment may not be a strong suit. Sometimes the lack of technical proficiency to allow employees to work remotely creates trouble for small businesses, particularly when retaining employees can be a

Brian currently serves as the General Manager

for Lenovo’s North America Smart Collaboration and Vertical Solutions business. Here he looks after Lenovo’s unified communication sales organization, along with incubation offerings within verticals such as Retail, Healthcare, Education, Connected Cloud, and the Metaverse.

challenge in its own right. This is where reliable partners like CDW can assist you a great deal. They can pitch in to provide an analysis of your business environment, identify business needs, and even help you select and install new technology. CDW has a huge number of tech pundits who can collaborate with you to develop customized solutions for your small business, including the hardware, software, services, and devices required to boost your business growth. The best thing about CDW is that it partners with all the well-known brands like Lenovo to deliver ideal solutions for your hybrid workforce. If you want to learn more about CDW’s tech support for your small business, please visit https://www.cdw.ca/smallbusinesses

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Rob Silver Regional Sales Manager, SMB Canada Rob is currently the Regional Sales Manager for Lenovo Canada’s SMB business in Eastern Canada. His role is to manage the end customer business with a sales team that focuses on driving innovation while delivering the highest levels of customer satisfaction.

Why

Black Mom Entrepreneurs are making waves in the personal care industry Community developer and social entrepreneur, Tiffany Callender has spent her 16-year career developing and implementing programs to support Montreal’s Black community. In addition to being the youngest female Executive Director of one of the oldest Black organizations in Quebec, she was recognized by MIPAD as one of the 100 most influential person of African-descent under 40 in 2020. In 2021 Tiffany was named the inaugural CEO of the Federation of African Canadian Economics (FACE). FACE is a coalition of Canadian Black business support organizations that worked with the federal government to co-develop and administer the $160 million Black Entrepreneurship Loan Fund. Tiffany has presented recommendations for policy change to public institutions, notably as a signatory for Montreal’s consultation on racism and systemic discrimination as well as Quebec’s Laurent commission on the overrepresentation of Black children in the Youth Protection. She also regularly presents sensitivity and equity training to private institutions. Her career is inspired by her personal life as she is a proud mother of three.

What inspired you when starting FACE? What challenges have you faced when running FACE? Many in the black business community realized that the policies designed to support entrepreneurs hard hit by COVID-19 did not provide adequate resources for black entrepreneurs to get back on their feet as quickly as other entrepreneurs. So, in 2021, five black-led businesses got together to create the Federation of African Canadian Economics (FACE). Our goal was to provide Black entrepreneurs with the resources and the financial services they need to succeed and to create wealth for Canadians of African descent. At this time, I would say that FACE's main challenge is to provide quality services to the thousands of Black entrepreneurs. 18 - CanadianSME - July 2022

Tiffany Callender

Chief Executive Officer, FACE

who has applied for its loans? Since the creation of FACE, the number of loan applications has been phenomenal, and our services must respect the highest standards possible.

What are your thoughts on the state of Black

businesswomen in Canada? What do you think is needed to support Black women entrepreneurs?

The state of Black businesswomen is much better than before, solely because we’re now talking about it, which widely differs from only a few years ago. However, talking about it isn’t enough. Black women and, in particular, Black women entrepreneurs often face the additional challenge of taking care of their families and business. This is a challenge

Black Entrepreneurs that is amplified specifically for the Black women minority group. I think we need more initiatives on the part of public decision-makers to support Black businesswomen in their entrepreneurial projects. Policies and programs considering the systemic social and economic obstacles they

face and also aimed at helping Black women start businesses or expand would go a long way. Black businesswomen in Canada are ambitious, hardworking, and want to be an inclusive part of the business community. What they need is a little bit more support.

perspective on how to manage a team and make sure that everyone is on board and able to contribute to the group’s success. That is not to say, of course, that men don’t hold any of those qualities. A lot of them do. The point is that women have an enhanced sensibility when interacting with others and leading people. Exercising that sensibility to its fullest potential is, I believe, a very good way to create and sustain a business.

Are there any other initiatives that FACE is working on that you think our readers should know about? What advice would you give to a mompreneur

How has FACE helped support Black Canadian mothers in building their businesses and families?

We’ve intentionally considered within our loan application criteria that Black businesswomen

often face systemic obstacles that Black businessmen don’t. If you’re a single Black mother raising a child while running a business, you will

likely face a bigger challenge than most male entrepreneurs. It was therefore critical for us when designing our services and resources to consider the realities that Black businesswomen face, notably the importance of finding a balance between family and work. I want to note, in that regard, that one-third of the loan applications FACE received are from women.

How can mompreneurs create and sustain successful businesses? Are there any

benefits to being a mompreneur? If so, what are they?

Through my lens and perspective, being a mother is the single greatest benefit a Black businesswoman can have. Although a lot of Black businessmen are also fathers and must find a balance between work and family, it still is the case that Black women bear most of the responsibilities when it comes to raising children. In that regard, they have an almost intuitive understanding of what it means to care for others and to consider other people’s opinions, views, and frustrations. They have an almost natural

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who is just starting?

FACE’s major achievement is the creation of the Black

Entrepreneurship Loan Fund whose goal is to provide Black entrepreneurs with micro and macro loans so they can set up a new business, invest, or expand their

business. Since its creation, the fund has approved more than 19 M$ in loans to Black entrepreneurs across all of Canada. My advice to a mompreneur who is just starting is

simple: do it! Though the road may be unpredictable and the obstacles numerous, if you have a good idea, believe in that idea, and have the will, then you should

not hesitate. Also, you now have access to financial services and resources that were not available before,

such as FACE. So, my second advice would be this: don’t hesitate to use the financial services and resources available to Black entrepreneurs such as yourself. Never have Black entrepreneurs, including Black mompreneurs, been able to benefit from so many programs that are tailored to their needs before. This is their time to shine and achieve great things.

TOP TEN CANADIAN STARTUPS THAT ARE RESHAPING THE ECONOMY. Each hour, eleven new firms are formed in Canada, but how many survive the test of time? According to estimates, around 100 million new enterprises launch worldwide yearly, including 95,000 in Canada. Approximately 85 percent of Canada's labour force is employed by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which account for 98.9 percent of all new businesses in the country.

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The intense competition in the Canadian market demonstrates the need for appropriate idea pitching, consistent financing, and marketing techniques to succeed. As the most profitable industry in the country, 98 percent of Canadian startups are in the techservice sector, focusing on eCommerce, health care technology, and mobile apps.

Digital Marketing Starting a business in any field by recognizing the trend and catering to market demand is vital. However, patience is also required for startups, as it takes at least five years for most startups to begin exhibiting an improved performance graph.

Opencare Opencare is a carefully managed network of highly regarded dentists.

Here are the ten startups whose persistent tenacity contributed to economic expansion.

The database was created by investing thousands of hours in screening dentists across North America so patients can locate and schedule an accessible and affordable dentist in their area.

Applyboard

OpenCare, a firm dedicated to creating a healthy future, verifies whether patient input is regularly tracked to assure satisfaction.

Applyboard is an educational technology firm that

simplifies the study abroad search, application, and acceptance process to link international students,

recruitment partners, and academic institutions on a single platform. Forbes reports that the Basiri brothers' 2015 startup has expanded by 100 percent in less than a year. They interact with over a thousand educational institutions and many recruiters globally to pool

diversity in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia.

Nomic Nomic is a startup formed in 2018 by bioengineers at McGill University to assist in solving some of nanotechnology's most challenging problems and remove data accessibility barriers.

Using DNA-specific nanotechnology, the company has developed a platform to study, diagnose, and treat numerous diseases. Lux Capital, YCombinator, and other prominent investors have contributed $21 million to Nomic.

SUCCESS IN 2022

Shakepay

Shakepay is a Montreal-based technology company that delivers financial applications for developing wealth to individuals of all ages via the Internetbased digital economy. The Montreal-based fintech startup, founded in 2015 A business is defined by Jean as Amiouny and Roy Breidi, an organization or provides a userfriendly, enterprising speedy interface that facilitates Bitcoin entity buying and selling. Shakepay's objective is to engaged in generate an economic renaissance by promoting the commercial, usage of bitcoins in everyday transactions, thereby usheringindustrial, in a Bitcoinor Golden Age. 21 -

professional activities. Businesses CanadianSME - July 2022 can be for-profit

Bimini Bimini is a community network that links homeowners with contractors. In Bimini, homeowners can immediately discover dependable contractors to complete their projects, and contractors can swiftly connect with competent homeowners, allowing them to focus on completing the work by giving a choice, efficiency, and Security from the outset.

Digital Marketing

Onlia Online is a startup that aims to simplify the insurance process by delivering clarity, simplicity, and utility to auto and home insurance policies by maintaining a clear policy. Easy-to-understand coverage and direct online access to handle insurance, delivered punctually and in a personable, dependable manner, focused on diversity.

Clutch Canada Clutch Canada, a Toronto-based firm founded in 2016 by Steve Seibel and Dan Park, intends to facilitate the purchase of automobiles via an online platform. With Clutch, customers can acquire a high-quality automobile online without worrying about price, dealers, or delivery. In addition, it contributes to sustainability by committing to a sustainable future through waste reduction and environmental protection.

Gadget The Gadget is a company created in 2020 that provides serverless stacks for developing ecommerce applications. It can quickly connect

to any e-commerce platform and generate the required applications in a fraction of the time by eliminating tedious tasks. They generate approximately $4 million in revenue and expedite software development by preventing eCommerce developers from wasting time on repeated, boilerplate work, reducing growth.

Xandar Kardian Xandar Kardian is a 2017 company commercializing radar technology after a decade of research and a $13.7 million startup financing. This technology will tremendously impact the automation and exploitation of buildings for optimal energy efficiency and space utilization while also disrupting healthcare with autonomous, contactless, continuous monitoring.

Carbide Carbide, formerly known as Security, is a cybersecurity

management company that assists small businesses in meeting data protection regulations securely and efficiently.

In a world of unethical hacking and privacy breaches,

Carbide stresses the importance of transparent security and privacy policies as the core of any business.

Startups compete to become the next $1 billion unicorn firm. In contrast, Fundsquire research indicates that nine out of ten companies fail. The most apparent reason for such a failure is that 42 percent of new firms fail because there is no market demand for their services or products. Therefore, it is essential for anyone with a startup idea to come up with a unique concept not only to launch their venture but also to grow it into a successful business. Therefore, to become one of the 1% of startups that become Unicorns demands rigorous and deliberate preparation.

Darian Kovacs Founder, Jelly Digital Marketing & PR

In Canada, the growth in digital jobs

Also, consider the value of the certificates you earn in

marketers grew 92% in just 5 years. Yet, the domestic supply of digital graduates rarely comes close to meeting this demand. As a

practical skills-based training than branded certificates from educational institutions. These certificates, paired with an experienced teacher, often bring the highest

outpaces the economy by 4 to 1 each year, and the demand for experienced digital

hybrid industry, many digital marketing roles combine knowledge across sectors, making the skill-building portion of these positions

ever-changing. Prospective Canadian digital

marketers need varied, ongoing education to stay competitive.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A DIGITAL MARKETING SCHOOL While online learning saw a massive boom last year, not all certificates are created equal. In this field, it matters who is teaching you and how they go about it. Getting certificates on par with industry standards is also important if you want to land the job of your dreams. Those looking to expand their education must be critical when making educational decisions. New prospects should consider short-term career-based training models, such as certificates, boot camps, and courses, versus practical or theory-based models such as diplomas and degrees. Hybrid institutions, such as Jelly Academy, may offer a combination of these options.

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these courses. Industry-specific certificates, such as Google certificates or Facebook Blueprinting, offer more

educational value.

SHORT-TERM VS. CAREER-BASED TRAINING Short-term education options can include courses,

certificates, and boot camps. Time commitments range from a few hours to weeks or months. Often, these programs offer webinars, seminars, individual courses, and skills-based training. Common courses include: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Search Engine Marketing (SEM) Social Media Marketing (SMM)

Web Analytics Email Marketing

Short-term training is useful for individuals looking to build specific skills who don’t have the time to commit to an integrated course. If you’re already working in the field and looking to improve your skills or are a student or recent grad trying to break into the industry, these options will be a good fit. Career-based training takes a more traditional approach. These programs usually span months or years and teach digital marketing skills across verticals. For example, a diploma in Social Media and Digital Marketing from BCIT covers: Content Planning Internet of IT Law Introduction to Web Development

Designing and Writing Online, and more.

Digital Marketing Career-based training is great for individuals looking to get a holistic education and who are serious about a career in digital marketing. Business owners, up-skill seekers, and professionals looking for a career change may also be interested in this path.

PRACTICAL VS. THEORY Digital marketing is a skills-based industry. This means that incoming talent should be equipped with the knowledge of the skills they want to practice and experience. When choosing a digital marketing school or

educational path, consider the options for practical learning, such as internships or co-ops, alongside theoretical approaches such as textbook learning and testing. While the theory is an important part of your

digital marketing education, experience is often what gets you hired. Many Canadian programs have practical learning builtin or give you the option to take part in co-ops or internships as part of your diploma. Centennial College, for example, offers an optional co-op program for those looking for skills-based learning. Sprott Shaw College offers a similar approach.

NON-TRADITIONAL DIGITAL MARKETING TRAINING ENTITIES Brainstation (bootcamps and courses) Alacrity (bootcamp)

General Assembly (courses) Jelly Academy (certificate) Digital Marketing Academy of Canada (certificate) Success With Digital (certification, masterclasses, workshops) IAB Canada (certificates and courses)

TRADITIONAL DIGITAL MARKETING TRAINING ENTITIES Toronto School of Management (diploma options) Canadian College of Technology and Business (CCTB) (diploma) University of Calgary (certificate) University of Toronto (certificates and bootcamps) Canadian College (diploma) BCIT (statement of completion) York University (diploma) Sprott Shaw College (certificate) Bow Valley College (certificate) University Canada West (certificate) Douglas College (BBA concentration) ERP College (bootcamp)

READY TO START YOUR JOURNEY? WHERE TO LEARN DIGITAL MARKETING IN CANADA According to Payscale, digital marketers can make between $44,000-$90,000 per year, depending on positions and seniority. This fact, alongside the growing number of jobs available in the industry, makes digital marketing a smart career choice for prospective professionals. Currently, traditional institutions, such as colleges and universities, are offered digital marketing courses and non-traditional entities that operate on a more shortterm basis. For those looking to level up individual skills, free training is also available through technology companies such as Google, Facebook, and LinkedIn. You can also stay on the lookout for webinars and events from your favourite Canadian businesses, such as Digital Main Street, the Association of Canadian Advertisers, Hootsuite, and more.

Digital marketing is an expansive industry and

there are so many ways to make your mark. From SEO to social media, digital advertising, campaign strategy, website development, and beyond, there’s no shortage of opportunities out there for new professionals. Whether you’re new to the industry or just looking to improve your skills, the bottom line is choosing a program that works for you. The more you enjoy your experience, the more you’ll enjoy your career.

Darian Kovacs is the Indigenous founder of Vancouver based SEO company Jelly Digital Marketing & PR & digital marketing course Jelly Academy. He brings 15 years of marketing experience and a passion for education, and creativity. He is the host of the TV show Marketing News Canada found on Amazon Prime in US and UK (called Marketing Jam) and all podcast channels. Darian specializes in mixing PR with digital marketing and has worked with numerous internationally renowned brands on developing and executing their digital marketing and PR strategies. Darian lives in Fort Langley, BC with his wife and four children and likes to mountain bike, watercolour and read in his free time.

We all know that dismal feeling. It’s 6:00 am on

So, here’s what you’re going to do. Take what it is that

sitting in traffic only to arrive at our job where we’ll work all day to make someone else rich, To make someone else’s dream come true. When

partners YouTube and Google for every piece of information they have. Hone and refine your craft.

Monday morning. Time to climb out of our warm bed, rush out the door, scarf down a coffee while

you enjoy and do well and learn how to do it better than you ever have before. Consult your new business

we’re sick, we’re expected to be there. Other than a few precious vacation days, we’re there. When there’s extra work to be done, we’re there late.

Next, you’re going to learn to build a website to promote what you do. Look at others in your space. See what they do well, what they do poorly, and ultimately, make your

with our families. Rather than be miserable, we just learn to live with it. We tell ourselves we’re okay with it because it's not like there’s anything

optimization so that you can drive traffic to your website. Again, remember YouTube and Google are your friends. Everything you need to learn to be a successful business

We spend more time at our jobs than at home

else we can do. After all, the only way out of the daily grind is to invent the next big thing, and most of us are not inventors. Dreaming about leaving our day jobs behind is just that. A dream we dare not think about for too long. Buying lottery tickets is the only little fairy-tale indulgence most of us will allow ourselves. But what if it isn’t that hard? What if you don’t have to re-invent the wheel? What if you can do something you’re good at, like candle making, resume writing, designing jewellery, DIY crafting and earning money doing it? What if you could earn your entire living doing this? You’re wrong if you think you have to be the next Martha Stewart. Stay in your lane. You just have to be the next YOU and have the courage to put yourself out there.

website better than theirs. Learn about search engine

owner is at your fingertips, from website design, and social media marketing skills, to product photography, to pricing and profit margins. People spend years in school learning what they can learn in months by watching videos on their lunch breaks while they sit at their deadend job. You can build the future you want instead of just occasionally letting yourself dream of it. Time will pass every day whether you do something about your circumstance or not. You will blink, and ten years will have gone by. If you want to be a successful business owner at the end of those ten years, that is what you will be. Commit to the process. At Candlehaven.ca, we are a champion for the entrepreneur. We want to see you succeed at creating your own candle business so you can wake up and make pretty candles every day. Have the courage to try. We will be there to support and promote you every step of the way.

Meeting the Demands of our

Digital Era Canadians rely on digital solutions to communicate, innovate, and integrate ideas in the modern digital world. To stay relevant and reach customers in today's market, brands have no choice but to be present in digital spaces by establishing social media profiles, e-commerce solutions, and virtual platforms for their services. As we’ve seen with many industries (banks, retail, and direct-toconsumer business models, just to name a few), brands are learning they must stay digitally relevant to stay operating. The 2020 pandemic greatly accelerated our need for digital solutions and rapidly increased our dependence on products, a dependency we are still seeing almost three years later. Businesses have had to implement and engage customers in these digital spaces, bringing forward new

Brands are now beginning to incorporate Digital Asset Management (DAM) software to better operate assets and maintain organization in the system. These cloudbased programs work to not only increase efficiency but also repurpose content for multi-use outcomes. As more and more companies jump onto digital tools and platforms, we can expect to see the number of digital assets multiply rapidly. Companies need to implement safe storage solutions in the early years to reduce asset losses and better organize for efficiency down the road. Digital Assets

Management tools and cloud-based organization are just a couple of the ways we’re seeing brands implement digital tools

to better position themselves in the growing market. Brands that learn to position themselves now, are the ones we can expect to see succeed in the years to come.

opportunities and challenges. Digital adoption presents

numerous opportunities to reach new customers while bringing forth technical challenges. Small and medium-

sized brands find digital roadblocks difficult to overcome

Written by Sébastien Bardoz, Vice President of Sales and Operations, North America, Wedia. Wedia is an international leader in SaaS software

can be easily integrated is key to maintaining growth

and consulting, dedicated to marketing and communication departments. Wedia provides a variety of digital services, including Digital Asset Management, Digital eXperience Management,

from direct-to-consumer logistics to the lack of storage space for digital assets. Finding attainable solutions that amongst digital competitors.

As of June 2022, the Canadian government proposed the

Digital Charter Implementation Act, 2022, a new document that would work to better introduce digital tools, protection, and development for all Canadian businesses. One key aspect of this Act was the implementation of universal access. This universal access ensures that all Canadians have an equal opportunity to participate in the digital world, including the required tools, training, and resources (source). One outcome of this increased digital alliance and need for social media, e-commerce, and digital sales content, is the number of digital assets owned and operated within a corporation. With such large numbers of assets, companies can often misplace their own content. On average, 10,000 distinct files are lost in large companies over years of operations. Many of these lost files are considered important documents that were core to company operations and can be difficult to replicate. Finding efficient and reliable storage solutions has become a need following the demand for digital products.

Distributed Marketing Management, and Creative Project & Content Management.

Sébastien Bardoz Vice President of Sales and Operations, North America, Wedia.

Encouraging Diversity and Inclusion in Tech with

Edward Kim Principal Applied Scientist in Machine Learning Products at Xero

Edward Kim is a Principal Applied Scientist in Machine Learning Products at Xero, where he leads a team of scientists in building intelligent software for millions of small businesses across the globe. Currently, his research portfolio includes state-of-the-art deep learning applications as well as machine learning systems design. Prior to his work in software for small businesses, he worked on AI for materials and chemicals development at Citrine Informatics and received his Ph.D. in Materials Science at MIT where he researched applications of natural language processing in materials discovery.

Do you think there’s a lack of diversity and inclusion in tech? If so, why do you think that is? What can we do to change the landscape of diversity and inclusion in tech? It's undeniably the case that there is a problem. I've been spending my focus these days on how, specifically, we can make it better. Throughout my career, I’ve witnessed the many ways in which the deck is stacked against minorities. Many factors, both societal and political, contribute.

Could you please describe Xero’s company culture and how it fosters creativity and innovation? What do you think are the benefits of strong company culture? Xero’s unique company culture can be attributed to many factors, but at the core of what makes Xero so special is our unwavering commitment to small businesses of all sizes and backgrounds worldwide. This common goal drives our talented thinkers, creators and educators daily. Among other causes we champion, such as diversity and inclusion, sustainability, transparency, and hard work, team members have the freedom to shape their careers and be proud of the work they are doing to help small businesses succeed.

To hold themselves accountable to their diversity and inclusion goals, traditionally, tech companies will distribute annual workplace statistics and reconfirm their dedication to improving equality, which is meaningful in its own way. However, as data illustrates, team members who identify as BIPOC, women, persons living with disabilities and/or LGBTQ+ still face an uphill battle in the industry. According to HR Tech Group’s 2021 Diversity in Tech Dashboard, which looks at the BC tech sector, only 8.3% of employees self-identified as two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex and asexual (2SLGBTQQIA+), 2.9% self-identified as a person living with disabilities (apparent or non-apparent), and 0.7% self-identified as Indigenous peoples. These numbers are shocking. Clearly, we can and should do significantly better.

Accounting Software All that is to say, actions will always outweigh words. These are just some ways we can work to help change the landscape of diversity and inclusion in tech:

Critically assessing hiring and promotional paths –

start at the very beginning and eliminate any real or perceived biases. Ask yourself if job descriptions set an unrealistic number of required skills, and/or if the state or imply anything beyond the core competencies of the role. Ask yourself if the hiring processes are fair and accommodating to applicants from all walks of life. Challenging the status quo - because not

challenging it is tantamount to endorsing it. Embracing discomfort is one of the first steps to effecting meaningful change, and there is great

power even in just opening a conversation about how to improve the diversity of a team, or teasing apart why a certain decision may have been biased. Prioritizing internal training programs – create programs and boot camps, and partner with external groups who help provide additional educational resources for your employees.

What methods do you think are most effective in attracting new employees during talent shortages? What do you think are the benefits of working at a company that is actively engaged in attracting new employees? Ultimately, we’re seeing that social status, “the grind,” and glamorizing overworking are leading folks to seek opportunities that better align with their own values and needs. Companies are starting to see the old ways of working are no longer viable, and it is time to evolve. As a business, Xero focuses on ensuring every team member has an employee experience that will support their needs. Whether it is our flexible working policies, professional development and training courses, or initiatives like our Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), Xero employees have the opportunity to show up fully at work as their authentic selves and have their voices heard. The benefit of attracting new talent and nurturing existing team members is that we’re able to continually strengthen diversity in all that we do.

Xero is one of the few human-focused companies in the world of accounting software. Why do you think it’s important to have a company that focuses on humans? How do you think humanfocused companies can make a difference in the world? By focusing on the human factor, we are able to encourage an entire ecosystem, from customers to partners to investors to employees, to put humans first - through authenticity, inclusivity, and approachability. I am personally moved by

the real, tangible impact Xero has on businesses we partner with. A great example is when the Black Business and Professional Association (BBPA) shared its experience with the team, noting the alignment to reach common goals.

This shows me that human-focused companies, particularly in technology and finance, can and will open doors and support more people from all walks of life.

Are there any tips you can give to new small business owners on how to be successful? What are the most important things for small businesses to remember? In an age where time is precious, reevaluating

where you allocate your resources and energy is key. When it comes to running a successful business, flexibility is also important. Accessing your data and tools easily from anywhere and keeping essentials like invoicing and payroll at your fingertips will ensure you are never missing a beat. Lastly, I encourage you to do your research on which accounting solutions make the most sense for you and your business. There are many reputable sources to help you make the most informed decisions and vocal communities that can provide advice based on their experiences. Remember, think about what you’re trying to achieve, and how different platforms can help get you where you want to go.

As public and private sector focus shifts from large enterprises to small and medium businesses, calls for innovation across the entire business are becoming a necessity, not a choice As the world’s leading B2B business matchmaking platform, Powerlinx has launched its new app for iOS and Android devices. With an enhanced user experience and more advanced global business data fueling the platform, Powerlinx is doubling down on its efforts to connect businesses around the world to proactively identify opportunities for growth. "As we are now more connected than ever, the opportunities for

expanding geographical reach, diversification of distribution channels, increasing revenue or just seeking new customers can be unlimited, but daunting and costly to look for, particularly within the SME world," said Meir Shachar, CEO, Powerlinx.

Collaboration is at the heart of every business's success. Long before it starts selling, a business engages with a range of partners, including manufacturers, logistic companies, import and export agents, lenders and investors. In nearly any industry, companies have critical

interdependencies, enabling them to deliver the product or services they provide. And that is where Powerlinx comes in - continuously bringing opportunities to support small businesses' needs to identify and collaborate with reliable partners, suppliers and customers around the world.

To provide a real-life example how Powerlinx can help, let's say a Canadian-based lightning company wants to break into the Chinese high-end construction market, but dominance by

distributors with a local presence made doing so near impossible. After posting a business opportunity (need) on Powerlinx, a Chinese distributor expresses interest in fulfilling that opportunity and contacts the Canadian company through the app to bring the deal to life.

Companies of all sizes should,

and now can, have access to expansion opportunities currently difficult to uncover or act on due to geographical limitations and lack of insight into the credibility of business around the world. Bringing two parties together

around reliable business opportunities enables companies to develop sustainable growth domestically and internationally.

About Powerlinx POWERLINX is a simple B2B app to find customers, suppliers, partners and even get investment, financing or credit for your company. Fast.

29 - CanadianSME - July 2022

Cree-Saulteaux entrepreneur, Holly Atjecoutay, has been appointed director of the Indigenous Entrepreneur Startup Program (IESP) at Futurpreneur. In her new role, Atjecoutay will oversee the development of a comprehensive program dedicated to empowering and supporting Indigenous youth as they embark on the journey of entrepreneurship.

Commenting on her recent appointment, Atjecoutay said she was drawn to Futurpreneur because “it is a nationwide initiative, not constricted by provincial

borders.” She added, “It presents an opportunity to build a community and to build programming that is specific to our Indigenous entrepreneurs, to our Indigenous communities, and particularly to our Indigenous youth so that they can see themselves as part of the greater national entrepreneurial

ecosystem. The programs will focus on their specific needs, present solutions to challenges they experience, and will give nuance to their perception of what defines a successful business.” The Indigenous Entrepreneur Startup Program is one of several startup programs offered by Futurpreneur. It was established to provide tailored support and programming for Indigenous entrepreneurs across Canada. Through the IESP, young entrepreneurs can receive up to CAD $60,0000 in capital financing, are matched with an expert mentor for up to two years, and gain access to an array of resources and workshops designed to help them set up their businesses for success. Since the program’s launch in 2019, more than 100 young Indigenous entrepreneurs have received financing from Futurpreneur programming to launch various businesses nation wide.

Indigenous Entrepreneurs Atjecoutay has long been immersed in the world of Indigenous entrepreneurship and youth empowerment. She started her career working for an Indigenous-led oil and gas organization in Alberta before shifting her focus to the nonprofit sector. With an interest in economic and business development and a hyper-focus on entrepreneurship within Indigenous communities, she worked with youth at the Aboriginal Friendship Center in Calgary, developing programs and initiatives for Indigenous youth in that region. Subsequently, she joined a First Nationsowned and operated law firm to work with residential school survivors, conducting research and extensive interviews that resulted in compensation being put forth

from the federal government for the hardship, abuse, and suffering endured by First Nations people. Prior to her joining

Futurpreneur, she led the Indigenous Business Development Services Program at Business Link, creating and implementing tools, supports, and programming for Indigenous entrepreneurs in Alberta.

As Atjecoutay became more involved in

entrepreneurship, her “love truly blossomed and grew for the resurgence of economic

resiliency within Indigenous communities.” According to her, pre-contact First Nations peoples lived in egalitarian societies where “people very much took care of one another. Everyone held a strong role in society, which nowadays really translates to what we would consider ‘entrepreneurship’ or a ‘business.’ So, that's where I started to draw those finite lines to what our communities can do on a grassroots level, to ensure that we're prosperous and that we're building a positive and prosperous future for our next generations.” An entrepreneur herself, Atjecoutay’s side business, Thunderbird Consulting, stemmed from her passion to bring Indigenous resilience to the forefront of social and corporate conversations in Canada and raise awareness among Canadians and non-Canadians, alike, about Indigenous culture, heritage, and history.

Continuing to develop a robust Indigenous-centric offering is at the top of Atjecoutay’s plans for the IESP. A combination of her lived experience and know-how as “a First Nations woman living within an urban centre,” she said, will guide her next steps in developing programming that addresses the root problems and challenges that young Indigenous entrepreneurs encounter but also highlights the opportunities, networks, and systems in place to support them. “T here are positive and negative pieces, just like everything else, but we want to focus on the positive and what our young Indigenous entrepreneurs bring. That is their value proposition, niche, and unique business models so we can amplify that and support them in various ways.” Ultimately, she said, my goal is to “foster collaboration between Indigenous businesses to support one another, which will eventually bolster the economic resurgence we're working toward.” Indigenous-owned businesses contribute millions of dollars annually to the Canadian economy and provide thousands of jobs to Indigenous and non-Indigenous employees in Canada. “Their contributions are an important pillar of the economy, yet there is not enough awareness about the significance of Indigenous-owned and operated businesses, which is a huge barrier to success when starting a small or medium-sized business,” she said. “I'm incredibly honoured to take on this new and exciting role, alongside the Indigenous Entrepreneur Startup Program team, to amplify Indigenous resilience and make a tangible difference in the best way we can,” said Atjecoutay. Learn more about Futurpreneur’s Indigenous Entrepreneur Startup Program team and offering here. Join our Facebook group. We are always sharing and disseminating useful information for you to take advantage of.

IS YOUR JOB MAKING YOU SICK? Work-Related Anxiety Triggers and How to Ease the Stress

The pandemic caused many to re-evaluate

where they live, their life goals and their careers. For those who did choose to remain in their existing jobs, it’s become a matter of how to do so as happily and healthy as possible. Whether you work from home or go to an office daily; you typically work for someone else. Your services, talents, skills and knowledge are being exchanged for money and that means meeting expectations. It also entails dealing with daily triggers that frustrate us.

According to Haley Perlus, Psychology Performance PhD, these triggers build up stress which may negatively impact our personal relationships and physical health.

Dr. Perlus offers 7 work-related anxiety triggers with tips on what we can do to deal with them.

Fear Based Bosses Bosses who focus on possibilities and solutions inspire creativity and collaboration. Fear-based bosses aren’t leaders they are energy drainers. They have quick tempers, focus on problems, complain and threaten. According to Dr. Perlus, people make the mistake of remaining in a job for the wrong reasons. “Being spoken to harshly every day is no way to live. It’s abusive and causes anxiety. My advice, file a complaint with human resources and resign. Your well-being matters first and most.”

Mental Health Co-Worker Cliques Some work cultures include gossip, passive-aggressiveness, undercutting, sabotage, and verbal jabs that would rival any high school clique. “If your work is solid, align with others who are focused and keep your eye on the prize. You have a job to do and your focus will be thrown off by unnecessary cattiness. When you hear a group of co-workers gossiping, politely excuse yourself,” advises Dr. Perlus.

Technology Glitches We’ve all had instances where we want

to throw our computers out the window, stomp on our cell phones and kick a vending machine after it gobbles up our last two singles. “Technology is what led to a higher standard for speed and

efficiency. We get agitated when we can’t get what we want in .005 seconds. It’s a conditioning,” she explains. “Centering is a great technique that helps delay reaction time to stressors.

Before pounding on the copy machine, step back, count to 5, breathe and pivot to fixing whatever may be wrong or finding someone who can assist.”

Presenting You can be the most articulate, outgoing person and still have anxiety when presenting to a group. It is common for people to experience insomnia, nausea and tension headaches leading up to an important presentation. Preparation is key. “Allow ample time to gather key points and mentally rehearse your presentation while doing another unrelated activity such as cooking, cleaning, walking or running, to release stress and remain present suggests Dr. Perlus.” 34 - CanadianSME - July 2022

Your Commute “Once you exceed 30 minutes one-way, your happiness level drops and your stress level rises,” says Dr. Perlus. A coping mechanism she suggests is to use the commute as a time to learn. If driving, tune off the negative news talk radio and opt for interesting podcasts or audiobooks. If stuck on a bus or train, reading a book, watching a show on the iPad, or getting a head start on email are also ways to make the time fly.

Business Travel Rushing for airplanes and dealing with weather delays and overbooked flights, not to mention navigating an unfamiliar place will stress anyone out. “Preparation and a solid backup plan is a great way to ease pre-business travel stress. While face-to-face meetings may be optimal, skipping a flight and opting for zoom may be a less stressful option.”

Quotas and Commissions While most workers love the self-determined earning potential of a commission-paid job, they still find it stressful when they look at the numbers and fear coming up short. “Anxiety is caused by excessive worry about future events you believe you cannot control, explains Dr. Perlus.”

Setting easier targets can be helpful. When you set a goal just below what you think you are capable of, you still need to exert high energy and have a high perception of control. You want to feel accomplished and not anxious. Just be careful as setting goals way too easy creates boredom, which is just as bad as setting unattainable and anxiety-producing goals. Also, “acknowledge daily wins and break down the effort into smaller chunks of time so you focus on what’s in front of you,” she advises.

Dr. Haley Perlus

Sport & Performance Psychology: Public Speaker, Consultant, Author

Dr. Haley Perlus knows what it takes to overcome barriers and achieve peak performance. As an elite alpine ski racer, she competed and trained with the best in the world, pushing herself to the limits time and time again. Now, with a PhD in sports psychology, Haley continues to push boundaries and drive peak performance, helping athletes and Fortune 100 executives reach their goals.

The

Lesley Hampton Story of Success Art is political and has always been a

Hampton's work is a form of activism, with each decision and

into a potential commercial endeavour, the reach of the voice becomes wider. Among the small businesses,

identify as Indigenous, the collection including works that evoke the memory of dark dates in the history of the indigenous people and the decision to create dress sizes 2-

means to raise the voice of the unheard. However, when art is tapped

indigenous-owned businesses have always taken their community ideas one step closer to the world.

Lesley Hampton is one such entrepreneur who, through her role as a fashion designer, has used her fabric to represent the spirit of her community's culture and values, thereby narrating the stories of the people of the land. Her work also focuses on body positivity, mental health and the correct representation of the indigenous community in arts and media.

choice making a statement and creating a subversion in the fashion industry. This includes taking in runway models who

10 for one Fashion Week.

The Woman of the Month title has been given to Lesley

Hampton for all her accomplishments and contributions.

The birth of a Third Culture Matriarch Lesley Hampton had a modern nomadic life growing up; she feels most at home on a plane. Constant relocation in the early years of her life made her identify as a 'third culture kid' with her memories of growing up spread across Canada's Arctic and Atlantic, Australia, England, Indonesia, and New Caledonia. Hampton is a Temagami First Nation of Northern Ontario member and defines herself through the combination of her Anishinaabe indigenous identity and nomadic upbringing. Having a multicultural background of being a child of an Anishinaabe mother and Scottish father, Hampton has faced lateral violence from her community which has only

Digital Marketing reconnect with her culture and community roots. Through her art and activism, Lesley continues to reclaim her culture and give back to its growth and representation. An alumnus of the Department of Arts at the

University of Toronto, Lesley went on to pursue fashion at George Brown College. During this period, she began her career in 2016, aged 22.

The Beginning of a Fabric Activism

The Fashion Politics Lesley Hampton gives each piece in her collection a title that reflects her relations and community bonding.

Third Culture Matriarch An exploration of Lesley and her mother's relationship as both grew up as third-culture kids and spent a considerable part of their early years outside their own culture and country.

Lesley Hampton owns a self-titled clothing and accessory brand founded in 2016, which is a Indigenous-owned, women-led, size-inclusive fashion brand based in Toronto, Ontario, creating high-quality fashion.

Each Lesley Hampton Collection narrates a history of oppression, discrimination, cruelty

inflicted on the indigenous community, thereby trying to decolonize the euro-centric standards in the fashion industry and create space for empowerment and representation in fashion, film, and media. She entered the industry as a game changer

wanting to bring visibility to women of all body and skin types in the fashion industry. Her youth and idealism thrilled her to bring inclusivity to the industry through her ventures made her realize the struggle behind it. Each of her works was a statement which turned her into an important indigenous face in the Canadian fashion industry. She has taken inspiration from her Indigenous background to create her work by emphasizing authentic representation. Her efforts to bring in a difference in the fashion industry have reflected in runways being walked by indigenous, plus size, disabled and albino women, exciting discussions on body positivity, the importance of mental health and the value of diversity and inclusivity. 36 - CanadianSME - July 2022

Creatures of the Present The Fall 2021 collection made in Turtle Island was inspired

by fellow Temagami First Nation member Benjamin Chee Chee's artwork which was reminiscent of flowing, graceful and minimalist art.

Eighteen Seventy-Six The Fall/ Winter 2019 collection was dubbed 1876 as a reminder of the passing of the Indian Act, where she incorporated beaded knit, pleated pleather, crepe and cashmere without directly drawing from Indigenous designs. Hampton brought historical references to the collection by using nude tulle embroidered with red dots to represent the missing and murdered Indigenous women. The collection was presented in the Toronto Fashion Week with all indigenous runway models. Through her work, Lesley's career goal is to widen the space available for Indigenous creative voices in Canadian media.

Providing a basis for resilience- or recovery

By:Tommy M.Onich BBA, CTP Small Business is the backbone of our economy. This group is responsible for much of the drive and work that provides the impetus for national growth and productivity.

Tom is a specialist in interim and crisis management with 20 years of senior management experience in financial, operational and statutory restructuring. He has served as Chief Restructuring Officer, Chief Executive Officer, and Chief Financial Officer in a wide range of business sectors including health care, structural steel, garment manufacturing, yacht building, die cast, railroad repair and food processing. He is recognized for his achievements in the following areas: statutory restructuring; cash flow management, creditor negotiations,

Small Business is largely driven and fueled by brave and under-resourced entrepreneurs who are some of the most hardworking and dedicated people in our country. In addition to their extraordinary drive and effort they also take enormous personal financial risks in the normal course of business. Today these owners are still reeling from the effects of COVID and attendant government policies. Unfortunately, their situation has become even worse. We are facing the most difficult political and economic conditions in decades. Rampant inflation, rising interest rates, tremendous geo-political disruption, incompetent Governments, and a broad European war is imminent.

An increasing number of businesses will require a metamorphosis or

turnaround in this environment. Metamorphosis can be described as a planned change. This need is driven by a

management assessment, performance management, corporate strategy or business planning,

lack of corporate resilience which permits an organization to adapt and

organizational assessment, and corporate due diligence. Tom has successfully restructured organizations through informal arrangements with creditors and by statute. He is one of the few turnaround professionals experienced with the insolvency regimes of both Canada and the United States. Prior to his work in corporate renewal, he was engaged in corporate lending with a major Canadian Bank winning several awards for innovative solutions tailored to client’s needs.

continuum between health and distress.

change as necessary. An actual turnaround is a metamorphosis tragically delayed. It occurs when the organization has moved farther upon the

At its core, the culture of Performance Management provides both a steel spine of resilience and the foundation for recovery. It is useful to examine some of the symptoms of a lack of Performance Management and then create a positive construct. Typically symptoms include; A lack of rigour surrounding the cash management process ·Poor or even non-existent controls for manufacturing, planning and procurement A disconnect between financial measurements and key performance drivers A lack of accountability within management ranks These symptoms indicate a lack of critical thinking, slack corporate discipline and negative or even destructive behaviour. In this environment, corporate denial can become pervasive and entrenched.

Without quality leadership, it is

One of the most salient symptoms of a corporate malaise has been prevalent in almost all the dozens of cases that I have seen. This concerns the quality of data. Almost always a company facing difficulty is reporting numbers that are just wrong. This means, missing, incorrect, misleading, or even false

Effective Performance management requires relevant, reliable, timely, and accurate data. This is because an effective Performance culture exists when employees use practical management tools to set targets, measure performance and implement concrete plans.

If data is unreliable, strategy and initiatives are not linked; even when they are, they are rarely aligned to targets that drive the core engines of the business. Action planning is rare to non-existent, as is the ability to predict or meet a crisis head-on.

Core Elements of Performance Management Companies that have adopted and sustained a Performance Management Culture have three core elements. Leadership: Leadership is paramount. The leader's purpose is to generate clarity around strategy and provide focus on the critical priorities and activities needed for success. 38 - CanadianSME - July 2022

unlikely that a Performance Management Culture can exist, or a turnaround succeed. Above all, leaders must “walk the walk and talk the talk”. In other words, the best way to lead is by example. The effective leader will also create an environment that

fosters transparency and open communication, creating fertile ground for information flow. Accountability: A true culture of performance management cannot exist unless all employees are held accountable. Ownership of results belongs to everybody. This requires two main activities. First individuals set specific goals and targets for their specific areas. The focus of which is strategic objectives. Second, the same employees are empowered to take meaningful action that can directly influence the targets they set

Mental Health Capability: Capability refers to the workforce’s ability to solve issues that evolve daily by applying functional knowledge. Without an adequate base of skills, employees will be unable to solve issues that evolve daily by applying functional knowledge. They will not be able to resolve business issues as they emerge in a performance management culture. A simple example would be marketing employees not understanding segmentation or value proposition or salespeople not understanding contribution margin.

Performance Management-Implementation The very essence of Performance management begins with a

clearly articulated strategy which provides a vision of what the company is or is not going to focus upon. Companies need to develop and implement a well-thoughtout and tightly knit strategy before any work on implementation.

Following this, it is necessary to identify core drivers and

indicators. Typical examples could include production output, margins, and sales. Once these have been identified, management assesses these parameters to identify their effectiveness. This requires a hands-on approach, exploring different departments and areas of operation. A revealing question is “how do you know

you are doing a good job? “Any less than a clear answer points to a lack of accountability. Within this process, huge disconnects between what the company needs to execute and what it is focused upon should be readily apparent. The core drivers that were selected must meet the following criteria. 1/ The performance driver must be measurable and quantifiable. 2/ It must be controllable by a person or group within the company. 3/ It must be relevant and linked to the key business objectives identified in the strategy.

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With the core drivers established, the next step is to set specific targets. I often see these established based on historical data, devoid of any meaningful analysis. They also tend to be set by management and have limited front-line ownership. They may even be developed from budgets with little view of reality. Setting targets requires that goals are attainable, driven from the bottom up and require ownership of all stakeholders. The last stage is implementation. Success will happen when the right

information is in the hands of the right

people, and it requires that the relevant information is visible and timely. It is

used in an effective reporting system to track performance.

The last step provides a formal review mechanism that ties the performance management system together and makes a performance management culture

attainable. This review provides a template for correction, change of

course, or recovery. Importantly, this information is provided as soon as possible during difficult times.

Organizations with a Performance Management culture embrace core values and principles. The core values are leadership, accountability, and capability. The principles are: to identify salient performance drivers, set targets, execute and review. A culture of performance management and the tempered steel of the resilient organization lay at the nexus of these core values and principal.

Indigenous-Owned Businesses You Can Support Across Canada

Indigenous-owned businesses are thriving, not just through the Sunday market and other festival sales. They are well-established entrepreneurs with their websites, ratings on multiple platforms, and social media fan bases, which helps them expand their reach and improve sales. Here are five businesses and their entrepreneurs who are getting recognized for their products and the personal stories they share through it.

The five Thriving Indigenous Businesses

1. Skwachàys Lodge Skwachay's Lodge is a hotel that is making a difference. Along with providing lodging for guests and tourists,

Skwachay supports and houses indigenous artists whose works don't get represented or get the market value they deserve. The hotel has a street-level art gallery where 24 indigenous artists are housed.

Economic reconciliation is the best way to promote Indigenous-owned businesses and thereby aid in the upliftment of the community. In recent years the variety and quality of the products they sell have gained attention. Social media, especially Instagram, has helped promote and advertise indigenous products to customers. These products include skin care, jewelry and clothing to services like restaurants and lodgings. 40 - CanadianSME - July 2022

With cultural tourism being one of the fastest-growing tourism industries, Skwachays use its business to create a space for the urban Indigenous artists to participate in the industry and help them to reclaim their lives and independence. A stay in Skwachays Lodge will surely be a wholesome experience.

Digital Marketing 2. Raven Reads Raven Reads is an indigenous literature and giftware business founded to raise awareness of indigenous history by Nicole McLaren. The publication aims to raise the community's collective histories and lived experiences by supporting Indigenous authors and entrepreneurs. Each Raven Reads purchase contributes to

4. Salmon n' Bannock Inez Cook, the owner of Salmon n' Bannock, always knew she would be a restaurant owner to tell the stories of her ancestors. Salmon n' Bannock is the only indigenous-owned and operated restaurant in Vancouver, using only authentic ingredients once prepared by the ancestors to make contemporary cuisine.

amplifying Indigenous voices and brands, giving them a position in the economy and a chance to develop into a healthier community.

McLaren created Raven Reads to educate people worldwide about residential schools' traumatic effect on Indigenous people in Canada.

It's a seasonal subscription for children and adults and comes with books and gifts

5. Satya Organic Skin Care Necessity is the mother of inventions, and that is how the birth of Satya Organic Skin Care should be described.

When Patrice Mousseau's daughter was diagnosed with

eczema, she took to her own hands to make steroid-free soaps by reading into traditional medicines, medical research and academic articles and experimenting with organic ingredients in her kitchen. Satya Organic Skin Care is a must-try indigenous skin care product primarily focusing on eczema curing

3. Moonstone Creation Moonstone Creations is a gallery that sells various unique handicrafts by 60 Indigenous artisans, including ceremonial drums, jewelry, paintings, leatherwork, sculpture, and beadwork. Yvonne Jobin, the founder of Moonstone, has strong politics is beginning her venture. She says, "I believe that by sharing the stories, history and unique methods our people used to create beautiful artifacts, we would build bridges and raise awareness and appreciation of Native American culture and the arts." The products in Moonstone Creations speak a story of their own. 41 - CanadianSME - July 2022

organic products.

Why support the indigenous SMEs Each indigenous small business has a story to tell, a goal to achieve and a community to support, and what they stand for makes them unique. Community empowerment takes a front seat before personal profits. From supporting the indigenous artists, raising voices against the past cruelties through literature, passing on the cultural legacy of the First Nations to the descendants, sharing the taste of yesteryears wrapped in modern cuisine to ensuring healthy and safe skin care, there is an ethic these entrepreneurs stand for. The support the indigenous small business deserve is also for the principles that they stand for.

Once upon a time, in a mystical, digital land far away from the world of traditional advertising, a business owner searched for the rarest, most valuable creature of all ⏤ a magical unicorn of marketing with renowned power over an online marketing domain.

Sound familiar? Confronted with the confusing world of digital marketing, a business owner often hires a marketing manager to solve all the challenges of a complex and ever-changing ecosystem. But does this sole investment guarantee the outcomes small and medium-sized businesses expect or need? 42 - CanadianSME - July 2022

A marketing manager who possesses creative and technical acumen and can create viral content and analyze its performance on all the marketing channels would undoubtedly be a find. However, William Goddard, President of GoTo Marketers, a full-service digital marketing agency, says the magical marketing unicorn does not exist, and assuming your marketing manager can do it all is like believing in a fairytale.

Digital Marketing A talented digital marketer can do a lot, but they can't solve every problem an SME faces," Goddard explains. "Marketing is not solely a social media manager you hire to do 20 posts a month. It is not a local SEO specialist optimizes your Google My Business page or a pay-per-click campaign on an advertising platform. Marketing doesn't work as a one-person show."

Mike Poeltl, Marketing Manager at Handling Specialty Manufacturing, an industrial manufacturer of custom automated guided vehicles, scissor lifts, and custom personnel lifts, would agree with Goddard's assessment. Handling Speciality's talented marketing manager has been with the company for over seven years and is responsible for all the marketing channels, including the website, content, branding, and social media.

Despite his years of experience, Poeltl understood he

couldn't do it all. He knew precisely where his blind spots were regarding digital marketing. He convinced Handling Specialty to invest in marketing tactics he wasn't versed in, such as search engine optimization

Goddard believes this is because most SMEs fail to grasp the digital marketing landscape and journey fully. However, believing in a unicorn marketer is only one of the common mistakes SMEs make in their marketing efforts.

(SEO) and paid search campaigns on Google. But to be successful, he needed an expert partner to do

quality work and understand the data from these tactics. Mike turned to GoTo Marketers to support him in SEO, paid campaigns, lead generation, content planning, and website maintenance. He relies on the team to provide the data he needs to drive decision-

making and optimize his marketing strategy within his allocated budget. Goddard says Handling Specialty's marketing challenges with the mythical unicorn marketer aren't unusual. His observations stem from more than 25 years of working with SMEs and enterprises to deliver results-oriented sales tactics and digital marketing systems that drive businesses forward. Goddard has seen online marketing evolve from the early days of web advertising and website SEO trickery to sophisticated data-driven tactics and strategies that allow companies to make informed marketing decisions that drive repeatable and sustainable results. Relying on a single person to understand the complex nuances of effective content marketing, email marketing, lead generation, marketing automation, social media marketing, pay-per-click advertising, and other strategies is a common small business trap. 43 - CanadianSME - July 2022

Even though most SMEs understand the importance

of digital marketing, they are frustrated by a failure to see a return on investment for their efforts. However, a few common mistakes can hinder digital marketing success.

Poorly Defined Marketing Strategy In Goddard's experience, one of the most common mistakes SMEs make is failing to develop a marketing strategy aligned with a sales strategy. Without a results-oriented plan that maps to business objectives, a marketing manager can't evaluate what tools and tactics best suit a business's needs. "Looking at Google Analytics without an eye to understanding the problems and opportunities is pointless. They're just numbers. And, unfortunately, too many small and medium-sized companies focus on vanity metrics such as the number of likes on a Facebook post or followers on Twitter without aligning their marketing to a sales strategy," he explains.

Digital Marketing Without a strategy to guide decision-making, marketing managers often choose approaches they feel most comfortable with rather than what is best for the businesses. As a result, there is often a lack of clarity on what success should look like from marketing efforts.

Lack of Quality Marketing Content Failing to invest in content is another mistake many SMEs share. While businesses often move online because it is where their customers are, companies fail to develop content that will engage those customers. Since the pandemic, consumers have become more adept online, expecting a business to maintain an active online presence by engaging in digital conversations. But how can SMEs engage customers if they don't have anything to say with content such as blogs, videos, podcasts, infographics, case studies, testimonials, and white papers?

Goddard says clients should share stories about the pain points customers face and how solutions address those problems. However, a sole marketing manager doesn't have the time or knowledge to create content

independently. Often, they have to be a project manager for contracted resources rather than focusing on strategy.

Despite all the challenges digital marketing can present, SMEs can find success. With the help of GoTo Marketers, Handling Specialty saw organic website traffic leap 188% yearover-year and website contact forms double, generating more qualified leads for its sales team. However, to have success like Handling

Specialty, businesses need to understand digital marketing better, especially as it relates to their customer's (and potential customers') buying journey. Making the commitment and investment in developing a results-oriented, customer-focused strategy, creating content that will attract and engage customers,

choosing what marketing channels will perform best, and continually optimizing based on data is more than a one-person job. Finding a reliable partner like GoTo Marketers can help demystify digital marketing and turn a fairytale ending into real-world success.

The result of inefficient processes is a lack of quality content and over-spending on marketing that doesn't engage customers.

Underestimating Marketing Investment and Timelines The biggest mistake SMEs face when embarking on digital marketing is underestimating how much and where to invest to be successful. "Marketing is a commitment. When a business fails to plan, invest, and improve its marketing operations, it plans to fail," says Goddard. "Too many companies invest as little as they can. They think they can run ads on Google, write a blog or two, hire a part-time social media person, and see good results from these efforts. They won't. Effective marketing takes time, people, and investment in the right areas to deliver the results a business expects. SMEs looking for a marketing magic wand or quick silver bullet will be disappointed. Marketing is a journey, not a sprint, and it requires an investment that matches commitment. Small and medium-sized businesses need to invest in the right-sized systems and resources to make marketing work.

GoTo Marketers offers free one-hour consultation to help SMEs understand its full range of digital marketing services. Companies can take advantage to explore the options, ask questions, and get free advice. GoTo Marketers' passion is client success and quantifiable results. When you partner with GoTo Marketers, you get a team of experts who will make your success their business. They will do the right thing for your business at the right time and within your company's budget. Book your free one-hour session here. www.gotomarketers.com, Sales@Gotomarketers.com

MedMe Health, founded by Rui Su (she/her), is a digital patient care platform. It helps pharmacists schedule, conduct, document, and follow-up on clinical services. The company already serves over 140 pharmacies across five provinces and expects to be in more than 700 by the fall. Co-op students perform roles like QA analyst and clinical associate and “are involved in every part of the code base, says Jakob Manning, software developer at MedMe.“We train upper-level co-op students to become experts in a certain area, and they learn our entire product line”.

Student talent

“Co-op students fill a hiring need; it’s a short-term commitment with someone dedicated to being a high-growth learning

individual,” says Manning. “There is always the opportunity that they will come back or contribute to your ecosystem in the future. We already see that.”

When University of Waterloo grads experienced issues like

the uncertainty of the home buying process, the hassle of filling prescriptions, and the lack of focus on female pelvic floor health, they decided to take matters into their own hands. And they hired co-op students from their alma mater to help! By hiring student talent from the global

leader in co-operative education, these industry disruptors have raised their small businesses and startups to new heights. ManorLead, founded by Richard Xie (he/him), offers buyers a transparent and guided process to purchase a home. “As a co-op student, I had the opportunity to work in roles that were revolutionizing typically traditional service industries,” Xie says. Working for a small business gave Xie opportunities that he may not have had if he worked for a larger organization. Xie hires students for roles to help with both projects and with daily tasks—including marketing assistant, software designer and sales analyst. Rachel Bartholomew (she/her) saw a need in the market for women-centered pelvic floor health tools. Enabled by Waterloo co-op students, Bartholomew brought her company, HyIvy Health, to life. She hired her first Waterloo co-op student just four weeks after founding the company. With the HyIvy smart pelvic rehab system currently in clinical trials, Bartholomew credits co-op students, who performed roles like mechanical engineer and UX designer with helping her design the portal and app, the user experience, updating the CAD model and writing test procedures for the prototype.

Xie, Bartholomew, and Su all have one thing in common, they see the value in hiring Waterloo co-op students. Co-op students bring a variety of skills, curiosity, and drive. They add energy and creativity to teams of any size and bring diverse insights and knowledge.

Hiring Waterloo co-op students is affordable, with many grants and funding options available to subsidize student talent. Waterloo has dedicated service teams to

help you find the talent you need for your organization. If you believe that a co-op student would be the right fit for your organization, contact small business hiring expert Emily Burgess to help you find your next great hire!

The Changing Definition of Cloud Remember the time as a little child you looked

up in the sky to see the white fluffy cotton balls called clouds! But now, as you look up, it is an endless possibility of data called cloud computing.

Cloud computing is the new-age solution for an optimized way of getting things done. An ondemand and pay-as-you-go pricing service that provides servers, storage, database,

networking software, analytics and intelligence to the user without the burden of having to buy, own, or maintain physical data centers and servers.

In simple terms, the cloud is a metaphor for the internet and its services.

The Convenience of Cloud Cost The economic benefit that cloud computing provides is its greatest advantage. Users must pay only for the service or product they need and will utilize. There are no capital expenses for buying hardware or service expenses for maintaining it regularly.

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Agility The speed with which the required resources can be

discovered and downloaded makes cloud computing an attractive option. In addition, there is no hassle of ordering, waiting and installing in cloud computing, and it is available at the tip of the enter button on your computer.

Accessibility Depending on the requirement and budget of the

user, cloud computing offers a wide array of services from various service providers by just clicking the download button.

Productivity In a cloud computing system, there is no task of keeping the hardware in check or updating software. This is mostly done by the cloud computing providers and allows the user to focus on their goal.

Security Data stored, downloaded, saved and uploaded in the cloud are safeguarded with optimal measures by the service providers ensuring there is no breach or threat to data or software.

Digital Marketing The Private and the Public Cloud There are two environments in which one can choose to operate their data. The Public cloud is an environment where multiple companies exist simultaneously in a segregated, secure and organized manner. Some providers of this multitenancy of cloud are Google, Amazon and Microsoft. It is this sharing of space that makes the cloud cheap for users.

The Private cloud is an environment where companies themselves store their data in the cloud without a third party involvement. When companies have to store their data confidentially, they maintain their own separate and single cloud, which makes this format expensive.

Cloud and Small Business For a small to medium enterprise, the cloud offers endless possibilities, depending on the cloud services the company chooses to use.

Infrastructure as a Service

or laaS, offers infrastructural cloud assistance on a pay-as-you-go basis to businesses. It provides hardware, software, and other infrastructure components such as storage, database, and servers.

Platform as a service

or Paas is a cloud service that provides businesses with a platform to build and manage new applications by offering the on-site infrastructure required for developing apps.

It offers efficient accessibility of data from anywhere in the world, making business collaborations possible remotely and thus cost-effective. According to Reviewlution the boom in cloud computing in 2022 is unimaginable, with 107 billion US dollars’ revenue gain from laaS model, the global PaaS market reaching US$71 billion and the global SaaS market surpassing the 145 billion US$ mark.

The statistics and the market competition of service providers show the worth of cloud computing in the present times. Small businesses can tap the possibilities of the service cloud computing provides and thus profit from it. One such possibility is remote collaboration. With cloud computing, data retrieval and sharing become quicker and easier, allowing collaborating and working from different locations. The inputs provided can be streamlined to produce efficient and optimal results at lower costs. A prime example is large MNCs giving away their office

spaces, moving to permanent work from home mode and still making huge profits from these remote collaborations.

The Future is Digital With the possibilities that cloud computing offers, the world is

changing its culture in revolutionary ways. With easy access to information and opportunities, small business companies can creatively make profits by tapping the potential of the hour. Work culture, mode and timing are getting flexible and comfortable for employees with data made available and accessible through cloud computing in the comfort of their homes. This brings in more workforce to the field as working parents can easily pitch in their work-life balance through such an arrangement.

The quote “Sky is the limit” makes total sense with cloud computing as everything we need is readily available at the

Software as a Service

or SaaS offers software applications to businesses on a subscription basis.

touch of a button in the data stored in the clouds. So the point is to touch that horizon and tap the possibilities.

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Prime Day: Six Ways Small Businesses Can Compete Against Amazon

July 12th-13th marks the 7th annual 'Amazon Prime Day', where the multinational tech giant that dominates the e-commerce sector gives its prime customers two days of non-stop deals. In 2021, the Prime Day event yielded about $6.8 billion in revenue. Whilst Amazon prime has benefitted global consumers with the ease of next-day delivery, for small businesses, higher costs, smaller budgets, and limited resources pose barriers, resulting in a struggle to compete with this in-demand service. That being said, the experts at Business Name Generator believe small business owners have a competitive advantage over their large retailer opponents. Below, the team shares six ways small businesses can boost sales during this season sale.

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Sell unique products Amazon can’t One key successful trait of a business is having a USP (unique selling point) which differentiates it from its retail giant competitors. This comes down to using your brand to personalize the product or service, offering something the likes of Amazon would not. Whilst certain products aren’t prohibited from buying or selling on Amazon, such as cigarettes, cigars, and prescription drugs, for businesses competing with the products Amazon does sell, adding that extra special quality to the product will be extremely beneficial. One of the greatest methods to determine if your product is unique is the story you tell. Whilst functionality and aesthetics are important, products become monotonous and common without the power of storytelling.

Digital Marketing Offer exclusivity Funnily enough, some of Amazon’s bestsellers are its exclusive products. This is because people like the idea of having something that you can’t easily access everywhere else. Even better so, if you can combine an exclusive product with a real customer experience. Some of Amazon’s best-sellers are its exclusive products because this

demonstrates the value of having a unique product - if it works for large-scale companies, it will certainly work for smaller ones.

To help provide extra exclusivity, products can be sold with a discount for a limited time, incentivizing customers to purchase

Gaining trust and brand loyalty from customers so that they repeat their custom with you is extremely important and it is much more expensive to acquire new customers than to retain existing ones.

before it is too late.

Offer in-store pickup

There are three key elements to remember

According to a survey conducted by Consumer Reports,

when creating an exclusive product:

1. Limit the availability- products are only available for a certain amount.

2. Guard the entrance- products are available through membership only. 3. Making it less than obvious- when a

product is not heavily promoted, it makes that product seem exclusive.

Provide same-day delivery The one thing that Amazon doesn’t currently offer its Prime members is a same-day delivery option. Therefore this is a huge opportunity for small businesses to retain existing customers and attract new ones. Whilst small business owners might fear that offering this service could raise their businesses' costs, consumers are willing to pay extra for expedited delivery - especially if you prove you can deliver on your sameday promises.

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one in ten people have had at least one package stolen from their home in 2021.

Now brick and mortar stores are back and running after a difficult period during the pandemic, many customers prefer physical collection and face-to-face interaction to ensure they safely receive their parcels. This is where small business owners can offer extra flexibility for their customer’s convenience. Whilst there is still that demand for integrated online ordering, by giving your customers an online platform that allows them to accept orders, process payments, and schedule pickups with the advantage of receiving an item on the same day, you are answering all of your customer’s needs.

Deliver excellent customer service Larger businesses can be much difficult to get in contact with, as not only will they be busier, they also tend to have different departments, meaning it can take customers longer to get to the right point of contact.

Digital Marketing Therefore, as a small business owner, you can develop a stronger and more personal relationship with your customers. This has just as much value as the products or services you offer. If your customers know you provide a relationship they can’t get with a larger business, they’ll most likely come to you first, even if the cost is a little more. 90% of people also use customer service as a factor when deciding whether to cooperate with a company. Therefore it is important to measure your customer satisfaction rates, to understand the areas you're excelling in and where work still needs to be done. Using the positive feedback, you can share this on your website and social media channels to further entice new customers.

Take advantage of social media and PR Big brands such as Greggs, Apple, and of course Amazon, use social

media as a way to reach their target audience and gain media publicity, steering attention towards the brand name.

Often, businesses will use the power of public relations to help build brand awareness, and whether you hire someone in-house or an external company to do so, placing your business name in the centre of what people are talking about will instantly boost engagement, and of course sales.

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Also, interacting with consumers on social media is an important marketing strategy for small businesses. This will help you build brand awareness, increase your customer base, and connect with current customers.

Cultivating Effective Leadership, Employee Well-being, and Culture By Jim Mitchell As the dust from the pandemic settles, employers and employees are continuing to navigate the changing world of work. Both would like to advance to some type of normal state. Return-to-work policies are a good example. In 2021, an Adecco global study found that 53% of workers preferred hybrid working models. How does this preference reconcile with Elon Musk’s

recent mandate, “return to work or else?” One clue would be for Leaders to learn from the successful strategies employed during the tumultuous days of the pandemic. At the height of the lockdowns in 2020 and 2021, LHH Canada held a series of ten virtual CHRO Roundtables. HR executives from Canada’s large and mid-size companies gathered to share best practices in a world quickly dividing into BC and AD (Before Covid and After Disruption). In the area of leadership, it was clear that some leaders adjusted well, and others floundered.

While organizational challenges have evolved, the leadership insights gained by Canada’s CHROs are more relevant than ever, particularly in the areas of employee well-being and corporate culture.

Canada’s HR executives observed the most successful leaders throughout the pandemic maintain open and two-way communications at all levels of their organizations while authentically exhibiting traits such as empathy, tolerance, and trust. Leaders that couldn’t make this adjustment, generally relying on command/control and overreliance on the process, simply failed. Employee surveys consistently supported the impact of these leadership traits.

Mental health issues escalated throughout the pandemic, and there continues to be a compounding hangover effect. LifeWorks, a global leader in mental wellbeing and employee support consultancy, publishes a Mental Health Index. It shows that the pandemic has worsened the psychological climate among employees and their families. Stephen Liptrap, LifeWorks’ CEO, emphasized that this decline in mental health will have ripple effects for many years. A failure of leadership during a period of mental fatigue and decline could prove dangerous and potentially lethal. According to Liptrap, “the best ways employers can improve their employees’ lives is to listen to their needs, provide them with digital and in-person mental health support and, if possible, offer flexibility in their approach to work.”

President of LHH A focus on employee well-being is intrinsically associated with organizational culture. A 2018 Harvard Business Review article highlighted caring as an important factor in creating a culture of teamwork, trust, and respect. The CHRO roundtables underscored the importance of establishing an inclusive culture and

building psychological safety during the height of the pandemic. Key areas of focus included ED&I, worker respect, and ethical behaviour. Over the past two years, employees have reassessed their work and personal priorities. The failure of leaders to

heed the cultural admonitions are contributing to the Great Resignation.

MIT Sloan Management Review (2022) found that “a toxic culture is by far the strongest predictor of industry-

adjusted attrition and is ten times more important than compensation in predicting turnover.”

“For better or worse, culture and leadership are inextricably linked” (HBR 2018). Leaders, in partnership with Human Resources, must continually assess the impact of their leadership on employee well-being, organizational culture, and retention. The pandemic demonstrated how quickly it can all change. The 2020/2021 leadership lessons from the CHRO roundtables are more applicable than ever before, and the stakes for companies have never been higher.

What’s Business Data Lab (BDL) Is All about? Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s innovative program, BDL (Business Data Lab), will provide forwardlooking, live data and information for companies of all shapes, sizes, sectors, and geographies across Canada. The Business Data Lab will bring together data and information from various sources to monitor growing market conditions and

Everything One Needs to Know about Business Data Lab (BDL)

provide critical information for Canadian companies to help them make informed decisions and

enhance their overall performance.

In recent years, the business landscape in Canada has

Statistics Canada’s data literacy and data capability expertise will be used to oversee the BDL program and

businesses in Canada so that the business community and government can make meaningful and strategic contributions that will lead to an even more robust economic recovery.

Canadian Chamber of Commerce will conduct extensive stakeholder

developed rapidly. That’s why the Canadian Government and its major partners need better data on the present state of small

On February 18, 2022, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, Honorable François-Philippe Champagne, on behalf of the Minister of Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and

Economic Development, Honorable Mary Ng, announced a whopping $2.8 million investment to set up the Business Data Lab (BDL), a collaboration between Statistics Canada and Canadian Chamber of Commerce.

Small businesses are the heart of Canadian communities and the engine of Canada’s economy. Their prosperity is vital to Canada’s economic recovery. The BDL is a notable investment that will provide a new level of future-oriented and detailed information. This will help the Canadian government to provide small businesses in Canada the assistance they need to get through the global pandemic and be even stronger on the other side. At the pandemic's start, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and Statistics Canada collaborated to rapidly develop a cuttingedge Canadian Survey on Business Conditions. This prosperous partnership continues as Statistics Canada hosts BDL’s new Business Data Trust with the best standards to ensure privacy and data security.

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enable the delivery of fresh data and analysis that provide insight into the latest business conditions. The

consultations with territorial, local, and provincial Chambers of Commerce, traditionally underrepresented groups, and industry associations.

To fulfill this notable mandate, the

Chamber of Commerce will form a robust advisory committee to identify areas of economic interest.

As the operations of Business Data Lab ramps up, it will put forward: Dashboards Top-notch and high-frequency indicators to help know the state of Canada’s economy most relevant to businesses.

Digital Marketing Reports and Policy Briefs Information to recognize future growth opportunities for Canadian businesses, key roadblocks and guidelines to realizing Canada’s full economic potential.

Canadian Survey on Business Conditions Analysis

as become the undisputed catalyst and champion for future business success, with new offerings and divisions for companies of all sectors and sizes in the Canadian Chamber Network, including: Top-flight data and insights Personalized solutions for small and mid-sized enterprises, involving consulting and training services Enhanced membership benefits Expanded B2B networking opportunities International growth boosters

Creating valued analysis on current business problems on a Statistics Canada survey of more than 15,000 employees.

How Business Data Lab (BDL) Is Going to Help? In partnership with Statistics Canada and the financial backing from the Canadian Government, the Business Data Lab can help drive Canadian business success in several ways:

Canadian small businesses can track market conditions in their respective regions improved. The quarterly business surveys will

put forward in-depth insights, broken down by ownership characteristics, and provide an advanced view of the upcoming trends. Businesses owned by diverse demographics will benefit from focused research on their particular needs and opportunities. This Business Data Lab announcement is a part of the broader expansion and transformation of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce to meet the evolving needs of its members. Its revolution will push the organization beyond its traditional role as the mouthpiece of businesses in Canada, as a federal lobbying organization, as well

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A Brief about BDL’s Consultation and Stakeholder Engagement The Business Data Lab will consult, convene, and engage inclusive interest groups and other traditionally underrepresented groups to inform its activities. They will establish a fresh Federal Government Advisory Council composed of stakeholders with one-of-a-kind perspectives on Canadian businesses, government programs, and business surveys. The Business Data Lab (BDL) will likely announce more details in the first quarter of 2022. One should stay tuned to know more about what’s up in their sleeves. For more information regarding the Business Data Lab (BDL), one can simply scroll through their website and learn more.

Can Upscale Your Small Business In this age of digitalization and a

growing number of remote workers, migrating to the cloud is a no-brainer. As a small business owner, you already know how important costeffectiveness and efficiency are to

your operation. Technology plays a big part in keeping productivity high and costs down, and no matter the type of your small business, it’s vital to invest in the apt management tools and the right infrastructure to help you achieve things. The rise of cloud computing has proven to be a boon for any business, especially for small businesses, since it increases productivity, improves workflow, and enables automation. At a time when more and more people are working remotely, this disruptive technology has the power to keep your employees connected wherever they are. Cloud computing is the new norm. 54 - CanadianSME - July 2022

Here is what you need to know about cloud computing, together with the major benefits of integrating them into your small business, enhancing and streamlining how your business operates.

Cloud Computing: What Exactly Is It? To put it simply, it is computing that’s based on the Internet. While historically, people have run programs from software or applications on a server or physical computer in their building and used data that is stored on that server or computer, cloud computing permits people to access the same types of applications and their data over the Internet. Cloud computing has been around for nearly two decades, but over the past few years, it has grown in popularity thanks to our dependence on and increased use of data. Most people are unaware that they are using cloud technology in their daily lives. If one’s streaming Netflix, they are using cloud computing. If one’s checking their account balance in banking apps, they do it via the cloud. Instagram and Facebook apps are based on cloud computing technology.

Digital Marketing How Cloud Computing Benefits Your Small Business Here are a few of the many benefits of cloud computing that can help enhance your business operations, resulting in extreme productivity:

Data Security Data loss is a big problem for businesses these days. From accidental deletion of data to malicious attempts by hackers to hold data for

ransom or steal information, modern enterprises have no shortage of threats. With such a high reliance on data and keeping it safe, it makes sense for small businesses to offload their processes and data somewhere more secure than an internal server.

While it may seem that saving data in another location that is accessed remotely is possible, cloud providers pose a greater risk as they know the ins and outs of security details such as encryption, authentication, and permissions. You can select who can access your data, and the cloud service provider can work with you to manage and protect your data.

Potential Cost Reduction If full ownership of your assets is important to you, you might see the monthly expenditure as one of the downsides of cloud computing. But do people know the total costs to buy, store, and maintain their servers? And what about the rooms that accommodate the unit required to keep them running day in and out? Every hardware component, from ventilation to cabling unit, has its price. Likewise, the software, licenses, and upgrades. Because cloud business solutions already cover the high cost of hosting and storing data, it may make more tax sense to outsource this and save on an otherwise ongoing and significant investment. 55 - CanadianSME - July 2022

Even if you think of choosing your own backups, this disruptive technology offers additional security and can help you stay compliant in your industry. Disaster recovery is an amazing benefit that frees your data from real-world incidents and safeguards your business continuity. The security of your company improves when you use an automated cloud backup system.

Scalability What if one needs to expand its operations to accommodate a new client next week, tomorrow? Many leading cloud service providers are willing and able to scale your data and resource needs. They understand the resources and costs you’ll need and can help you determine the best plan to keep

things moving throughout your growth phase. And if you need to scale down, or your growth is temporary or seasonal, you can easily downgrade too.

Mobility Even as remote teams return to the office in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the allure of working remotely will not disappear. Accessing the right data anywhere and anytime is the hallmark of an agile organization. Cloud-powered apps can connect your offices to the communication systems you generally use among clients, supplies, and customer service.

Many companies make and develop mobile solutions to serve their teams and sell to their customers. The cloud-based small business server is easy to build, test, and deploy applications and mobile solutions that make your brand memorable.

The Key Takeaway Cloud computing, in short, is the future of business, and with the proliferation of hybrid cloud solutions, you can reap the benefits even when using on-site solutions. By shifting as much as possible to the cloud and only keeping what you need on-premises, you easily get the best of both worlds and can keep up with your peers.

Try Guest Blogging Guest posting can immediately increase traffic to your site. Guest blogging allows you to get links back to your site from other sites hosting your content. In fact, many marketers use this strategy as an inbound marketing method. According to one success story, guest blogging increased search traffic by 340% and attracted over 100,000 site visitors per year.

In terms of SEO, search engines

Ways to for Your Newly Launched Website Your website is nothing but a direct extension of your small business

and reflects your identity, services, values, and character as a brand. Especially for small businesses, it’s important to get as many

potential customers as possible to your website as a website helps spread your brand message to audiences you might not otherwise be able to reach (e.g. a brick-and-mortar store). Someone looking for exactly what your business has to offer.

can give your domain a higher ranking if your site has backlinks

from trusted organizations such as blogs and publications from big companies. That said, you need to choose your guest blogging platform wisely. You can team up with other sites that cover similar

topics or are in the same industry. Also, writing in your area of expertise will allow you to create authoritative content that demonstrates your credibility.

There are plenty of ways you can accomplish this. If you want to

increase your website traffic to attract potential customers and drive profits, here are a few proven methods to give you fruitful results.

Write Meaningful Content One of the finest ways to steer traffic to your website is via organic content. This particular type of content is free and can be easily found by users using keyword searches. It may be on a blog, knowledge base, or resource page on a website. After starting a blog, you should start writing posts using keywords, phrases, and questions frequently. Then optimize your blog post for SEO by including the most searched keywords in the title, text, URL, and meta description. Being at the top of the front pages of search engines can help you get hundreds of clicks per month on a single blog post.

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Repurpose Your Content You don’t always need to create more content to drive traffic to your site. One recommended way to get the most out of your existing marketing materials is to repurpose them. For example, you can transform your articles into social media infographics to get creative with your content strategy and update your blog posts. Diversifying content types can help you reach more people and boost traffic to your website. Whatever you create to drive traffic, you need to make the most of your content. Don’t use the content only once. Use across multiple channels and that too at minimal cost.

Digital Marketing Create Eye-Catching Visual Content This tactic allows you to get more links and ads on other sites that help steer traffic to your website over time. Of course, you can’t attach visuals to the types of content people like. What types of visual content can you sketch out? Perhaps you should think like this:

Use SEO Tools Bulk keyword searches, tracking page rank, changing locations, featured snippets, backlinks, and more can be difficult and tedious. That’s why you should use a keyword research tool to automate, track, and report on important changes to your website. If you clearly understand why your strategic article or product page is dropping from the rankings, it will be better for your web traffic, and you will be warned to correct it.

Create Targeted Social Media Ads Organic social media marketing is a great way to

steer traffic to your website. However, they are often limited to showing content over and over to the same followers. By running paid ads and sponsoring social Data visualization related to niche markets.

Infographics help people quickly learn about complex topics.

Your business may be featured on other sites with photos that can be licensed through Creative Commons.

Link Internally

media posts, brands can reach new audiences at scale.

Various social media channels include Instagram,

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok, Pinterest, and more. Choose the one where users spend the most time. All you have to do is test different channels and then reallocate your budget and time to the network that provides the highest quality of traffic.

When you link to another resource in the same

domain on a page, this is called an “internal link”. Internal links are a way to drive web traffic when your website sends “link assets” to other articles you link to. When a blog post receives multiple backlinks, it strongly indicates to search engines that the page is highly important. Also, since text plays an important role in SEO, you’ll want to include relevant anchor text in your links. The phrases you use should be similar to the keywords you’re targeting to help your bot associate your article with your keywords. Let’s say your blog is using the ten-page cluster model. In this case, add more links to the main page to emphasize their importance in the cluster. In addition to this SEO boost also increases traffic to your landing pages as readers can navigate to your internal product pages or articles. 57 - CanadianSME - July 2022

Conclusion Every business owner is busy today, but it’s important to take the time to bolster your website. You might have one of the best websites in the world, but people don’t know how great that site or company is if you don’t steer traffic. It’s an important part of making your business thrive. By following these steps, businesses can expect to drive their newly launched website traffic over time, ensuring robust business growth.

Canada’s Need to Equal the Playing Field for LGBT+ Founders

By: Kayla Isabelle, CEO, Startup Canada & Darrell Schuurman, CEO, CGLCC

Picture this. A game of monopoly has already

been going on for three days and you are asked to join. In the past you haven’t been invited to many games, so you are thrilled at the opportunity – of course, you’ll join! But after a short amount of time you realize all of the properties have already been bought and sold, all of the resources have been handed out, and you’re starting from nothing. How can you win? You can’t. Well, you can’t unless someone changes the rules, gives each new player a few extra turns or certain resources are removed from the initial players. This is the reality for LGBT+ and other marginalized entrepreneurs across Canada. While circumstances have improved over the years – and that should be celebrated – the disparity between the original and new players still exists. 58 - CanadianSME - July 2022

LGBT+ entrepreneurs in Canada face significant barriers

to success, even in 2022. While things have moved in the right direction, issues continue to persist. Historic discrimination against LGBT+ individuals is not something of the past, nor does it exist in silos from other axes of oppression and marginalization – the hurdles that many LGBT+ founders face today are as a result of ongoing systemic, and structrual inequalities. Like an unfair game of monopoly, many from the community – and the organizations who work to support them – have had to focus on surviving over thriving for far too long. The clear gap in tailored and accessible tools, programs, and resources for LGBT+ entrepreneurs only exacerbates these barriers and, as a result, the continued inequity experienced by this community. Public and private sector players with the human and financial resources necessary to empower the research, development, implementation, and circulation of these vital resources need to step up – and urgently

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The CGLCC and Startup Canada recently experienced this gap firsthand when attempting to curate an all-encompassing resource guide for LGBT+ entrepreneurs at the start of Pride

Month. Of 15+ support organizations reached out to, all saw value in the initiative yet only three were able to submit resources. There is a serious, illuminating problem in that 80 percent of these organizations had no resources prepared to share, or those that did had next to no

capacity to be involved. It needs to be clarified that these realities are in no way the fault of these

specialized support entities. Despite extreme capacity barriers, understaffing, and underfunding, they work double-time to stretch whatever resources they do have –

financial and human – in order to make real, positive impacts on their communities. This underserved community of organizations, and those they represent, should be

focusing on their mandates, not having to spend their valuable time and energy fighting for the need to be recognized as vital and worthy of external support.

Specialized LGBT+ support organizations, whether inside or outside of the scope of founder support, exist across the country and do incredible work advocating for LGBT+ individuals. These organizations and the people who make up their teams work tirelessly on their mission to support the LGBT+ community each day – unfortunately, these organizations are often playing on the same monopoly board as the community they serve. 59 - CanadianSME - July 2022

Historically, Canada has portrayed itself as a friendly, accepting country. Sure, in many ways we are – we like to hold doors open for others and we say sorry… a lot. But for many underrepresented and marginalized communities – Indigenous Nations, visible minorities, people with disabilities – Canada is a place of mistrust and broken promises. In the case of the LGBT+ community, this also rings true. Historical discrimination against this community includes, but certainly isn’t limited to: Until 1990 The World Health Organization (WHO) classified homosexuality as a mental health disorder.

Until 1996 with the passing of Bill C-33, sexual orientation was not a prohibited grounds of discrimination in the Canadian Human Rights Act. Until 1992, it was illegal for 2SLGBTQ+ individuals to serve in the military.

Until 2005 gay marriage was illegal in Canada. The Conservative government attempted to reverse this ruling again in 2006. Until 2017 gender identity and gender expression were not a prohibited grounds of discrimination in the Canadian Human Rights Act. Until 2019 WHO deemed transgender individuals as having a mental illness, coined “gender dysphoria”.

Until 2021 Conversion Therapy was a legal practice in Canada.

Similar to the unfair monopoly game, these actions and inactions

have resulted in significant disparities and disadvantages for LGBT+ individuals today, including massively disproportionate rates of youth homelessness, large income disparities, and higher likelihood of mental health challenges and food insecurity. Despite more of the population identifying as LGBT+, indicating a more inclusive and accepting societal sentiment, hate crimes against this community have also been on the rise – increasing 41 per cent from 2009 to 2019. While these are the realities this entire community faces, it is important to also recognize that these inequalities are often compounded for visible minorities, people with disabilities, and other marginalized groups. Systemic inequalities and baked-in structural discrimination does not create an equal playing field – for many LGBT+ founders, inaccess to resources, mentorship, and role-models plays a role in overal longterm chances of success. This, in turn, equally impacts the support organizations that exist to serve LGBT+ entrepreneurs. In a society which has actively devalued you as a human being and gate kept its institutions, it’s no wonder we are still playing catch up on the journey to true equality.

Digital Marketing

According to a Deloitte May 2021 study, commissioned by CGLCC, 62 percent of respondents have chosen not to disclose their LGBT+ identity in official communications of their business. What’s more, 57 percent of respondents have on at least one occasion consciously hid their LGBT+ ownership status, with another 12 percent stating they had done this, but not consciously. And, unfortunately, these fears are not unfounded. According to CGLCC, more than a third of LGBT+ entrepreneurs have lost opportunities due to being a part of this community.

Interestingly, the study also found that most ventures surveyed are classified as small businesses and are not expected to scale as much or as quickly as other nonLGBT+ owned businesses. In fact, 37 percent of respondents indicated they are unsure of the future of

to come together and work to create real, tangible change for this community of founders and fight for true economic inclusion in Canada today. We – CGLCC and Startup Canada – call on the big, well-resourced players across the ecosystem to recognize the gaps that exist, take them seriously, and collaborate with specialized support providers – enabling them with the support necessary to develop resources independently, and with their own expertise. Together, we can combat these inequalities through both human and financial resource reallocation. After all, it should not be the responsibility of the new, under-resourced players to roll the dice and even the playing field.

their company, so are avoiding hiring.

The same study indicated the top five problems LGBT+ founders face: funding, mentorship, discrimination aquiring suppliers and new customers, difficulty

networking in their sector, and as mentioned above, growing their venture. By far the top pain point for this

community was funding, with 70 per cent of respondents stating they have never encountered specialized funding

programs for LGBT+ owned businesses, despite the definite need for such programs. In fact only 25 per cent were able to identify a single specialized funding program for this community and only 13 per cent successfully acquired funding. From this we understand there is both a lack of sufficient financial resources for LGBT+ owned ventures, as well as a general gap in knowledge of what is available across the startup ecosystem in Canada.

The 100,000+ LGBT+ owned businesses across the country account for $22 billion in economic activity and employ over 435,000 Canadians. Throughout Canada’s startup landscape, it is clear that businesses owned by LGBT+ founders continuously push the limits – delivering incredible ideas, undisputable quality, and inspiring innovation. There is no lack of passion and dedication from LGBT+ entrepreneurship organizations and those they support, but debilitating capacity issues as a result of insufficient, short term funding are all too common. It is vital for the startup support ecosystem 60 - CanadianSME - July 2022

About CGLCC CGLCC, Canada’s LGBT+ Chamber of

Commerce, is a national non-profit organization representing Canada’s 100,000+ LGBTQ2+-owned businesses. Its goal is to

create positive social change by economically empowering the LGBT+ community through

entrepreneurship. CGLCC works to create a truly inclusive economy where all LGBT+ businesses and entrepreneurs have access and the opportunity to actively participate.

About Startup Canada Startup Canada is the gateway to Canada’s entrepreneurial ecosystem that points you in the right direction, eliminates barriers, and champions your needs to private and public sector partners. We connect you with support organizations and peers across the country with industry expertise, regional knowledge, and funding to help you start and build successful businesses.

By:Nunzio Presta Founder & CEO of BuyAndSellABusiness.com

So, to effectively market a business for sale, not only does it have to be

valuable, it needs to be sellable, especially in the micro market. In larger markets, acquisitions can happen for strategic reasons, even if the

Over the years, many

business isn’t profitable; however, in the micro market, some buyers have the strategy/patience/resources to pull a business out of the gutter, but a majority of buyers are looking for an immediate return, or

are my thoughts.

I’ve seen thousands of acquisitions in the micro market over the past 10

have asked me how to effectively market a business for sale? Here

Out the gate, the business needs to be sellable in order for it to be marketable. Like Gary Vaynerchuk says: ‘No Amount of Marketing Solves a Bad Product’, and in this case, no amount of marketing will sell a bad business.

61 - CanadianSME - July 2022

looking for passive income or looking to replace their job. Therefore, the marketability depends on how sellable the business is.

years, and in general, there has been a consistent pattern with sellable businesses. First, they have great timing and align with social/economic/tech trends. We urge our buyers to buy the business

for future opportunities, not for what the business is today per se. Next, sellable businesses are self-sufficient – meaning they aren’t dependent on a particular stakeholder, and last, sellable businesses have strong and healthy financials (bonus points go to businesses with recurring models).

Now, if your business meets the above criteria, in order to effectively market the sale of your business, you’ll need to be organized and prepared. At BuyAndSellABusiness.com, our Full Serve Solution has digitized and automated the purchase and sale experience by helping buyers and sellers navigate through the offer, due diligence and closing phase, helping users stay organized, and creating a seamless and transparent deal room. Within the deal room, buyers and sellers have the ability to chat, exchange documents, and request and accept all necessary funds to get the deal done. They also have access to deal support throughout the experience, giving both parties full control from start to finish. In a nutshell, the most important documents and information (aka marketing material) that should be available in a deal room for a buyer to make an informed decision would be:

Digital Marketing

You want to study the downside scenarios – what will happen to the business if workers and competitors find out? In most cases, it’s not as bad as people think.

You want to overcommunicate – humans fear the unknown, so timely, transparent communication around succession plans or an exit is super important to build trust and confidence among your team.

You want to collaborate with all stakeholders - if you make all your stakeholders part of the conversation sooner than later, it will reduce the amount of disruption. Sure, some employees may leave; however, more will end up staying because they’ll see themselves as a

“collaborator,” having a part in the bigger picture of the business. We’ve seen it, especially during 1. Sales (are they diversified) 2. Expenses 3. Gross Margins 4. Accounts Receivable and Payable 5. Product Lines 6. Inventory 7. Liabilities 8. Customers 9. Markets 10. Competitors 11. Assets 12. Intellectual Property 13. Equipment Leases and Insurance Coverage

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the pandemic. The business leaders who collaborated and asked for advice from all stakeholders ended up with better, more

creative feedback and ideas to tackle any headwind, leading them to a better place than those leaders that were closed off and secretive. In the end, every business is different – so it’s a sensitive conversation about how, when and where to market the sale of a business. Our goal at BuyAndSellABusiness.com is to balance confidentiality with exposure – by filtering buyers, empowering our sellers to use alias names, and by working on features and mechanisms that force serious buyers to send non-binding offers or connections before opening the communication channels. In the end, no one appreciates tire kickers or users looking to exploit confidential information, so we are driven to tackle this day in and day out in order to make Business Ownership Real and Business Exits Easy for people around the world.

3 Ways Business Execs Can Fight Inflation trail monster

In addition, the trucking industry finds it difficult to retain drivers and attain a

suitable capacity. As a result, from 2019 to 2022, the cost to ship a container via truck tripled ($5K to $15K). It all adds up to inflation.

By Deborah Fell and Kevin Scott

Historical Inflation Rates Provide Perspective

The dollar had an average inflation rate of 8.58% in the last 12

During the 1970s and ‘80s, Americans

months. As a result, the real value of a dollar has been decreasing recently. The increasing inflation rate has

dramatically impacted business and the economy. Many business executives seek practical strategies to fight inflation. Business leaders must understand the context to navigate the current inflationary period successfully. So let us examine some of the leading causes of inflation today and strategies business executives can employ to fight it.

Inflation Drivers Inflation Drivers After looking at the causes from the interview, stay tuned for our expert’s take on strategies to fight inflation. The leading causes of inflation are increased demand, more jobs, and supply chain problems. With incomes up due to government stimulus checks and raises, demand accelerates. In addition, year-over-year job postings indicate the need to replenish workers lost to attrition and fill new positions required to keep up with demand. As the third leg in the crisis, disruption in the supply chain goes beyond manufacturing facilities locked down due to the pandemic. For example, cargo ships now sit in the ocean waiting to unload (e.g., at the Port of Long Beach, 80 ships from China sit waiting to be unloaded, each containing up to 24,000 containers).

experienced inflation rates of 10-15%. In a different situation at another time, the high inflation rates of the late 1970s and early 1980s related more to global geopolitical issues than the structural matters described above.

At that time, Federal Bank Chairman

Volcker instituted high-interest rates to catch up. Moreover, while fluid and fastmoving, the current situation offers hope. Several economists believe inflation should be contained mainly by the end of 2022 or early 2023.

Three Most Important Inflation Impacts on Businesses After identifying the causes, Kevin noted three significant ways inflation affects companies: cash loses value, increased cost of goods sold, and squeezed overall profits.

Digital Marketing #1 Cash Loses Value Holding much cash in an inflationary environment can be a disadvantage. So it is better to deploy before rates go higher and the value of the money goes down.

#2 Increasing Cost of Goods Sold Example: Assume a construction company contracts to build a $1M building with an initial cost of materials of $350K. When the company purchases those materials, the price of two-

by-fours may have doubled, driving the cost of goods (COGS) up and margins down.

Business executives find it challenging to pass those increased costs onto the

Three Strategies to Fight Inflation #1 Carefully Raise Prices Business leaders must evaluate their current pricing structure and look to incorporate price adjustments into contracts. Logistics and trucking firms, for example, institute a fuel surcharge when diesel fuel rises above a certain amount. With the current situation, most businesses expect price increases. So,

moving swiftly to adjust pricing and hedge for the future makes the difference in a successful pricing strategy. Consider adding value to support price increases. For example, a software business could bundle additional services at low prices.

#2 Stock Up on Supplies and Raw Materials With high cash levels, consider front-loading or buying raw materials in bulk (instead of buying six months from now) to save money and obtain a bulk discount. If strapped for cash, consider borrowing to stock up (see below).

#3 Reevaluate Cash and Credit Facilities If doing well, consider going to the company’s credit facilities to secure a

consumer/client. In addition,

loan because the company will pay the loan back with less valuable dollars. For example, what $100 will purchase today differs from six months ago.

retaining sub-contractors

Also, consider making those technology, personnel, and other investment moves essential to driving growth and efficiencies, providing long-term

they will likely also spend more money acquiring and and employees, further negatively impacting the bottom line.

#3 Overall Profits Squeezed Access to capital becomes limited as profits diminish for some because their credit facilities’ covenants require certain levels of profitability. In the construction company example above, an anticipated $250K profit may fall to $200K because COGS increased, requiring more investment for the same materials. So, what can businesses do now? 64 - CanadianSME - July 2022

benefits. For example, investments in buildings, machinery, and even an acquisition are viable options.

Regardless of the chosen strategy, evaluate how competitors react to the situation. Furthermore, monitor the health and performance quality of suppliers.

There is an Opportunity to Win All business cycles produce winners and losers. However, opportunities abound depending on the current state of the business and the speed of decision-making. Kevin summed it up with the above three strategies to help companies win during these inflationary times.

Deborah Fell is Partner & CMO with Chief Outsiders, the nation’s largest and fastestgrowing firm offering fractional Chief Marketing Officer services with Fortune 500 experience. Kevin Scott is a Partner with B2B CFO, a firm that provides management advisory services to privately held companies.

3 Small-But-Impactful Ways to Cut Monthly Costs in Your Company As a business owner, you likely have so many monthly expenses — manufacturing costs, shipping, payroll for employees, and the list goes on. It is paramount to always be on the lookout for new ways to lower your operational expenses, as it will help you increase your monthly profit margin. It will also open up more funds that can be funneled into new sales and marketing processes, ultimately helping your business grow. If you aren’t always searching for new ways to cut costs, you won’t be maximizing your business’s potential in the market.

Are you having trouble thinking of innovative ways to cut your business’s monthly costs? I’m here to help! In my experience as the CEO and founder of CMA Exam Academy, a Certified Management Accountant exam review program, I’ve discovered these small-but-impactful ways to lower the expenses your business incurs each month.

For example, does your marketing team have

Nathan Liao Founder of CMA Exam Academy

several people posting on the Facebook page and replying to comments each day? There Disorganized and/or inefficient processes can cause so much waste in terms of lost time,

heightened payroll expenses from having too much manpower in one process, confusion that leads to errors which will need to be fixed, and more. So take a long look at all of the processes in every department of your business’s infrastructure. This includes your sales strategies, customer service initiatives, administrative workflows, public relations campaigns, and HR protocols. Then comes the fun part: seeing all the ways you can streamline each process!

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could be a lot of time-wasting back-andforth communication between them as they try to figure out who will reply to certain comments and when to schedule posts. So why not see if one person can handle all of the activities on the company’s Facebook page? The other person(s) can be put in

charge of another social media channel or an entirely different initiative you know they would excel at. In another example, say you have a customer service process that looks like this: someone sends an inquiry to a general “help” email address, the person in charge of replying asks a team lead about the best way to respond, and that person doesn’t know what to say so they have to ask a higher-up who finally has the right answer. Inefficient, right? One way to streamline this process is by having a cloud-based info portal filled with all kinds of email templates for potential inquiries, which the initial customer service rep can access at any time. Or, make sure your website’s FAQ page is continually updated with common questions and answers!

Digital Marketing

Technology has helped businesses run more efficiently than ever in today's digital era. One instance of this is in how restaurants use software platforms to allow patrons to place pickup orders and book reservations online, rather than paying staff to man the phones so they can take orders and reservations. You can also use software to automate repetitive tasks to allow employees to focus on revenue-generating tasks and decrease costs across your company! So much time is wasted on recurring tasks that can easily be done by efficient software platforms. For example, do your sales team members spend hours sending every single client lead a check-in email each

For example, your current CRM could offer the exact project management capabilities your business needs, such as the ability to schedule tasks, set deadlines, and instant message team members. If you become wellversed in all of your CRM’s functions, you could get rid of your project management software and its recurring cost! On top of this, you may discover that your CRM even has the ability to send out intricate and engaging enewsletters, allowing you to also eliminate your platform for sending out email campaigns. Even further, the CRM may even offer hefty file storage so you don’t have to pay for a separate cloud-based drive anymore!

month to see if they have any questions and offer an exclusive introductory discount? All their hours on this task could be put towards initiatives to scout out even more leads (like cold-calling or attending tradeshows). So if you haven’t done so already, adopt the use of an

advanced CRM that allows your sales team to automate these email check-ins. For businesses that charge clients by the hour, manually tracking billable hours is another repetitive task that wastes SO much time each month. You can easily automate this task for you and your employees using

time-tracking software like Timely. This software allows users to set the billable rate(s), track time spent on various tasks (which is recorded to a private dashboard that only the user can access), and then choose which billable timeblocks to include in the recaps for clients.

One of the best ways you can boost your

company’s overall profits is by cutting down on monthly expenses. You can do just that by streamlining systems to lower operational costs and by automating employees’ repetitive tasks with innovative technology.

On top of this, maximize all of your software platforms’ capabilities to see if you can

eliminate at least one application. These three easy-yet-effective steps should help you lower your business’s monthly costs and improve your overall bottom line.

Using time-tracking software can free up a ton of hours that can be put towards revenue-generating activities.

About Nathan Liao

Think of all of the various software platforms you use daily. Do you currently use a separate CRM and project management platform? A separate platform to send out e-newsletters and a cloud-based drive to store documents, spreadsheets, and images? You can likely eliminate at least one software application just by maximizing another platform’s capabilities. This means you can remove one cost from your list of monthly expenses, which can translate into big savings in the long run!

Nathan Liao is the founder of CMA Exam Academy, a top Certified Management Accountant exam review program. As a CMA and CMA coach, Nathan mentors accounting and finance professionals in over 80 countries to earn their CMA certification in as little as 8 months. The unique review framework in CMA Exam Academy has proven to be the key to his students’ outstanding success in attaining their dream of earning the Certified Management Accountant certification. www.cmaexamacademy.com

Unlocking the Potential of All Canadians

By Alita Fabiano

For businesses, accessibility is a key consideration

that plays a role in their day-to-day operations. For the 6 million Canadians with disabilities,

accessibility is fundamental in shaping their personal and professional lives. As someone with single-sided deafness, I know some of the struggles faced with partaking in the workforce, but I also know the pride and fulfillment of finding a company to work for that supports and appreciates your experiences. Individuals with disabilities add incredible value to any organization, especially considering their job retention rates are 72% higher than the Canadian average. As some of the most resilient individuals, their lived experiences can lead to unique problemsolving forms, heightened empathy, and valuable insight. Through inclusion, we can build a workforce as resilient as the individuals behind it and ultimately address issues more humanely and economically efficiently.

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NOMADIC

Digital Marketing A barrier-free work environment not only betters the quality of life for persons with disabilities but also can create a more sustainable future for work. The unemployment rate for people with disabilities in Canada is nearly 5 times higher than the national average. These individuals are an untapped pool of talent seeking to participate in our workforce but cannot due to lack of accessibility. Furthermore, it’s been proven that diverse and inclusive workplaces

Hiring managers also play an imperative role in ensuring that people with disabilities can access information pertaining to a job role. It’s important that job descriptions clearly articulate the responsibilities of the role and identify day-to-day responsibilities rather than listing broad descriptions such as “communications skills required”. Detailed information like this is needed because for someone like myself, who is hearing impaired, I may see communications skills as a barrier and be hesitant to apply for a role,

diverse competitors.

requires will open the doors to a more diverse candidate pool. It’s important these accessible actions

lead to higher levels of trust, improved employee productivity, higher revenue growth, and an increased likelihood of outperforming less

That said, to access this talent, businesses need to eliminate any barriers that are within their control, as well as create a more inclusive work

but if I know the task associated with the role is writing content, I know that I’m still qualified to apply. Ultimately, clearly stating what the job actually

continue by making the interview process inclusive for people with disabilities as well.

environment. The first step to achieving this is educating yourself on the experiences of people with disabilities, as well as assessing any

You will also want to identify and address any barriers someone with a disability may face in the workplace, which can be done through an accessibility audit. A

disability means that they will not be able to fulfill the entire scope of a role or that they will

as well as customer service. For example, Canadians with disabilities historically are paid less than those

unconscious biases you may have. There is often a stigma or fear that hiring a person with a

need substantial assistance, but that could not be further from the truth. People with disabilities are just as capable in the workplace, and often the biggest accommodation needed is an accepting, respectful, and understanding work

culture. Employers should focus on an individual’s abilities and how easy adaptability can be. The next step is to ensure your entire team is of the same mindset and knows how they can play a role in creating a more accessible workplace. Not only senior management, but mid and junior level employees as well, need to recognize the importance of diversity and inclusivity so that individuals feel supported at every level. Human resources also need to rethink how different work environments, priorities, and lifestyles affect their employees. Additionally, continuing to check-in and support employees long-term is crucial.

holistic assessment looks at your workplace policies and procedures, web accessibility, built environment,

without for the exact same role. To address this, your audit may include ensuring there are no pay disparities within your organization, and if there is, addressing it immediately.

Lastly, the most important element is offering employees with disabilities continued support. Being an inclusive workplace doesn’t end at hiring someone

with a disability, it’s important that your company takes the proper measures to continue to be accessible and promote an inclusive work culture where everyone is treated with respect and empathy. It’s important that all employees, especially those with disabilities, feel supported and that they have the resources they need to succeed in the workplace.

For ways to improve workplace diversity and inclusion, visit www.lrostaffing.com/workplace-diversity-equity-inclusion/ for tools and resources.

THE SMALL BUSINESS SUMMIT 2022

Embracing digital disruption

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26th October, 2022 - 8 am to 6 pm Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Toronto