The Bank of Canada recently released its Q4 2022 business outlook survey, the results of which show a pretty pragmatic view of the Canadian economy, and what to expect in the months and year ahead. Highlights: Most businesses surveyed expect a mild recession in at least the first half of the year About 30% expect … Read more
The BOC just released its benchmark Consumer Expectations survey from Q4, and, while the results aren’t necessarily surprising to anyone in the SMB community, they do present some opportunities. First, the highlights: Consumers have reduced purchases of discretionary items Access to consumer credit has worsened, and real wage growth has declined, further pressuring households Consumers … Read more
No matter how many years you’ve been in business, how many customers love you, what your financials and KPI’s indicate: you can be better. If you disagree, I’ll invite you to visit your local Apple Store. There, you’ll see best in class: retail customer service floor management processes payment and receipting processes upsell programs staff … Read more
Spain recently announced a brave new national strategy to improve worker productivity. The model was introduced during the pandemic, and is referred-to as the ‘Scandinavian Model’ – at its core is a belief that productivity will rise if working hours are reduced. It’s only for full time employees, and Spain intends to – at least … Read more
Mystery shopping – the act of having someone pose as a customer, with the intent of gathering non-biased insight into the customer journey with your business – is a valuable undertaking. The value of engaging a mystery shopper is directly related to two things: Your potential customer lifetime value (the higher the PCLV, the greater … Read more
From the CRA site: ” The Canada Small Business Financing Program makes it easier for small businesses to get loans from financial institutions by sharing the risk with lenders. Term loans can be used to finance the following costs: purchase or improvement of land or buildings used for commercial purposes purchase or improvement of new or … Read more
In this morning’s Globe and Mail, James Bradshaw reports ‘Scotiabank’s fourth-quarter profit slips on higher costs, increased loan-loss provisions.’ In his report, Bradshaw notes that “Provisions for credit losses spiked from ultralow levels last year”. He goes on to note that “Scotiabank continued to face pressure on its profit margin on loans, with its net … Read more
SMB owners are notorious for ‘kicking the can down the road’ on the subject of retirement readiness. Too many priorities? This worksheet is a useful tool to get a sense of where you are now, and where you need to be: Please note that this is provided for information only, and is not to replace … Read more
A key component of the net worth of any SMB owner is the value tied-up in their business. While most people have a good idea of their personal net worth, its easy to overlook the potential sale value of their business. This calculator (presented for information purposes only) will give you a sense of the … Read more
SMB’s often make the mistake of thinking that they have ‘great service’…usually because the business was built from scratch, often as service as a core value. But, when the business grows, the ability to manage service as effectively as in the ‘old days’ can too-easily slip away. Without a service-management structure in place, the gradual … Read more