Posted by admin on September 29, 2010 under Business | 
Some Issues with Selling a Business in Canada’s Largest City
Many business owners looking to list a business for sale in Toronto deal with somewhat of a paradox. The city of Toronto, Ontario is a bustling metropolis, filled with opportunity and it attracts numerous immigrant investors every year. Yet some owners looking to sell a business state that they have trouble selling their small businesses in Toronto – Canada’s largest city. This article will explore some of the reasons why company owners may list a business for sale in Toronto and have trouble finding a buyer.
There are consequences to not dealing with a professional
Listing a business for sale in Toronto is an entirely different process than selling a piece of real estate. Yet, some business owners looking to sell still choose to deal with salespeople that sell real estate. The consequences can be that the business sales process goes awry and business for sale don’t attract the right Toronto buyers and the companies languish on the market. If you are looking to sell your company (especially in a city as competitive as Toronto) then choose to deal with the professional that can properly assist you.
The business for sale is not priced properly
If you are looking to sell a small business, it is critical that you go to market with it being properly priced. This is especially true if you’re in Toronto. Selling a business in Toronto is not an easy task. True, there are many immigrant investors that are attracted to the GTA and there are plenty of buyers – but there are plenty of sellers too. Finding the right buyer for your business for sale Toronto is difficult enough so don’t make the take even more difficult by overpricing the business. Owners that list their business too high generally don’t attract as many buyers as they could and the business gets ‘market stale’. If you want to sell your business and attract qualified buyers from around the city, work with a professional that can assist you in the business sales process.
Please, report all your earnings!
Many small business owners in Toronto make the common (and highly unadvisable) mistake of not claiming some or all of their cash earnings from their companies. There are many businesses for sale in Toronto where the owners have done this and believe that they have ‘saved’. Besides this being a very big ‘no-no’ from CCRA, there is another cost involved to the small business seller. Generally, small businesses are valued based on a multiple of earnings. If ‘cash’ earnings of a small business are not reported then the business valuation is then that much smaller. So, if a business owner believes he or she is saving in income taxes avoided, the truth is that they’ve made their business valuation that much tougher to justify. As well, business buyers generally get a big ‘red flag’ when they encounter a business for sale that has an undeclared ‘cash’ component to it. They are much more difficult to get financing for (if at all). Honesty truly is the best policy.
Perhaps Toronto buyers are willing… but are they able?
Often, a potential business buyer will embark on a search for a business for sale in Toronto without the right forethought into the process… and what type of business they would like to own. For instance, there are many restaurants, laundromats, gas stations and retail establishments for sale and a potential pool of buyers for these types of businesses. The trouble is, are these potential buyers truly ready to own a dry cleaner or a printing shop? To paraphrase an old saying, “the will is there, but not the skill”. This is a common occurrence in Toronto where a large group of new investors and business buyers want to “go into business” but truly aren’t prepared for the challenges this involved. The point is, if you want to sell your Toronto business it is important to properly qualify the buyer. Most people believe that this is merely a financial exercise but a professional business brokers will tell you otherwise.
Posted by admin on September 24, 2010 under Online Business |
Media advertising is a general term which refers to conveying a business marketing message through any form of advertising media. Of course, all advertising is media advertising – but there are important differences between the different types of advertising media. Different media offer different ways to promote your products, services or brand image. Here, we’ll take a look at some of the most important media and how they can help you to reach your target markets.
The internet has changed the way the world does business over the last decade, including in the field of advertising. Online advertising is an increasingly important element of advertising strategies for companies in nearly every economic sector, starting to overshadow traditional advertising mainstays such as newspaper advertising and magazine advertising. Advertising online can be more cost effective than print advertising and is also easy to track, monitor and fine tune as needed.
To learn more about what internet advertising formats such as ppc advertising can do for your business, have a look at information pages and resources which are dedicated the topic. Here you’ll find an in-depth look at how internet advertising works and more importantly, how they can work for your business.
Every business needs to keep their advertising strategy up to date to meet the demands of an increasingly competitive global business environment. Regular analysis of market trends and consumer behavior as it relates to your target markets are essential for continued growth – and your advertising strategy needs to be carefully planned to ensure effective campaigns which provide an optimal return on investment.
Making accurate cost-benefit analysis of different advertising media is a complex task which should be undertaken with great care; for this reason, many firms prefer to leave it to the experts.
Your business can make the most of its resources by outsourcing media planning and media buying to professional buying media services. These firms have the expertise and the inside track on media advertising across all formats including online advertising and traditional media and can usually find the perfect match for your company. Any advertising agency or marketing firm you work with should be chosen carefully. You’ll usually get the best results from agencies who understand your industry and your market.
If your budget allows, your company should look at using TV advertising or radio advertising to really make a splash for your brand. Broadcast media advertising can reach the general public as well as being carefully target to different consumer demographics or even for business-to-business advertising. These media outlets can work with you to determine how to provide you with the best ROI.
Long used in the US, outdoor advertising is an increasingly common advertising medium in the UK and across Europe as well as elsewhere in the world. Roadside billboards, signs on the sides of buildings and other outdoor advertising media offer an effective way to promote events and build brand image at a surprisingly low cost. You can find a lot of outdoor advertising opportunities on a variety of websites and through targeted companies. From roadside and building advertisements to ambient advertising, transports, venues and more, there are many outdoor advertising possibilities to consider.
Posted by admin on September 21, 2010 under Online Business |
If you are a businessperson, you are always looking for ways you can promote your business, creating a stable clientele and therefore maximizing your profits. Apart from conventional methods of marketing, the internet is today the new and exciting frontier of marketing and networking. Internet marketing is now considered a major means of advertising and promoting your business. The advent of social media websites has been at the forefront of this drive.
Having said that, time management is a key aspect when using social networking websites. You will need to balance the time you spend on promoting your business and actually running the business. The fruits of your effort when implementing may take time to be realised and more so if you have minimal experience. Overall, the effectiveness of these tools depends on your knowledge of how to manipulate and utilise these powerful marketing tools. If done well, the benefits can be gratifying. However, the results of internet marketing can be very fruitful if the proper procedures are used; and among today’s most popular social networking sites, they do not come any bigger than Twitter and Facebook. So let us briefly look at each.
Twitter
Twitter allows you to build a social network of followers: a potential gold mine for businesses. In Twitter terms, followers are the people with whom you share common interests. They are technically your fans. With Twitter, and more so if you have a business-oriented objective, you can also follow other people who you consider potential clients. To attract a large following, you need to first create an attractive profile, which should preferably include your photograph.
Twitter has an advantage over other social websites in the sense that it is flexible and customizable. You may change the appearance of your Twitter page by including links, graphics and even changing the colour theme. It is advisable that you use a colour theme that is similar to your company website’s colour theme. Twitter allows you to change your Twitter Uniform Resource Locator (URL) address and this gives you the chance to include keywords related to your business. Including your company’s biography on your Twitter page may also increase the chances of numerous hits to your website but this largely depends on how you use your keywords. Within no time, major search engines may pick your website or Twitter page, as long as you used your keywords wisely.
Facebook
Having a Facebook page starts with you creating your personal profile. However, you should ensure that you separate your personal Facebook profile and your business page for the purposes of maintaining business integrity and personal privacy. Although Facebook is not as flexible as Twitter, it is still among the most powerful social media websites. It allows you to create a Facebook page for your business. Make your page as attractive as possible and at the same time devoid of unnecessary in-your-face sales-like links. This is because numerous links will give the impression that you are only interested in promoting your business rather than giving valuable information.
Posted by admin on September 16, 2010 under Business |
Many of us born before the digital age, often have amassed a large collection of analog media. We may also have older digital technologies that we wish to upgrade to current media standards.
Some advantages of Digitizing your media, include:
*Reduction of Clutter
*Centralization your various media
*Ability to share with friends and family.
*The ability to easily make copies.
Ready to take the digital plunge?
First thing is first, organize your media. Decide what you’d like to digitize. Take inventory and see what you are able to do on your own and what makes sense to send out to a service.
Documents- I am terrible at paper management. In order to stay organized, I scan all my bills, documents, receipts and then discard them. For light scanning, a flat bed scanner will do. For higher quantity scans, I would recommend a Scanner with a sheet feeder. Very Large scan jobs can be farmed out to a professional.
Photos- Been tempted to place your high school photos on Facebook for the 30th reunion? How about digitizing your photos? Small collections can be scanned with a flatbed or sheet feeding scanner. If you have thousands of photos, you may want to utilize the services of scanmyphotos.com for $50 they will scan 1000 of your photos and provide you with a DVD of all your photos.
Negatives and Slides- remember those? For the occasional negative scan, many flatbeds come with a slide adapter. To scan an entire collection, a slide scanner or scanning service may make more sense.
Video- we will discuss a few common video formats. Please be aware if your media is recorded in the PAL or NTSC format to insure you have the correct gear. For more information on the formats, see my article “Top Tech Tips for Olim”
VHS, VHS-C, Hi8 – These formats can easily be converted to DVD with the use of a DVD Recorder. Simply connect RCA, S-VIDEO, or other supported cable from the output of your VCR or CAMCORDER, to the input on your DVD recorder.
If you’d like to manipulate and edit your footage, there are video capture devices and software that allow you to download the footage to your computer where you can make edits and then render the file as a movie to play on your PC or on a DVD.
Digital 8, Mini-DV – These cameras are equipped with FireWire connections which allow you to download your footage to your PC or MAC, once it captured on your computer, the video can be edited and converted to a digital file for your hard drive or “Burned” to a DVD.
Records – Have an old record collection? Are/Were you a DJ with lots of vinyl?
There are specialized USB turntables that allow you to convert your records to MP3 format.
With additional hardware and software, you can mix and manipulate your music. Audacity is a free audio editing program and is a good start.
Cassettes and REEL to Reel recordings With an RCA output from the cassette player connected to the input on your sound card, you can record the cassette to a digital file. With specialized software, you can enhance the sound quality of your recordings. If you don’t have inputs on your sound card, you can pick up a USB adapter.
CD’S- With programs like Itunes or widows media player, it’s easy to copy your audio collection to hard disk, and access them with the computers on your network. You can also make compilation CD’s for the road.
DVDS- With low cost disk space available, it is possible to backup your personal DVD collection to hard disk, where you can view them all in a central location. To backup a DVD to Hard Disk, you will need DVD Ripping software to convert the DVD to a usable format.
Note: In all the above scenarios, we are assuming you are digitizing your own material. Before making copies of any copyright media, familiarize yourself with the laws. In some cases you may be able to make a backup copy for your own use if you are the rightful owner of the media.
For those looking to digitize your family history, I recommend taking a look at
the book “Digitizing your family history.”
We’ve gone through various media digitization options. Once you have your collection digitized, be aware that digital files do not last forever. It is important to setup a backup and security strategy for your precious data. Please see my article on “securing your data and systems.” I hope this article has been helpful. Share your media conversion tips or experiences on the blog.
Finally, if you need assistance in digitizing or backing up your media feel free to contact us regarding our services.
Posted by admin on September 14, 2010 under Business |
Almost one in five small businesses are now tweeting regularly, according to research released recently by O2, the mobile phone provider. (“Small Businesses are Catching Twitter Bug,” Richard Tyler, The Telegraph, 16 March 2009) Although the larger, multinational firms were the first to jump on the Twitter bandwagon, increasing numbers of small to medium sized businesses are catching up. In many ways Twitter is an even more useful tool for the mom-and-pop operators than for the big businesses with deep financial pockets and large advertising budgets. Twitter is free, simple and easy to use and is the newest, most useful tool for small businesses looking to increase sales and profits.
Cost savings
Small businesses that use Twitter save on marketing and recruitment costs. A substantial amount has been saved by firms who use Twitter instead of traditional marketing methods, an impressive cost reduction from the small business perspective. (“UK Small Businesses Flock to Twitter,” News Desk, smallbizpod, 17 March 2009) Small businesses often have little, if any, advertising budget. Having a Twitter account is much cheaper than maintaining a web page or an email distribution list. For smaller enterprises, the immediate intimacy of tweets suit their business philosophy and approach better than impersonal, sweeping advertising campaigns.
Spread the word
A Crème Brulee cart operating in San Francisco grew by word of mouth via Twitter and within a few months the proprietor had quit his day job to keep up with demand. (“Mom-and-Pop Operators Turn to Social Media,” Claire Cain Miller, New York Times, 23 July 2009) Such a success story illustrates that direct marketing, especially the word of mouth kind of Twitter, is a powerful tool for small businesses looking to expand their customer base. Business owners can also tweet about discounts or new, just-in products, reeling in new customers and enticing regular ones.
Relationship management
Twitter is useful for small businesses wanting to keep in touch with suppliers. The micro blogging tool allows small businesses to connect to other small companies, promoting a sense of community that goes beyond traditional geographical borders. An antique store in Texas connects with customers in New Jersey and orders supplies from out of town – all transactions were made through Twitter-based relationships. (“Mom-and-Pop Operators Turn to Social Media”) Twitter enables businesses to increase the range of contacts, whether with suppliers, potential customers or support services like accounting and consulting firms.
Feedback loop
Small businesses rarely conduct market surveys as these are too expensive and time consuming for the average small to medium enterprise. But what about grass root surveys? Twitter allows the small business to monitor what people are saying about their business and their products. You can ask for active feedback and criticism, respond to questions and deal with any disgruntled tweets through Twitter. Listening to what’s happening on the ground can also help small businesses decide on a strategic direction.
Keep your enemies closer
Competition is fierce for the small to medium enterprise. Twitter lets small businesses monitor their competition. What new initiatives are on the horizon and what can you do to keep ahead? If your competitors are not on Twitter, you can search for tweets that mention them so you can see what others are saying about them. Competitive intelligence is a good reason for small businesses to use Twitter and stay a step ahead of the crowd.
Differentiation
Being able to build a presence can make or break a small business. How do you differentiate your shop or enterprise from everyone else’s? Twitter allows a dash of creativity, humor and humanity in marketing your business. Tweets are personable and twitter accounts can be as funny or outstanding as you want them to be – the better for your customers to remember you by. A car dealer in Albany, New York, has the attention grabbing twitter profile “iamhuge”, a silly and memorable profile name that fits in with the business’s general marketing pitch and attracts curious customers to his website, Twitter account and dealership. (“Being HUGE on Twitter: A Small Business Case Study,” Rebecca Kelley, website: 10er20.com/blog, 4 August 2009)
In summary Twitter is not just for the big guys. Small businesses are signing up for Twitter accounts in droves. There are a lot of benefits of using Twitter to the small business, including cutting marketing costs and keeping tabs on competitors.
