CanadianSME October Issue

CANADIANSME ISSUEE 11 OCTOBER 2019

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Q&A: Your questions answered

WELCOME Fall is upon us and 2020 is less than 3 months away. Now is the best time to start working on New Year’s resolutions. As the first-year anniversary of CanadianSME’ s launch is approaching, we could not be prouder of everything we have accomplished so far. Not only have we gained national recognition, but we’re also a best choice for entrepreneurs when it comes to having an online platform that provides all the resources and knowledge they need to make their business a success. CanadianSME has come a long way since it’s first issue. Every month, more and more entrepreneurs put their trust in us to provide them with valuable content that can contribute to the success of their business. This month is no different and we’ve made it our mission to deliver quality exceptional content.

The month of October is without a doubt one of the most important months for small business owners. Why? It’s the month that BDC celebrates the Small Business Week. This year marks the 40th edition of BDC Small Business Week. Additionally, BDC is also celebrating their 75th anniversary. From October 20th to 26th, BDC Small Business Week will be celebrated all throughout Canada. This is an event that small business owners don’t want to miss out on as there will be entrepreneurs from all different industries sharing their expertise and knowledge.

As October is the small business celebration month, our issue this month is filled with interviews and articles from top leaders in different industries who share their insight and knowledge on important topics. Garrick Tiplady, Managing Director of Facebook and Instagram Canada shares his views on social media marketing and Natasha Aquin founder of Unbound Technologies talks about the challenges of starting a business and how she built her success.

Silvia Pencak in her success story tells us about her Top 7 Leadership Tips and Alita Fabiano, Director of Communications & Marketing of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce talks about the different steps entrepreneurs should take to become successful. Top leaders such as Arun Kumar who is the Head of Small Business Banking at BMO, Marie Rosecrans who is the Senior VP of SMB Marketing at Salesforce, Paul Struther, VP and Managing Director of Sage Canada and our business women of the month Elyse Regan who is the Global Project & Account Manager for RAF & Nerds On Site share their knowledge and tips about leadership and entrepreneurship for small business owners.

We are very excited about October’s issue and we can’t wait to hear your thoughts and feedback about the content. We hope you will find this issue resourceful and that we can once again contribute to the success of your business through our insightful articles. Happy reading!

CANADIANSME Empowering Canadian Small & Medium Businesses

www.canadiansme.ca info@canadiansme.ca canadiansme canadian_sme canadiansme Publisher Shaik Khaleeluddin (SK)

Social Media Cmarketing Inc

Consulting Editor Victoria Marcelle

Cover Photography Ahsan Khan

Creative Designer Abdhesh Kr. Jha

Client Manager Zohra Danish

Webmaster Ashraf Contributors

Larry Zelvin Rick Moore Garrick Tiplady Natasha Aquin Roi Ross Michelle Carter Silvia Pencak Alita Fabiano Arun Kumar

Marie Rosecrans Elyse Regan Julian Box David W. Smith Paul Struthers Dan Kelly Matthew Sturges Pamela Pelletier Neil Wechsler

For Advertisements: info@canadiansme.ca For Distribution Enquiries: CMarketing Inc. 2355 Derry Road E, Unit 27 | Mississauga, ON | L5S 1V6 Phone: 416 6550 205, 647 668 5785

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Copyright © 2019 CMarketing Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part of any text, photography or illustrations without written permission from the publisher is prohibited.

CanadianSME is also available on: The contents in CanadianSME Magazine are for informational purposes only. Neither Cmarketing, the publishers nor any of its partners, employees or affiliates accepts any liability whatsoever for any direct or consequential loss arising from any use of its contents.

Regulars

CONTENTS

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THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

A passion for Small businesses

11 46

Vice President of Small Business Mobility Solutions Telus

COMPETITION

FoodFund Inc. named winner of TELUS Pitch 2019 and $100,000 Grand Prize

DIGITAL PAYMENT

Best Digital Payment Technology for Small Businesses

INTERVIEW

Making clear business sense with Derek Luke CEO at Muse® by Interaxon Inc.

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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW Connecting to Grow, How Facebook and Instagram can plant seeds of success

36

Garrick Tiplady

Managing Director, Facebook and Instagram Canada

BUSINESS WOMAN OF THE MONTH

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BUSINESS

BDC Small Business Week 2019 celebrates Canada, a nation of entrepreneurs

30

BMO Lending a Helping Hand to Small Businesses

Arun Kumar

Head of Small Business Banking, BMO Bank of Montreal

34

Elyse Regan

Global Project & Account Manager for RAF & Nerds On Site

SMALL BUSINESS TALK Small business talk with Marie Rosecrans Senior Vice President of SMB marketing at Salesforce

EYE ON TECH

20 I N C O N V E R S AT I O N W I T H N ATA S H A A Q U I N UNBOUND PRODUCTIONS

By Lissa Ricci, Vice President of small business solutions for Cisco Canada

BUSINESS

BDC SMALL BUSINESS WEEK 2019 CELEBRATES CANADA, A NATION OF ENTREPRENEURS To highlight its 75th anniversary, BDC is showcasing the people behind the success of Canadian small- and medium-sized businesses The 40th edition of BDC Small Business Week™ (SBW), to be held coast to coast from October 20 to 26, will bring together entrepreneurs at hundreds of events across the country to learn and network with their peers.

As part of SBW 2019, BDC’s President and CEO, Michael Denham and Chief Economist, Pierre Cléroux will meet with entrepreneurs in cities across the country to present the findings of a new report looking at how the Canadian entrepreneurial landscape has changed in the past twenty years. Cities to be visited include Surrey, Vancouver, Edmonton, Saskatoon, London, Montreal, Quebec City and Halifax. BDC will also make public a survey that takes a closer look at the people behind the businesses, to find out who are Canada’s entrepreneurs, what challenges they face and what specific skills have allowed them to succeed.

“Canada is one of the most entrepreneurial nations in the world; our history is full of great men and women who built globally competitive businesses,” says Michael Denham. “This year, we want to showcase their hard work and successes and explore the key entrepreneurial skills that have underpinned their growth.”

“Thanks to the hard work of BDC, Small Business Week has become an anticipated annual recognition of the backbone of the Canadian economy: Small businesses! When small businesses succeed, our economy grows, and middle-class jobs are created, which is why our government is working hard to reduce red tape and make it easier for businesses to start up, scale up and access new markets,” adds the Honourable Mary Ng, Minister of Small Business and Export Promotion.

As well, during SBW and throughout the fall, BDC will invite entrepreneurs and the business community to celebrate the Bank’s 75th anniversary.

“Since 1944, we’ve been at their side, helping them build and grow their businesses. As we celebrate our 75th anniversary we look forward to everything we can still achieve together,” adds Michael Denham.

A calendar of events will be published on BDC’s website, bdc.ca. For more information, visit SBW's 2019 page. Editorial resources, including a list of national and local spokespersons available for interviews, entrepreneur stories, infographics and videos will be made available on SBW’s media page. Make sure to visit regularly for content updates.

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I CANADIANSME MAGAZINE I OCTOBER 2019

What is BDC Small Business Week?

For 40 years, BDC has organized BDC Small Business Week in recognition of the contributions and achievements of Canada’s entrepreneurs. BDC Small Business Week is a BDC trademark whose origins date back to 1979 when BDC business centres in British Columbia’s Lower Fraser Valley pooled their resources to organize a week of activities for entrepreneurs.

This first event and the one that followed in 1980 were so successful that BDC officially launched BDC SBW across Canada in 1981. The initiative was quickly adopted by Canada’s business community.

In 2018, close to 300 activities across Canada attracted over 15,000 business people to BDC Small Business Week. This BDC flagship event celebrates entrepreneurship at the local, provincial and national levels.

About BDC BDC is the only bank devoted exclusively to entrepreneurs. It provides access to financing, both online and in-person, as well as advisory services to help Canadian businesses grow and succeed. Its investment arm, BDC Capital, offers a wide range of risk capital solutions. For 75 years and counting, BDC’s purpose has been to support entrepreneurs in all industries and all stages of growth. For more information and to consult more than 1,000 free tools, articles and entrepreneurs’ stories, visit bdc.ca.

Ablii by nan op ay Ablii by nanopay is a self-service online payments platform for businesses. Introduced in early 2019, Ablii aims to provide small businesses the same access to game-changing payment technology as the "big guys". Ablii is owned by nanopay Corporation, a business founded in 2013 that typically works with multinational corporations and big banks. It has developed a proprietary payment's engine that allows to businesses send payments that are fast, inexpensive and secure. Now with Ablii, small businesses can enjoy the same benefits.

The need for SME payment options As a technology startup, nanopay faced with the same challenges as other North American small businesses–limited payment options (checks or credit cards), manual invoice management, small budgets, and limited bank options. Small businesses are typically underserved by banks, so nanopay launched Ablii recognizing these problems had gone unsolved for too long.

Ablii’s core features 1. Send and request payments Ablii’s simple interface enables users to send money directly from bank account to bank account, so you never have to worry about a cheque bouncing again.

2. Pay any business in Canada Ablii works for all businesses with an active bank account.

3. Sync with accounting software SMEs can now import and pay invoices from Quickbooks Online and your records will update automatically.

4. Streamline your workflow Delegate payables processing by adding your employees and setting access controls.

The most significant benefits of Ablii Don’t use : 1. Save money: Ablii has no sign-up fees, no monthly fees, and you only pay when you use the platform. Ablii also charges the same amount for all domestic payments, whether you send a $10 or a $1 million payment.

2. Save time: No more trips to the bank, no more writing cheques, and no more reconciling invoices on a spreadsheet. Online access to Ablii is available 24/7.

3. Increase visibility: Payments are digital and trackable with Ablii, so they never get lost in the mail and you receive real-time status updates.

4. Simplify processes: Improve the audit process, whether internal or external, by making invoices searchable.

Up next, say goodbye to wire transfers

It’s time to upgrade from paper cheques

SMEs are still the backbone of the Canadian economy, and nanopay is proud to offer a new, simpler, and cheaper payment option to those who need it most. Ablii is now fully operational in Canada, and will soon offer cross-border payments in the U.S., helping improve another critical sticking point for small businesses in North America. Goodbye wire transfer fees, hello Ablii.

Business payments have not improved in North America and as a result, small businesses have suffered tremendously. Cheques, which continue to be the go-to method of payment for businesses, are slow, manual, untrackable, and difficult to reconcile. Cheques are also surprisingly expensive, given the resources needed to write them, cash them, and reconcile them, which is time and money better spent on the core functions of any small business.

www.ablii.com

Ablii is a trademark of nanopay Corporation ©

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CANADIANSME MAGAZINE I OCTOBER 2019 I

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P resent s

CELEBRATING BUSINESS SUCCESS IN CANADA N o m i n a t io n s are n ow o p e n , appl y n ow,

Ent rep reneu r o f t he Yea r

S m a ll B u siness o f t he Yea r

®

OLOGY BUSINESS TECHN

E xc l u s i ve P C p a r t n e r

B u siness Wo m a n o f t he Yea r

PARTNERS

www.smea wards. c a #smea wards

THE JUDGES T he j u dg es fo r t h e C an ad ianS M E Na tiona l Business Awa rds 20 19 a re l iste d be l o w.

JAC K I E KI N G

RO I RO S S

BRU CE MACL EL L AN

ARU N KU MAR

COO - Canadian Chamber of Commerce

VP of Small Business Solutions, TELUS

President & CEO Proof Inc.

Head of Small Business Banking for Canada for BMO

SHAN N ON LEWI S President, Canadian Media Directors Council

S H ER I SO ME RVI LLE

C H A RL ES REG A N

S ILVIA P E N CAK

L EIGH SMOU T

RICK MOORE

CEO, Atlantic Chamber of Commerce

CEO of Nerds on Site

President of WBE Canada

Executive Director, World Trade Centre Toronto

Founder-Group of One Executive Training Systems Inc.

EL AIN E KU N DA

LORI DARLI NGTON

Managing Partner, Disruption Ventures

Vice President, Small Business & Strategic Partnerships - RBC

M A R G A R E T STUA RT

RAG H WA G O PA L

AN N E TON E R FU N G

Country Manager, Canada at Salesforce

President + CEO InnovateBC

Executive Director Innovation Guelph

M I K I V E LE MI R OVI C H

DAV ID S M IT H

WAY N E S ROBE RT S

SARAH ST E EL E

President - Cargo

CEO - Logia Consulting Inc

President & CEO Blade Creative Branding Inc.

Senior Director, Visa Small Business Products

HOW TO PROTECT

YOUR SMALL BUSINESS As Head of the Financial Crimes Unit, Larry is responsible for defining and executing strategy, mobilizing stakeholders, and working in coordination with businesses across BMO to manage all aspects of information/cyber security, fraud, physical security and crisis/continuity management to protect the bank and its customers against threats.

L arry Zelvin

Executive Vice President and Head, Financial Crimes Unit (FCU), BMO

An internationally recognized cyber security expert, prior to joining BMO, Larry was Citigroup’s Managing Director and Global Head of Cyber Security. He has held a number of roles in the U.S. Government including Director, National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center, U.S. Department of Homeland Security; Senior Director for Response, National Security Council, The White House; Director, Homeland Defense Integration, Office of the Secretary of Defense, The Pentagon. He served for 26 years in the U.S. Navy and retired as a Captain.

Based on what’s reported in the mainstream press, most people might believe that cybercriminals only have their sights set on big-name targets that promise a big payoff. Unfortunately, according to the 2018 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report, 58% of cyber attack victims were small and medium sized businesses (SMBs).

of vendors offering the “perfect” solution can be overwhelming. Building an internal cyber team can also be onerous as there are far more cyber security jobs than there are true experts in the field with demand exceeding supply for the foreseeable future. So, if you’re an SMB and are concerned about the threats from cyber where do you begin?

Many of these attacks have the ability to devastate a business’ finances by causing unplanned expenditures to mitigate the impacts of the attacks, and significantly harm their reputation by decreasing customers trust and confidence in the company.

Outsourcing to third parties represents a good solution for many SMBs. These entities typically work with multiple clients, which reduces costs for each of their clients as well as enabling information sharing and partnership across clients and government.

Historically, SMBs are typically targeted using only a few cyber methods such as:

When selecting vendors, start by implementing strong email filtering tools and ensure there is robust employee phishing and spear phishing education . According to Symantec (a leading security vendor), 71% of organized groups (advanced nation-states & criminals) rely on emails to initiate attacks. With strong screening and filtering tools in place, many suspicious emails will be caught before being delivered to employees.

Conducting exercises (with or without a vendor) where employees are trained on the best ways to identify suspicious emails followed by quarterly testing enables leadership to assess whether that training has been effective and undertake additional testing if needed.

•

Denial of Service: Bad actors intentionally either disrupt or remove the ability of customers to reach a SMBs websites or applications;

•

Phishing/Spear Phishing: An email is sent to SMB employees to gain access to the companies computers by getting employees to click on a link or open attachment, which in turn installs malicious software;

•

Ransomware: SMB employees are denied access to their work computers until a ransom is paid (ransomware), and;

•

Insider Attacks: A trusted employee/ employees steal proprietary information for their use when they go to another company or use it to extort their employer.

These types of cyber-attacks are not unique to SMBs, however, they pose a much heavier burden for them when compared to larger organizations as the costs of building proper cyber defenses can be staggering, and evaluating the hundreds 10

Unfortunately, not every aspect of cyber security can be outsourced. SMBs need internal initiatives to prepare for the eventuality of a really bad cyber day. First and foremost, determine who will be notified if there is a suspected or confirmed cyberattack, and when.

Once notified, determine what decisions senior leaders will need to make, and who will carry them out. Specify aspects that may need to be accomplished after normal working hours or on weekends. While security concerns will need

I CANADIANSME MAGAZINE I OCTOBER 2019

to be addressed, other issues such as liquidity, reputational risk, credit risk, and other financial challenges will need to be evaluated and potentially mitigated.

One of the greatest challenges will be communications, both internally and externally.

Put in place a playbook of that covers what and when are you going to communicate to your employees, clients, partners, regulators, law enforcement, and others in the aftermath of a cyber-attack. Determining details on who will be responsible for creating, approving and delivering these messages is best when thought-out before a cyber bad day and not in the middle of it.

Other aspects an SMB should consider before an attack occurs include: •

If they should invest in cyber insurance to offset financial losses incurred through a cyber incident;

•

Developing a list of critical partners who can help them think through the best approaches when it comes to prioritizing investments and with what vendors , and;

•

Creating a support system of trusted partners they can call on a bad day, or before that bay day, for counsel without any self interest other than aiding the SMB counter their cyber threats. For instance, public resources as well as larger firms with well-resourced cyber security programs in place

Creating a cyber security strategy can be an overwhelming proposition for some SMBs, but it should be looked at as another business risk that they need to properly manage. Ignoring the cyber risk has proven too often to be the worst management decision any company can make.

The GM and the Coach Let’s examine a “blind spot” that exists in many small businesses.

The blind spot is that owners are so involved in the day–to–day operations that they don’t have the time or the perspective to grow the business. This results in working IN the business and not ON the business, something I call "The Owners Trap".

To grasp the concept of The Owners Trap, think of a hockey game. The coach is on the bench, calling out line changes, observing and communicating to players as they go on and off the ice. The coach is reacting in the moment to the organized chaos. “Is our game plan not working due to something the other team is doing? Can we counter with a strategy change now or do we stay the course, play our system and wear them down?” The coach has only the players dressed at his disposal and must make do with the abilities and structures in place.

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Meanwhile, the general manager is sitting high above the ice, able to see the game from a different perspective. Yes, the GM cares about the outcome of the game, but the objective is to observe the on-ice product through a much broader lens. While the coach juggles lines and tweaks strategies to gain an edge in the moment, the GM considers the long-term issues, such as team structure and player movement, that impact the future of the club.

As a business owner, you are in a similar role to the hockey GMs. Strategy, growth and acquisitions are some of the many aspects you are able to see much clearer from “up high”. Seeing a game, or your business, from a different perspective is beneficial. It is easier to deal with the challenges you face when you are not in the mix of a game or busy work week.

It may sound strange but the less involved you are in the daily operation of your business, and the less customer interaction you have, the more you can facilitate growth and success. Imagine the inefficiencies and lost opportunities if the GM showed up at practice to handle passing drills instead of tending to crucial, big picture duties?

Having systems in place that allow your company to operate efficiently without your immediate presence is imperative for your personal well-being in terms of reducing stress, and it adds huge value when you eventually want to sell your business. Buyers will not want to pay for a business where you, the owner, need to be involved in the daily functions for it to operate successfully. If the owner is seen as the biggest asset, the company's appeal to buyers will be severely reduced. Think of a software company that tells potential buyers that the software, its major asset, is not part of the company purchase.

Freeing yourself from The Owners Trap is a process of having systems in place and empowering your employees to operate the systems.

Order Your Free Book Here: www.ScaleUpToSellBook.ca or call (403) 612-0232

FAMILY BUSINESS

Discussing

FAMILY BUSINESS

with

Photo Credit: Family Enterprise Xchange Foundation

James Burton

In your expert opinion, why do you believe that family-owned businesses have such a strong positive impact on Canada’s economy?

For many years we have relied on anecdotal evidence that tells us family enterprises have a deep and broad impact on Canadian economic performance. The recent research findings, based on the report from the Conference Board of Canada, confirms clearly that family enterprise has a large footprint in the Canadian economy. Family enterprises generated almost half (48.9%) of Canada’s private sector GDP and produce nearly 7 million jobs in Canada.

They account for 63% of all private sector firms and approximately 65% of the output and 90% of the jobs generated by small and mediumsized businesses. Family enterprises are an integral part of the Canadian private sector.

Their footprint can be seen in all industries and 12

provinces, and they generate a large share of employment in multiple economic sectors.

The strong positive impact on Canada’s economy extends beyond the facts and data, family businesses sustain a multi-generational commitment to job creation and provide significant investments and leadership in their communities. Family-owned enterprises come in all sizes and types of business and are rooted in practically every community across the country. They impact everyone!

What would you say is the biggest challenge that family-owned businesses face when it comes to reaching new heights and growing their business?

Of course, family-owned enterprises face all the same disruptive forces, competitive pressures

I CANADIANSME MAGAZINE I OCTOBER 2019

Chair, Family Enterprise Xchange & Family Enterprise Xchange Foundation Mr. Burton is the President of the James A. Burton and Family Foundation, and is the Founder, Executive Chair and CEO of PPI Management Limited. He is the Chair of FEX and FEX-F and a driving force behind the creation of FEX. Mr. Burton lives in Niagara on the Lake, ON and is actively working with his children to create his family legacy.

and business-related issues as every other business today and then in addition to that they also deal with the unique challenges and opportunities of being a family in business together.

I believe the biggest challenge today is the current lack of awareness and understanding of family firm dynamics and family-owned business in general, and of the important role they play in our economy and the well-being of our communities. It is a blind spot in Canada, particularly in the area of public policy support.

A better understanding of the dynamics in family-owned businesses and the related challenges they face will build a strong foundation for improved public policy, advanced education for business families and informed professional family-centric advice.

FAMILY BUSINESS

In what area would you say that family-owned businesses are performing better compared to other businesses?

Our recent research report tells us that family enterprises performed better than other firms in the areas of growth and longevity over the timeframe 2007 to 2013. It is well known that family-owned businesses are not saddled with quarterly reporting requirements and managing short-term expectations of stakeholders and in fact, by their nature they are more inclined to make decisions and investments focused on the long term. It is the ability to take the long view combined with a natural inclination to balance the needs of business, family and community that we believe contributes to strong performance by family-owned businesses compared to other businesses.

However, the whole area of performance is where we know there is a big gap in terms of research and understanding of family-owned enterprises. Continued research by Family Enterprise Xchange Foundation and others is critical! The value to be derived from empirical research and better data is three-fold – it will inform business families of best practices both in Canada and globally that will assist them in navigating the challenges and opportunities they face; it will inform family enterprise advisors in the same way and enable them to provide better, more holistic advice to the business families they serve; and it will better inform public policy choices and decisions for the benefit of the family enterprise community in Canada.

What are some of the changes that need to be imputed in family-owned businesses to help them expand and increase their revenue?

Family-owned businesses are generally strong and resilient and quite capable of competing on the business side. What family enterprises need is a deeper awareness and understanding of the unique challenges they face followed by real actions that support them in addressing those challenges. For example, the continuity and transitioning of leadership and ownership between generations is a unique challenge for family-owned enterprises. A greater understanding of this challenge can build a stronger foundation for improved public policy in this area.

How do you believe improved data, informed public policies and better advisory services will help family-owned businesses reach their full economic potential?

Improved data will lead to better decision making by business families, advisors and public policy makers. Evidence-based knowledge of the unique challenges and opportunities faced

"Familyowned businesses are generally strong and resilient and quite capable of competing on the business side. What family enterprises need is a deeper awareness and understanding of the unique challenges they face followed by real actions that support them in addressing those challenges. For example, the continuity and transitioning of leadership and ownership between generations is a unique challenge for family-owned enterprises. A greater understanding of this challenge can build a stronger foundation for improved public policy in this area."

by family-owned enterprises will help policy makers at all levels of government understand the impact and consequences of public policies.

It will also help advisors become better informed and as a result develop more valuable and effective family-centric advice. Finally, business families themselves will benefit from improved data by applying that knowledge to achieve better outcomes and success in terms of continuity and well-being for both their families and their family businesses.

are other organizations such as Family Business Network International and the Business Families Foundation who are part of the broader ecosystem of family enterprise and, also have great resources for business families.

What are some of the resources that are available to family-owned businesses that can contribute to their success and growth?

This is an area which is extremely important to my wife and me. We are fortunately at the stage in our family enterprise journey where we are able to really focus on family legacy and what it means to us. What excites me the most is that the whole family is getting engaged and participating in the legacy discussions. It is something we are co-creating together.

First and foremost, business families need to realize that they are not alone and that there is a dynamic growing peer community of business families in Canada, supported by Family Enterprise Xchange (FEX). Participating in this community of like-minded peers provides the opportunity for sharing experiences, accessing knowledge and resources as well as mentoring each other. The body of knowledge for family enterprise is expanding on a global basis and we are committed to curating the best research and knowledge for the benefit of the Canadian family business community.

There are many resources, educational programs and tools currently available to support business families on their journey.

Family Enterprise Xchange provides and facilitates access to many of these resources and programs on its platform. In addition, there

On a final note, you work actively with your own children to create your family legacy.

What family legacy are you hoping to leave behind that can inspire other family-owned businesses?

There are three key areas we are focused on in creating our family legacy: •

creating a platform for multi-generational family involvement;

•

creating a legacy of Impact Philanthropy including both individual and family activism; and

•

creating an opportunity for each member of our family to commit to a “Higher Purpose” as part of our family legacy.

CANADIANSME MAGAZINE I OCTOBER 2019 I

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PRESENTING PARTNER

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SPEAKERS

V IC F E D E L I

COL IN MCISAAC

MIKE T REMBL AY

JAMES M EDDI NGS

Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade

Managing Director, Lenovo Canada

President and CEO, Invest Ottawa & Bayview Yards

Deputy Minister, FedDev Ontario

D EREK LUKE

RA N DA LL SMA LLB O N E

PAU L ST RU T H E RS

SU SAN ST. AMAN D

MARIA LOCKE R

President, CEO and Member of the Board of Directors at Astron Connect Inc.

Executive Vice President & Managing Director of Sage

Founder and President of Sirius Financial Services

Founder & CEO of Mompreneurs®

CA R M I N E C I N E RA R I

M E NE L AO S ( M A NNY ) A RG IRO PO ULO S

MAT T HE W T Y RE R

CARIN N E CHAM BE RS- SAIN I

President at Sharp Electronics of Canada Ltd.

Chief, SME Stakeholder Engagement

Technology Evangelist Commvault SME

L AU R E N C E CO O KE

J E F F DAW L E Y

RICK MOORE

CEO - nanopay Corporation

Founder & President Cybersecurity Compliance Corp.

Forum Chair - MacKay CEO Forums

TA H I RA B HA R MA L

RIC H A RD TO K E R

Co-Founder & Chief Strategy Officer Mentors Consult

Branderos Account Director/ Project Manager/Educator​

CEO and Co-Founder Diva International Inc. Makers of "The DivaCup"

MIKI VE L EMIROVICH

CEO at Muse®

by Interaxon Inc.

SHIRAZ SI DDI QUE Founder - Leverage Consulting

CHAR LI E REGAN​

President - Cargo Canada

CEO- Nerds On Site

JOE L SEARS ​

MARGO CRAWFORD

N AN CY WI LSON

Branderos Creative Director/ Copywriter/Educator

President & CEO - Business Sherpa Group

Founder & CEO of the Canadian Women’s Chamber of Commerce & President, Novus Accounting

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

Photo Credit: CanadianSME

Connecting to Grow, How Facebook and Instagram can plant seeds of success

G A R R I C K T I P L A DY Managing Director, Facebook and Instagram Canada

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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

Garrick Tiplady is the Managing Director of Facebook Canada where he is responsible for leading and managing all of Facebook and Instagram’s commercial operations in Canada. Previously he was the CEO of Vemba Corporation, an enterprise platform for premium video distribution.

Prior to that, Garrick was the SVP of Customer Experience at Rogers Communications. While at Rogers, he also served as the SVP Strategy and SVP Chat’r Wireless.

Before joining Rogers, he was a Principal at the Boston Consulting group within the Technology and Communications Practice.

Garrick serves on the Board of ThePowerPlant and Advisory Board of RightToPlay. He received an M.B.A from the Richard Ivy Business School and a B.Sc. in Physiology from McGill University.

Photo Credit: CanadianSME

As Managing Director of Facebook Canada, can you tell us about your responsibilities to give our readers a better understanding of what you do?

In Canada, we’re intently focused on creating community and driving business growth for businesses of all sizes.

What is fascinating is for the first time in history, technology has offered small brands an opportunity to compete with big brands on a level playing field. I challenge my team to think about how to maximize on this opportunity for the 24 million Canadians, brands, and businesses that connect on Facebook each month. Whether you’re a multi generation, family-run business in Oshawa or a major brand

such as Lululemon in Vancouver, we’re here to help you on your path to success.

You’ve been acting as Managing Director of Facebook for a little over a year now. What are some of the initiatives you’ve put in place?

Working with entrepreneurs and small businesses has a special place in my heart.

Having started a company myself, I know the sacrifice it takes to launch a business. I am continually inspired by what businesses have been able to do with Facebook and we are working hard to create even more opportunities for them.

For example, in June, we held our largest event for entrepreneurs and small business in Canada,

called “Boost with Facebook”. The two-day event was hosted at Evergreen Brick Works and featured free training sessions and workshops for small businesses and entrepreneurs to learn how to best utilize Facebook’s suite of tools to drive growth for their businesses. We hosted close to 2,000 entrepreneurs who had the opportunity to hear from Canadian business leaders that are building brands and making a difference in their communities, including Peace Collective, BRIKA, and Bohten.

We also recently hosted a “#SheMeansBusiness” dinner for Toronto-based female founders. It was inspiring to hear from women leaders who have used our platforms to build global brands and businesses, such as the founder of Make Lemonade, Rachel

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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

information and more transparency into our policies, operations and ads - which is also good for brands and businesses.

How have your previous experiences prepared you for your current role as Managing Director of Facebook?

Having been an entrepreneur who also worked at several leading Canadian organizations, I am fortunate to have a deep appreciation for the different, and often similar, needs of these two worlds. Whether working for myself or as part of an organization, there are three foundational imperatives to get straight right off the bat.

Photo Credit: CanadianSME

Kelly. Make Lemonade is a Toronto-based co-working space and accelerator for women entrepreneurs. Their community members are growing their businesses by connecting with customers on Instagram. Make Lemonade uses Instagram heavily to engage meaningfully with their community.

Creating forums for entrepreneurs to network and collaborate with their peers is something I’m passionate about. We’re looking forward to more initiatives that shine a light on the diverse, small businesses we have in Canada and how we can support them.

What would you say has been the most challenging part of your role?

"Creating forums for entrepreneurs to network and collaborate with their peers is something I’m passionate about.

We’re looking forward to more initiatives that shine a light on the diverse, small businesses we have in Canada and how we can support them."

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The past year has been transformational for Facebook. The rate of technological change has disrupted institutional industries and given rise to new challenges and opportunities. We want to make sure Facebook, and our full family of apps, is an environment where people come together to share with their friends and family, to celebrate community – a place where brands grow their businesses.

Although we didn’t do enough to anticipate some of the risks of a platform our size, we made and continue to make fundamental changes to our platform and how we work across the company to address these issues.

This past year, we’ve invested record amounts in keeping people safe and strengthening our defences against abuse. We’ve also provided people with far more control over their

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First, it is essential to have a clear vision of where you want to go and a clear path on how to get there. While you may have a five-year goal, having a defined idea of what success looks like in the next six months, 12 months, and 24 months, is key when you are moving fast and have to make big decisions every day. With a strong vision complemented by attainable short-term goals, it’s easier to navigate from one milestone to the next.

Second, build a great team - they are everything. I strongly believe [in order], to have true, long-lasting societal impact, a team must reflect the people the business serves - this is why diversity is a fundamental for Facebook.

It is essential that everyone understands how their unique skills, perspective and attributes contribute to the overall vision and how they can make an impact with their work.

Third, be curious. I have worked across multiple industries and in many countries. Being curious, asking questions, getting to the heart of the issue can help unlock new opportunities - we try to bring that through partnership to all of our clients.

How do you believe Facebook can help SME owners grow their business? What’s the number one benefit that Facebook has for entrepreneurs?

Over the last decade, there has been a shift in how consumers interact with brands. We now seek brands with purpose. We seek brands with connection and that connection is almost always rooted in community. When I consider the most influential brands, both emerging and incumbent, the ones that rise to the top are the ones that work to put the power back in the hands of people. People are influencing brands, rather than the other way around — and our platform enables that two way dialogue.

The GM and the Coach Let’s examine a “blind spot” that exists in many small businesses.

The blind spot is that owners are so involved in the day–to–day operations that they don’t have the time or the perspective to grow the business. This results in working IN the business and not ON the business, something I call "The Owners Trap".

To grasp the concept of The Owners Trap, think of a hockey game. The coach is on the bench, calling out line changes, observing and communicating to players as they go on and off the ice. The coach is reacting in the moment to the organized chaos. “Is our game plan not working due to something the other team is doing? Can we counter with a strategy change now or do we stay the course, play our system and wear them down?” The coach has only the players dressed at his disposal and must make do with the abilities and structures in place.

Free Book For Business Owners Who Want To Scale-Up To Maximize & Grow The Value Of Their Business!

In this new book, you’ll discover...

The single thing you’re doing as a business owner that holds you back from maximizing the true value of your business What it really takes to scale a business (hint: it’s not always about the balance sheet!)

What gets in the way of your ability to determine the true value of your business How to keep employees invested so that they feel valued and willing to invest their energy in your company The critical difference between how you view your business and how a potential buyer views your business

Meanwhile, the general manager is sitting high above the ice, able to see the game from a different perspective. Yes, the GM cares about the outcome of the game, but the objective is to observe the on-ice product through a much broader lens. While the coach juggles lines and tweaks strategies to gain an edge in the moment, the GM considers the long-term issues, such as team structure and player movement, that impact the future of the club.

As a business owner, you are in a similar role to the hockey GMs. Strategy, growth and acquisitions are some of the many aspects you are able to see much clearer from “up high”. Seeing a game, or your business, from a different perspective is beneficial. It is easier to deal with the challenges you face when you are not in the mix of a game or busy work week.

It may sound strange but the less involved you are in the daily operation of your business, and the less customer interaction you have, the more you can facilitate growth and success. Imagine the inefficiencies and lost opportunities if the GM showed up at practice to handle passing drills instead of tending to crucial, big picture duties?

Having systems in place that allow your company to operate efficiently without your immediate presence is imperative for your personal well-being in terms of reducing stress, and it adds huge value when you eventually want to sell your business. Buyers will not want to pay for a business where you, the owner, need to be involved in the daily functions for it to operate successfully. If the owner is seen as the biggest asset, the company's appeal to buyers will be severely reduced. Think of a software company that tells potential buyers that the software, its major asset, is not part of the company purchase.

Freeing yourself from The Owners Trap is a process of having systems in place and empowering your employees to operate the systems.

Order Your Free Book Here: www.ScaleUpToSellBook.ca or call (403) 612-0232

EYE ON TECH

In convers at i o n wi t h

N a ta s ha Aq uin Un bound P ro d u c t i o n s

By Lissa Ricci, VP of small business solutions, Cisco Canada

A successful entrepreneur and business leader in her mid-20s, Natasha Aquin is a force to be reckoned with. Natasha founded Unbound Productions, a thriving virtuallybased creative studio, while she was on her way to India to find greater meaning and fulfillment in life. Two years and several agency of record contracts later, Unbound is one of Toronto’s hottest creative agencies.

On October 24, Natasha will participate in a panel discussion in Toronto on productivity in the era of remote work. Ahead of that panel, I sat down with Natasha to get her story, her thoughts on the small business industry, and the role technology has in Unbound’s success.

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Photo Credit: Nick Wong Photography

EYE ON TECH

Your journey to Unbound Productions is fascinating. When did you realize this is what you were supposed to be doing and how did you determine the roadmap to building it?

In November 2017, I was a Senior Producer in Toronto at a global digital agency. From the outside looking in, my life was “great”, but something didn’t feel right to me. I decided to purchase a one-way ticket to India to gain more fulfillment and meaning in my life. I wasn’t satisfied. Something was missing and I was drawn to coming to India to figure it out.

On this journey, I aspired to separate myself from the comforts, standards, and expectations we have in North America and focus inwards on myself with the basics. At home I was tired of the routine. The daily commute. The cold Canadian winters. Working all week just to look forward to the weekend or a booked vacation on a beach.

The majority of my time on the weekends would be spent socializing and drinking wine because my weekdays were so stressful. It was a hamster wheel and I knew I couldn’t see myself doing this in 5, 10 or even 15 years’ time. I felt robotic.

Numb. Unhealthy. I was living but I wasn’t alive.

That’s a lesson for all of us on priorities. What happened next?

Starting Unbound Productions was more so a consequence of my change in perspective. To be honest, starting my company was never my plan.

The day before I left for India, I received a call from a mutual contact who needed a creative team to develop three cannabis brands in time for Canada’s legislation changes. Not giving it much thought I suggested that I lead the project from India, leveraging a few creative freelancers I had previously worked with. The client team agreed and a contract was signed. Hours before I boarded that plane I had my corporation papers for Unbound drafted and my business accounts opened at a Toronto bank.

That project turned into Unbound becoming the company’s agency of record (AOR), which spearheaded our credibility in the marketing industry. And from that one client, our roster expanded to include an additional eight Canadian and U.S. based companies in less than a year.

Our roadmap was simple. What’s currently in front of us? What value can we provide? What type of

work do we want to spend time creating that we will be forever proud of?

What do you think is the biggest challenge we’re facing in the Canadian small business industry?

Adoption of new technologies and ensuring relevancy to a specific small business is important. We, business owners, need technologies and platforms that can be customized to our needs. This is what it will take for small businesses to invest and use technology wisely.

What do you think are common misconceptions of small businesses in Canada? How can we combat these and communicate more effectively?

That we are unable to execute at the caliber or speed that big business can because of resources. Workflows, flexible resources, and technologies levels the playing field.

We can streamline and automate while customizing where needed.

Also, the assumption that small businesses are short-term thinkers – therefore hindering our ability to scale – when in reality we have to possess strong, strategic management foresight.

Flexibility and the ability to work from anywhere is core to your company values.

What changes do you think we must take to prepare for the future of remote work and global collaboration?

Creating and developing the infrastructure for more accessible and reliable internet.

You wouldn’t believe how much of the world has slow, or nonexistent, internet. If you don’t have access to high speed internet, you can’t run a virtually-based business. The cloud is also a virtual business’ best friend.

Being able to work on the same documents and server as a team member on the other side of the world is incredible!

What do you attribute to your success?

You’re in your mid 20’s and you own and manage a successful creative agency – what is your secret sauce?

For me, it comes down to having women entrepreneur role models to learn from growing up – my mother and grandmother.

I also have very specific goals and beliefs that I use to guide my decisions: Do what makes you happy. Work smart, not hard.

Your time is your most valuable asset. Make mental and physical health and wellness your priority.

Last, what tools do you use to help scale and effectively run your business? How has this technology been pivotal for your company?

Free and low-cost technologies like Google Drive, Webex and Gmail are my go-to.

The beauty of these platforms for a small business is that they are affordable and work well. Low hard costs equals higher margins.

My thanks to Natasha for taking the time for this interview. To register for the October 24th panel on Productivity in the Remote Era, go to bit.ly/CiscoOct24

"On this journey, I aspired to separate myself from the comforts, standards, and expectations we have in North America and focus inwards on myself with the basics. At home I was tired of the routine. The daily commute. The cold Canadian winters.

Working all week just to look forward to the weekend or a booked vacation on a beach. "

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THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

A passion for

Small businesses

Exclusive Interview

Vice President of Small Business Mobility Solutions Telus

Photo Credit: CanadianSME

Roi Ross is the vice president of Small Business Mobility Solutions at TELUS. In his role he’s responsible for leading strategy, marketing and sales functions focused on the Small Business sector.

With more than 15 years of strategy consulting and industry leadership across telecommunications and technology, Roi’s global experience spans North American and Asian markets.

Known for building and leading highly-engaged entrepreneurial teams that consistently drive market growth, Roi is also passionate about how small business owners use innovative technology solutions to differentiate and scale their business.

Most recently, he was the executive sponsor of the TELUS Pitch, Canada’s largest small business contest, which is a powerful customer engagement platform designed to celebrate small business owners while investing and engaging in their future growth.

Roi lives in Toronto, ON with his wife and two sons.

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THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

Can you tell us some details about yourself, how you started with TELUS for our readers?

Over the past six years, I’ve held a number of roles at TELUS ranging from strategy, product management and marketing. Today, I lead TELUS’ Small Business Mobility Solutions group with responsibility for strategy, marketing and sales functions. Prior to that I was a strategy consultant for more than six years in Asia, the U.S. and Canada.

Technology is quickly taking over the business industry and impacting the way entrepreneurs and employees work. What role does technology play in your daily tasks, and what impact does it have on the success of your task?

As it relates to technology, there's never been a better time to start a business than today, and technology is the key enabler. It’s the great equalizer across all platforms to enable small business growth. And that's why we fundamentally believe in the role of digital and mobility to build smart businesses. Forward thinking business owners are building their businesses as digital and mobile-first, and TELUS wants to enable that as their technology partner.

You have more than 15 years of experience in leadership roles. In your expert opinion, what are some of the aspects and characteristics that a strong leader should have?

I think there are four key aspects and characteristics of a strong leader; number one is setting a clear vision and a strategy for the business. Number two is the intellectual curiosity to ask questions first; to challenge the status quo, and to always look for a way to do better.

Number three, which I think is really important, is the grit and the drive to carry on through the most difficult challenges. Small business is not easy, and it's really important to have the grit to carry through despite adversity. And the last characteristic is authenticity and humility.

Authenticity to be yourself, and humility to know when it's time to change direction – this ability to change paths and not let your ego get in the way is crucial to high performance.

Photo Credit: Telus

At TELUS, we believe that small businesses are a big deal. And we recognize the important role that small businesses make to the Canadian economy, and to society as a whole.

And it’s because of this that we do our very best to serve and tailor our solutions to small businesses.

What do you believe is the impact of strong leadership on small businesses? How can strong leadership skills contribute to the success of a small business?

When you own a business, you are the business.

A business owner is just as important as the business idea. So leadership is fundamental to the success of any business.

Setting a vision is critical; having the ability to pursue that vision is really important. And then the grit to carry through the difficult times is essential for success.

The Canadian workforce is changing, and companies are promoting new leadership skills. What do you say is the latest trend when it comes to leadership, and how do you believe it is impacting the success of Canadian SMEs? Technology is increasingly important for the success of small businesses. While not necessarily the focal point; it's the experience that technology enables for small businesses to deliver a convenient, fast and rich customer experience to their customers.

Technology really is the means to the end;

and that end is being able to deliver a great customer experience. At TELUS we put the Customer First in everything we do, and we believe that we can play an essential role in helping small businesses do the same and shape their growth through the use of our mobility solutions.

How would you describe digital leadership?

And do you believe it's something that companies should be promoting?

Looking at this through a similar lens, it's not necessarily the technology or digital leadership that small businesses should be promoting, but rather their focus on the customer and the thirst for figuring out how to create an amazing customer experience.

And that very much speaks to our approach at TELUS. Customer experience, and putting our customers first in everything we do is critical to our mission, and we believe the key to small businesses growth is no different, using technology to get there.

What can you tell us about TELUS pitch, and how it is helping young entrepreneurs on the

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path to success?

I was very excited to be the executive sponsor of the TELUS pitch this year. TELUS Pitch is Canada's largest small business contest and I’m pleased to report that 2019 was an unbelievable success. We had nearly six thousand small businesses submit entries to participate - a significant increase over last year. Through the TELUS Pitch, we’ve been able to contribute more than$160,000 in cash and prizes to fuel the growth of Canada’s small business community.

to acquire new customers and the ability to scale and differentiate their business .At TELUS, we support many of these challenges by providing services and technology solutions but also through initiatives like the TELUS Pitch competition. Our ability to give back to this really critical community, in the form of cash prizes, mentorship and national exposure, is important not only for TELUS, but also for Canada’s economy as a whole.

What advice can you give to entrepreneurs who are just starting out?

We've been running this program for more than eight years, and each year our impact is greater. As Arlene Dickinson says, “winning $100,000 for a small business is like winning the lottery.”The TELUS Pitch is our platform to celebrate small businesses in Canada. It’s also a great way to play a role in their success as we get to know them better and support them through the growth of their businesses.

I really like a famous quote by Wayne Gretzky. He said, “You miss 100 per cent of the shots you don't take.” So my advice is - take the shot, go for it, and put yourself out there with your new business idea. That's one of the hardest things for a start-up – to finally make the decision to start a new business; but once they’ve taken that step forward, there is a lot of support within the SME community.

What would you say is the biggest struggle that SME owners face? And what are some of the programs and resources that TELUS has to help entrepreneurs overcome these challenges?

By building a network of people who can help you along the way, and putting your name and business forward for contests like the TELUS Pitch, it will enable you to hone your business pitch and value proposition.

The last thing I would add is to ensure you focus on your customers, as I mentioned previously, this is something that is true to TELUS, and we believe that it should be true to every business.

In terms of the biggest challenges SME owners have, our research suggests that access to capital takes the top spot. Capital is the fuel for a small business to propel them into growth mode. I’d add that having a support network is also really important for small business owners as they navigate through the difficulties of running a small business.

A few other challenges we’ve seen include the ability to get the word out 24

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Any leadership books you would like to recommend to business owners?

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

There are many. One that comes to mind is a book by Ram Charan called Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done. He talks about the role of execution but how too often we talk about big strategy, and we don't often talk enough about the role that execution has in taking an idea and bringing it to market.

What's your vision for Canadian SMEs? How would you describe the future of Canada's small and medium-sized business industry?

And what changes are you hoping to see implemented?

At TELUS, we recognize the important role small businesses are playing in our thriving Canadian economy. For instance, 70 per cent of all new jobs created in the private sector, over the past five years, have come from small businesses.

And it's not just that there are many of them, it's also that these SMEs represent the diversity of our society.

We’ve seen firsthand that SMEs are not homogeneous; they are unique. One in five new immigrants is self-employed; 33 per cent of the growth in small business is from female entrepreneurs, and further, onethird of all new entrepreneurs are from the millennials generation. Small business is very representative of our demography, and our future economy. In short – they’re a big deal, and small business owners deserve better. We need to recognize and celebrate them for the role that they play in the Canadian economy but also in our local communities.

We have given business owners the flexibility to decide how much they want to pay up front and how much they want to pay on a monthly basis. That flexibility is really important when managing tight budgets in a new start up.

their family members, is much higher. So, it’s good for business.

Finally, the third, and perhaps the most important, is we're providing multi-unit discounts to help small business owners save as they grow .We are essentially passing on the scale benefits as a small business owner grows their mobility portfolio with TELUS, while giving them more and more services along the way as they need them.

What differentiates TELUS from its competitors?

TELUS is relentlessly focused on our customers.

We know that if we deliver great customer experiences, the likelihood of a small business owner to recommend us to their peers, and to

Also, our constant pursuit to tailor our offerings.

Again ,small business owners are unique, they're not large enterprises, and they're not consumers, so they deserve to have solutions that fit their needs. We try to leverage every opportunity to acknowledge the critical role that owners and entrepreneurs play in our economy and local communities so when we have opportunities like Small Business Month in October, we create custom deals just for them.

Finally, I’d say we are persistent in our focus on simplifying our customer’s experience.

We understand that when you're starting or building your business, you need to focus on your core business and not worry about mobility bills.

"At TELUS, we recognize the important role small businesses are playing in our thriving Canadian economy. For instance, 70 per cent of all new jobs created in the private sector, over the past five years, have come from small businesses. And it's not just that there are many of them, it's also that these SMEs represent the diversity of our society."

We understand that if we tailor our solutions to the unique needs of small businesses, and speak to them in the language small business owners understand we differentiate ourselves in the market.

We're continually evolving to create simple and thoughtful experiences that save entrepreneurs time and money. For example, in July, we launched three new service offerings tailored to small businesses to help simplify the experience of buying and using mobility solutions.

First, our Peace of Mind plans which provide endless data, and the peace of mind of knowing that you'll never go into overage. They give small businesses comfort knowing what to expect on their bill every single month.

Second, we launched Easy Payment, which clearly and transparently separates the cost of the device from the mobility service cost.

Photo Credit: Telus

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Photo Credit: Edelman

Business talk with

Michelle Carter

Michelle Carter was creating commercials for the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) when she fell in love with filmmaking. Her eyes light up when she shares stories about trips to shoot footage of endangered animals. “I love being in the field,” says Carter. Carter eventually left the WWF to work for the agency producing its commercials. While working agency-side she learned the ropes of editing, shooting, and producing. Then she had an idea: What if other charities leveraged filmmaking techniques to create empowering stories? Carter saw an opportunity to help charities through filmmaking, so 3 years ago, she started her own production house called Mission Productions and Media, Inc. “We go to a lot of places other people maybe wouldn’t want to go to tell the stories of places, people, and animals in need,”says Carter. Sometimes Mission’s projects are quite straight forward, like shooting footage at a hospital in Ontario. Other projects may take her team across the world. A few years ago, the team traveled to Tanzania for a project with Hope and Healing International to raise funds for a new hospital. The East African country is home to stunning wildlife-rich national parks like Serengeti National Park, where you’ll see lions, elephants, and giraffes. Though beautiful, Tanzania’s vast wilderness can make access to healthcare challenging for some people living there. Carter’s team was tasked with spotlighting the need for a new hospital in Tanzania. A young boy named Shadili — who was visually impaired and undergoing cataract surgery — was profiled for their film.

Shadhili was a bright four-year-old who had spent his life living with blindness. To get to the hospital, he and his mother traveled for 4 days. It was a tough physical and emotional journey, but if the surgery went well, it would be life-changing for him and his family.

“The next day after the surgery, they took off his eye patch, and he could see for the first time,” says Carter. “It took my breath away to see Shadili see his mother’s face for the first time. Their smiles could light up a city.”Stories like Shadili’s show the life-changing work that charities can do. To date, Mission Productions has worked with a variety of organizations, including Operation Smile, St. Michael’s Hospital, World Wildlife Fund, and Plan International. Watch Michelle Carter’s story, here.

Producer at Mission Productions and Media Inc.

What was the inspiration behind the founding of Mission Productions and Media Inc.? What are you hoping to accomplish through it?

The Internet and technology have changed our world – changed the way that we do many things, including how we donate to charity. Donors are now online and the online world is becoming a video-driven medium. This is a huge opportunity for charities because video is the single most powerful story-telling medium and charities have incredible stories to tell. Mission was therefore founded for three reasons; one, to create cinematic-quality videos (and TV spots/PSAs) for charities, two - to create today’s mandatory digital assets and three, to seamlessly integrate and place both mediums to create today’s most effective fundraising campaigns. We do all this in the hopes of ultimately hoping to relieve suffering in the world.

What is the most challenging part of your job?

The team at Mission is well-known for going places that other’s won’t to capture stories of our world in need. The most challenging part of our work is witnessing the suffering – human suffering, 26

animal suffering, our planet in peril – on a daily basis. We never let it get to us while we are on the job, but there is no mistaking that it effects us. We are motivated by it and we are extremely grateful people.

Do you believe that your documentaries have had a positive impact on the subjects you film about and if so, how has it impacted them?

Yes, we hear time and again from those who we film with that they are grateful to be able to tell their stories – that it helps them in one way or another. It’s responsibility and an honour to bring a voice to those who may not otherwise have that opportunity. We take this part of what we do very seriously.

Do you believe that documentaries can be considered as a form of marketing strategy for certain organizations?

We believe strongly in the power of documentaries - documentaries tell a story and bring important issues to light — authentic, unaltered story telling for the propose of relieving suffering in the world is at the very core of why we do what we do.

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Can you tell us about one of your favorite projects that you filmed?

We filmed the story of a young boy in Tanzania.

He was suffering from double cataracts and essentially blind. He and his mother travelled for days to reach a disability hospital. The day following the surgery they removed his eye patches and we witnessed his first clear glimpse of his mother’s face. Their reaction is one of my most favourite moments in life and a testament to the essential power of charity.

On a final note, what can you tell us about any upcoming projects for Mission Productions and Media Inc.? What does the future of the company look like?

Mission is growing rapidly and we don’t plan on slowing down any time soon. It’s a very exciting time to be at Mission – it’s still early days for us. We have so many upcoming projects that it seems silly to list them all. What I can say is that we look forward to each and everyone of them and thank goodness we have QuickBooks to help keep everything organized so that we can focus on what matters most! We look forward to continuing to learn every single day and we look forward to unlocking the future of philanthropy for the world!

The Canadian Chamber held their Annual General Meeting (AGM) and Convention where over 300 chambers of commerce executives and business leaders met. The policy resolutions put forth at their AGM help shape their public policy objectives for the upcoming year to foster a stronger economic environment for business. http://www.chamber.ca The Canadian Chamber’s 2019-2020 Board of Directors.

Chambers of commerce gathered together to vote on the Canadian Chamber policy priorities for the upcoming year.

Honourable Perrin Beatty addressing the 2019 AGM delegates.

Photo Credit: Canadian Chambers

The Canadian Chamber’s 2019 AGM delegation of chambers of commerce and boards of trade.

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LEADERSHIP

Top 7 Leadership Tips

For Small Business Owners

By Silvia Pencak, M.A.

Running a small business requires leadership - a skill to influence people. As you promote your business, negotiate deals, and grow your team, you need a great dose of intentionality around how you show up and get stuff done. The following are 7 tips to help you be more intentional and achieve greater results with less stress.

1

Have and communicate a vision

Inspiring vision touches people’s hearts, inspires your team to achieve greater results and your customers to spend money with your company. Vision must be communicated properly and often in order to impact others. As a leader, ensure that your people (team, customers, vendors) know what you expect, what you stand for, and what you care about.

2

Lead by example

People don’t do what you tell them to do, they model your behaviour as a leader. To create a culture you desire to see in your business, you must show it in your daily life. Choose to do the things you require. Be a person of character.

Expect more from yourself than you do from others. Hold yourself to a higher standard. Model the desired behaviour and you will inspire others.

3

Set & protect boundaries

In the words of Henry Cloud, leaders must be “ridiculously in charge”. It’s not enough to just lead by example. You must also protect your business from negative forces – undesirable behaviour, action or communication breakdowns.

As a leader, stop sweeping problems under the carpet and instead, point at the elephant in the room–address and resolve the challenges.

4

Delegate

If you struggle with delegation, you are not alone. It isn’t easy to let go and trust others with tasks that you can do. But great leaders understand that their capacity is limited and by delegating tasks to others they actually increase this capacity. When you bring someone else alongside you double the time available to you. And better still, if you find people who do the work better than yourself, you will more than double your capacity.

5

Hire great people

By hiring great people I mean hiring people who are the “right fit” for the job, team and organization.

They have the necessary knowledge and experience. They are motivated and have the right attitude, but they also have the right strengths that will move your team forward.

6

Recognize

Recognizing talent, contribution and achievement is essential to your business success. You will always get more of what you recognize and reward. Pay close attention to your people. Notice even slight improvements in behaviour and performance. Focus on building a momentum of great results and powerful teamwork.

Recognizing the good will diminish the undesirable results or weak performance (you still shouldn’t just tolerate those, but deal with them). Just ensure that you are being fair. Look at individual achievements, effort, commitment and reward based on personal strengths, not against them.

7

Communicate proactively & effectively

I left this one for the end, but communication is actually one of the most important leadership skills. As a leader, you need to constantly improve your communication skills. To prevent creating ideas out of isolation, you need to create opportunities and invest time in listening to your people. You also need to be proactive in your communication.

Prevent the rumours, address misunderstandings and resolve conflict. Don’t sit on it and hope for it to resolve itself. Things will only get worse! Build a good rapport with your people by being a person of your word. If you say you will do something, either do it or explain why it can’t be done. Don’t just dissolve it pretending the issue doesn’t exist.

Have you reached your full capacity as a leader of your business? I hope not. Being in a variety of leadership roles for over 15 years, I still haven’t arrived.

There are many things I can still learn and improve. I hope you can see in yourself that there is at least one area where you can step up your game and make things better for your business, team or customers.

SILVIA PENCAK

President, WBE Canada

Silvia Pencak is the president of Women Business Enterprises Canada Council (WBE Canada), a Canadian non–profit organization dedicated to facilitating relationships between Canadian women-owned businesses and large corporate and government organizations across North America.

WBE Canada promotes the economic advancement of Women Business Enterprises (WBEs). As a quality third-party certifying body of Canadian businesses that are 51 per cent owned, managed and controlled by women, WBE Canada has been connecting them to large supply chains since 2009. To learn more about their initiatives, visit www.WBECanada.ca. You can connect with Silvia directly on Twitter, @SilviaPencak.

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SMEs BUSINESS

Setting Up

SMEs for Success

E

mploying 89 per cent of the private sector workforce in Canada, small and mediumsized enterprises (SMEs) are not only the heart of our country, but also play a crucial role in our economy.

We need to ensure SMEs are given the tools and resources they need to thrive. Unfortunately, with only 4 out of every 10 SMEs meeting the challenges associated with growth, it is clear SMEs need tailored support, information and advice to find the right resources.

From regulatory burdens to high operating costs, businesses in Canada are facing obstacles their foreign counterparts are not. For example, if your small business is looking to scale-up its operations, it could take you months to get a line of credit, while many European countries could offer you a line of credit in mere weeks.

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce recognizes the power and potential SMEs have to transform the lives of Canadians. With this is mind, that is why they have launched Essential Business Services (EBS) for its network of more than 200,000 businesses.

Small and medium-sized businesses have been, and will continue to be, the driving force of Canada’s economy.

SMEs punch above their weight in strategic importance, impact and growth potential. Canadian SMEs not only significantly contribute to job numbers and GDP, but often drive business and technology innovation that is consumed globally.

In Canada, there is already much focus on businesses in the start-up and early commercialization phases, and they are well supported through accelerators, a plethora of government programs and mentorship programs.

However, growth-ready and more mature companies that want to grow domestically or internationally are not as well served. These businesses have specific characteristics that need to be nurtured, emulated and exposed so that substantial growth opportunities can be maximized in Canada. It is imperative that we increase the value we provide within the SME ecosystem

to help our businesses scale up and take their rightful place on the world stage. "We are uniquely positioned to develop and deliver a program that includes new essential business services, ensures alignment with all levels of our chamber network and supports international expansion,” says Jackie King, Chief Operating Officer of the Canadian Chamber.

EBS is a concierge service designed to help businesses find the solutions for their most pressing needs. From import and export services to access to marketplaces and capital, EBS is helping set up SMEs for long-term success. A few of EBS’ offerings include: •

Training and learning to help develop your employees’ professional skills

•

Access to sales and procurement channels as well as the funds needed to grow your business

•

Tools to maximize your time and productivity so you can achieve more

•

Services to help you compete on a global scale

•

Savings programs to boost your bottom line

•

Timely industry insights and information on policies affecting your business

Canadian businesses are going through an era of unprecedented changes.

Whether it is an economic crisis, a new government or changes in technology, the obstacles SMEs face are stacking up. Fortunately, chambers of commerce are here to ensure the continued success of existing businesses by working with them to handle whatever is thrown their way.

To learn more about the Canadian Chamber’s EBS program, contact Anick DeSousa, Director of Services, at 613 238 4000 (2239).

Photo Credit: Canadian Chambers

Alita Fabiano

Communications & Marketing - Canadian Chamber of Commerce

“Small and medium-sized businesses have been, and will continue to be, the driving force of Canada’s economy. SMEs punch above their weight in strategic importance, impact and growth potential.

Canadian SMEs not only significantly contribute to job numbers and GDP, but often drive business and technology innovation that is consumed globally."

CANADIANSME MAGAZINE I OCTOBER 2019 I

29

SPEAKERS

V IC F E D E L I

COL IN MCISAAC

MIKE T REMBL AY

JAMES M EDDI NGS

Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade

Managing Director, Lenovo Canada

President and CEO, Invest Ottawa & Bayview Yards

Deputy Minister, FedDev Ontario

D EREK LUKE

RA N DA LL SMA LLB O N E

PAU L ST RU T H E RS

SU SAN ST. AMAN D

MARIA LOCKE R

President, CEO and Member of the Board of Directors at Astron Connect Inc.

Executive Vice President & Managing Director of Sage

Founder and President of Sirius Financial Services

Founder & CEO of Mompreneurs®

CA R M I N E C I N E RA R I

M E NE L AO S ( M A NNY ) A RG IRO PO ULO S

MAT T HE W T Y RE R

CARIN N E CHAM BE RS- SAIN I

President at Sharp Electronics of Canada Ltd.

Chief, SME Stakeholder Engagement

Technology Evangelist Commvault SME

L AU R E N C E CO O KE

J E F F DAW L E Y

RICK MOORE

CEO - nanopay Corporation

Founder & President Cybersecurity Compliance Corp.

Forum Chair - MacKay CEO Forums

TA H I RA B HA R MA L

RIC H A RD TO K E R

Co-Founder & Chief Strategy Officer Mentors Consult

Branderos Account Director/ Project Manager/Educator​

CEO and Co-Founder Diva International Inc. Makers of "The DivaCup"

MIKI VE L EMIROVICH

CEO at Muse®

by Interaxon Inc.

SHIRAZ SI DDI QUE Founder - Leverage Consulting

CHAR LI E REGAN​

President - Cargo Canada

CEO- Nerds On Site

JOE L SEARS ​

MARGO CRAWFORD

N AN CY WI LSON

Branderos Creative Director/ Copywriter/Educator

President & CEO - Business Sherpa Group

Founder & CEO of the Canadian Women’s Chamber of Commerce & President, Novus Accounting

SMALL BUSINESS

Arun Kumar is Head of Small Business Banking for Canada for BMO. Arun and his team are responsible for the customer experience, segment strategy, channel strategy, business competitiveness and financial performance of the small business segment. The team’s mandate is to relentlessly pursue a great experience for our small business clients and meeting their evolving needs. Arun joined BMO in year 2000 and over the past 19 years has held client facing roles in Retail Banking, Business Banking, the Contact Centre and the Corporate Finance Division as well as central strategy and implementation roles in P&C Customer Solutions.

"It’s important for small business owners to separate their personal finances and business finances. The advantage of separating finances is it provides the small business owner with a clear picture of the business financial health, instead of tying them to their personal assets."

BMO Bank of Montreal has always been one of the leading banks for business banking.

What do you believe sets BMO apart from other banks when it comes to the commercial banking side?

BMO has a long history of being a leading commercial bank, and I believe there are a few differentiators that have gotten us here. Firstly, it is our relationship managers. We’ve spent a lot of time and effort over many decades building a strong relationship advisory team that our business clients lean on. Our team takes the time to understand the individual needs of our clients’ businesses, which helps to provide tailored recommendations and approaches.

As well, we pride ourselves on the approach we take towards credit. Our philosophy is to work with our business clients, in both good times and bad, to find solutions for their business and get them over hurdles. We want to be partners on their business journey, from when they first start out to when they encounter significant milestones, as well as when they look to exit.

Can you talk about some of the other programs that BMO offers to help small business owners?

We’ve been on a journey to create simpler and more relevant solutions for our small business clients and to make it easier for them to interact with us and consume our products and services. Our goal is to make each interaction as effortless as possible and allow them to more easily tap into BMO’s solutions to help them fulfill their goals. As an example, last year we launched a new lending platform for small business called BMO Business Xpress, which

has significantly reduced the time it takes to make loan decisions. We’ve reduced the time to down approximately 20 minutes from several days.

People often think that getting a small business loan from a bank is challenging.

Why do you believe that is?

Until recently, most financial institutions did not tailor offerings to small businesses. They would offer commercial solutions or retail solutions and try to force fit them to meet the needs of a small business customer. The challenge is that neither addressed the specific needs of a small business.

We’ve changed that and created solutions specifically designed for small businesses.

BMO Business Xpress is a great example. We re–examined at how small businesses get loans and came up with a solution that provides them with faster and more convenient access to capital. What we’re most proud of is that it saves time for small business clients, as well as our team members, by freeing up capacity – so they can focus on more complex client needs and providing advice.

When it comes to choosing the right lender for a business loan, the choices are endless. What do you believe small business owners should look for in a lender when deciding which one to choose to get their business loan?

For a small business looking to get a loan, there are two key things to look for. It is important to find a lender that has offerings and solutions that are built specifically for the segment – small businesses have distinct needs and need specialized solutions to address them. The

second thing to look for is a lender that has a long-term view on the relationship. Part of what helps to determine this is the resources that are brought forward to help the small business owner run and grow their business.

A lot of small business owners often try and finance their business with their own savings rather than getting a business loan. Do you believe that’s a wise decision and why?

It’s important for small business owners to separate their personal finances and business finances. The advantage of separating finances is that it provides the small business owner with a clear picture of the businesses financial health, instead of tying them to their personal assets.

In addition, separating personal and business finances is important from an accounting standpoint and provides the ability to take advantage of tax deductions, including writing off business expenses.

How early on should business owners apply for a business loan? Should they wait until their business has been launched or should they do it in the early planning stages?

One of the first things that a small business owner should do is come up with a business plan – a good business plan is a dynamic, strategic tool that answers two key questions.

What does the business hope to accomplish and how is it going to accomplish it? The business plan will provide guidance in terms of the investment required and the timing of the capital needs.

CANADIANSME MAGAZINE I OCTOBER 2019 I

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SMALL BUSINESS

What we recommend is finding time to sit down with a relationship manager at your bank during the planning stages and talking to them about how to raise financing. They are a great resource to pull from. Often, they will be able to add some key insights from their experience gained from helping other small business owners that are in the same stages of their business.

As the head of Small Business Banking of BMO, what financing tips can you give to small business owners when it comes to managing their finances?

The most important thing to keep in mind is to have a plan for the business – everything starts here. A good business plan becomes a compass providing direction to the business owner.

It’s good practice to have a weekly and monthly plan to determine how many clients need to be acquired, how much of the businesses product or service needs to be sold, and how many people need to be hired to hit revenue and profit targets. The plan also provides a small business owner with the ability to track how the business is performing against the plan. If things are not on track, there is a greater ability to pivot and make any necessary adjustments.

Small business owners often face several challenges and risks when it comes to their finances. What would you say are the three biggest financial challenges for small business owners?

The biggest challenge facing small business owners is cash flow. Small business owners are constantly concerned about collecting

money from their customers in time to pay their staff and bills while investing to expand their business.

Small business owners also need to have a good understanding of the demand for their products and services. The better they understand the demand and when they can expect to experience seasonal dips in traffic, the better they will be able to account for the resulting dips in revenue and prepare for them.

Rapid growth can also be a challenge for small business owners if it is not properly planned for.

A small business owner that is using their own personal resources to fund their business, might come up against a barrier when presented with an opportunity for expansion, as they aren’t able to make the necessary investments.

What precautions do you believe small business owners should put in place to avoid these financial challenges?

Having a business plan in place is the best precaution. The plan will help the owner have a vision for where they are looking to take their business and all the steps to get there. The plan provides something to benchmark against – this helps with tracking growth and ensuring that business milestones are hit.

Small business owners should ensure that they are controlling the expenses of the business, particularly at the start-up stage. While it is tempting to have the best new equipment, best-in-class software, and a large staff to help grow the business, it is important to think these decisions over very carefully. Small business

owners need to always ask themselves if the expense in question is going to help them generate more revenue and how it’s going to help them do it.

Besides what’s been noted, it is also important for the small business owners to have local area intelligence. While a brick and mortar location typically doesn’t change over time, the location dynamics and demographics do. Staying on top of what is going on externally around where the business has been set up is important, as it provides a good indicator of the current economic situation.

What is your message to Canadian SMEs on small business month celebration?

The journey of a small business owner can sometimes be a bumpy road, but deciding to be a small business owner is an act of courage – you’re taking your destiny into your own hands and, at the same time, being part of a major economic growth engine in the country. Small business owners should take a lot of pride in what they contribute towards.

There has also never been a better time to own a small business. Across the board, industries are putting much more focus on the segment.

To speak to what we are doing, we are standing behind the aspirations of entrepreneurs – they are the people driving the "real economy" who make up over 90 per cent of the private sector workforce in Canada. To do this, BMO has made the commitment to double our support and lending to small business and female entrepreneurs and have earmarked $3 billion in capital to that end.

"Small business owners should ensure that they are controlling the expenses of the business, particularly at the start-up stage. While it is tempting to have the best new equipment, best-in-class software, and a large staff to help grow the business, it is important to think these decisions over very carefully. Small business owners need to always ask themselves if the expense in question is going to help them generate more revenue and how it’s going to help them do it."

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I CANADIANSME MAGAZINE I OCTOBER 2019

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33

SMALL BUSINESS TALK

Small business talk with

Marie Rosecrans Senior Vice President of SMB marketing at Salesforce

Can you tell us about some of the strategies you use to help Canadian SMEs grow successfully?

At Salesforce, we have been committed to helping customers, providing small and mid-size businesses the tools and resources they need to grow for over 20 years, so we’ve learned a lot in that process.

There are three key strategies that we encourage SMEs to adopt. First and foremost, you need to keep your customers at the front and center. Developing strong relationships with customers is absolutely key, particularly today, where customer experience is frankly the new brand. We encourage SMEs to develop deeper, more personalized connections with their customers, which we view to be absolutely critical to their growth. SMEs feel this is a challenge - 53 per cent of them, according to our own trends report, feel they are at a competitive disadvantage as compared to their enterprise counter parts. Tools such as Salesforce and other best-of-breed applications can certainly help them do that.

The next thing is embracing technology. All too often, small and mid-size businesses are still relying on paper-based systems, Excel spreadsheets or shared inboxes, notebooks and Post-it Notes. We really encourage these companies to look at how they can implement technology to not only be more efficient, but to connect them with their customers in a new way.

Lastly, I would say it's critical for SMEs to be where their customers are. I don't know about you, but I spend a lot of time on my phone, on my mobile app.

You need to be there to make sure that you're able to provide, not only find your customers there, but also support your customers there as well.

What is the number one benefit for entrepreneurs to use Salesforce when it comes to expanding their business?

Photo Credit: Salesforce

As senior vice president of SMB marketing at Salesforce, Marie Rosecrans focuses on empowering small and medium businesses with the tools and resources they need to grow.

Before joining Salesforce in 2008, she held positions in customer support, professional services, product marketing, and program management at Oracle, Peoplesoft, Evolve, and Primavera.

Marie lives in the San Francisco Bay area and enjoys hiking and traveling with her husband, teen, and tween.

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One of the things that I feel strongly about in talking to the customers we serve and work with is, in order to build incredible products and deliver incredible services regardless of how big or small your company is you fundamentally need to build strong customer relationships. This can be difficult for small businesses with limited resources, but one of the main reasons why we launched Salesforce Essentials more than 18 months ago is because we understand these SMEs do a lot of different things and are trying to get a lot of jobs done. And so, we put sales, service and some light weight marketing capabilities into a single application so businesses can run efficiently, connect with their customers, and then ultimately grow, their businesses. In turn, creating more loyal customers.

SMALL BUSINESS TALK

Salesforce links entrepreneurs with their clients by giving them an overall view of their customers’ needs that can help them grow by having a better understanding of their client's needs. What would you say is the most important aspect that entrepreneurs should consider when it comes to growing their client base?

One piece of advice I offer customers and entrepreneurs quite regularly is they need to focus on making sure customer interactions are deeply personal and as real-time as possible. What I mean by that is we’re operating now in a one-click world and sometimes instant doesn’t seem fast enough. We really encourage them to use technology in order to build and establish those experiences with their customers.

Innovation is always the key when it comes to implementing programs and software that can benefit SME owners. What are some of the strategies that Salesforce is using to embrace innovation?

Innovation is a core value at Salesforce.

In fact, we’ve been recognized as being one of the most innovative companies for several years. And frankly, it’s one of the reasons why I, after 12 years, still work at Salesforce - we’re always innovating. I think what I’m most excited about is we continue to innovate in order to meet the needs of SMEs and entrepreneurs. The way we've done that is by understanding SMEs demand simplicity. They want easeof-use because they have a lot of work to complete, and they're very time-constrained with limited resources. From an innovation perspective, specifically for SMEs, we really focus on making our technology easy to try, buy, and use– we’ve built all of that into the product and made it super easy to set up.

The innovations continue in terms of driving greater simplicity and ease-of-use for this specific segment of our customer base.

What is the biggest challenge that entrepreneurs face when it comes to SMB marketing, and how can Salesforce help them overcome these challenges?

One concern for the entrepreneurs I’ve spoken to is attracting more customers.

I think it's fundamentally one of the challenges that entrepreneurs have is how to get people to buy into whatever product or service that they have launched. So, that’s where I think Salesforce can certainly have

a tremendous value. We are committed to helping SMEs find, win, and keep their customers, that critical piece is finding those initial customers and then growing them.

Through all of our capabilities in Salesforce, from email marketing to helping you launch your digital marketing to tracking all of that customer information so that you can continue to grow customers, is what Salesforce is all about - helping develop customer growth at every single touchpoint and every interaction point. One of the ways I think we can uniquely contribute to making SMEs more efficient is by applying AI to those leads that they're bringing in, so they can use the limited resources they have on those leads and opportunities that are going to convert or close. That's one of the new technologies, new innovations that we’re seeing small SMEs adopt in AI. In one of our own SME trends report, we found that 46 per cent of SMEs are now ready to use AI and applying it to lead scoring and opportunity, and to opportunities that are likely to close - all helping make SMEs more efficient.

What does the future of Canada's SMB marketing look like to you?

This is something that I'm deeply, deeply passionate about because one of the things that we have seen, particularly in Canada, is the future is female. As a mother of a daughter, like this makes me super excited. In October2018, we launched a Canadian report, that we commissioned along with The Gandalf Group, called “The New Canadian Entrepreneurial Experience, Women and the Future of SMB in Canada”.

We found many women are gravitating towards becoming small and mid-sized business owners. They have captured an entrepreneurial spirit. What's even better yet is these leaders have a long career ahead of them –27 per cent of the female entrepreneurs are younger than 35, 59 per cent are under the age of 45.

They are a highly educated group of very dedicated people who are focused on effective planning. They have the passion, the discipline, and the ambition. I think that there's only more greatness to come from the Canadian market, and the role of females driving entrepreneurialism, as well as the growth of SMB in Canada.

What advice do you have for Canadian SMB owners to help them grow their businesses successfully?

This is something that I talk about a lot to entrepreneurs, small business owners and leaders. You have to figure out what you value as a leader and what you value as an organization, and then you can lead with those values. At Salesforce we say, “values create values”, but I can't underscore enough how important it is for entrepreneurs and SMEs to have a good understanding of what they value. Those values guide their decision-making and the [company] culture, and if done well, will help you grow and scale over time.

Number two is this notion of believing in you, believing in moving forward, and believing in making things happen.

Entrepreneurialism is not for the faint of heart and so you need to have a lot of grit, a lot of resilience, and you have to ultimately stay committed and focused, even when the going gets tough. Believing in your ability to succeed and execute is absolutely key. I would say celebrate the small and the big wins because they all matter and they're all going to help you make progress moving forward. “Change is the only constant”, particularly in today's type of [business] climate, and we all have to be comfortable with change. As I said, entrepreneurialism comes with its ups and downs, but adaptability and agility is absolutely critical.

I think that's one of the best parts about being an entrepreneur. Unlike some of your enterprise competitors, you can be agile, you can adapt, you can move fast - and I think this can be used as a competitive advantage.

Was there anything you would like to say to small to medium-sized business owners regarding Salesforce?

I think Salesforce is often associated with some of the biggest enterprises and certainly the Fortune500. One of the things I would love to underscore is we are absolutely committed and understand that small and mid-size businesses are the engine of the economy. We're absolutely committed to providing them, just as we are to the enterprise customers, the tools and resources that they need to grow, but to also create meaningful and highly personalized customer experiences that are going to differentiate them as SMEs.

CANADIANSME MAGAZINE I OCTOBER 2019 I

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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

Photo Credit: CanadianSME

Connecting to Grow, How Facebook and Instagram can plant seeds of success

G A R R I C K T I P L A DY Managing Director, Facebook and Instagram Canada

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BUSINESS WOMAN OF THE MONTH

"I wanted to establish a platform where colleagues could share their experiences, challenges, successes, and best practices with other women and to help reduce the feeling of isolation that can occur in this industry."

You’re very passionate about helping women advance in the tech industry. Why is this so important to you and what impact do you believe women can have in this sector?

It’s important to me because I see value in different perspectives. Diversity in tech is critical. With the development of machine learning and automation, technology is increasingly shaping our lives and the way we interact with others and the world around us.

Therefore, the designers, developers, innovators and leaders of the industry should accurately represent those they serve, or we risk producing biased technology. Additionally, even though less than 25 per cent of computing jobs are held by women (even ​less in l​eadership roles) and the turnover rate is twice as high for women than it is for men. Companies who cultivate diversity have higher levels of team member satisfaction and those led by women are more likely to succeed.

What are some specific challenges women entrepreneurs face today in the tech industry and what measures can be put in place to help support them?

There are several significant challenges faced by women in the tech industry, from bias in hiring practices to the gender wage gap. It’s essential that we continue to push for gender equality in this industry, and others. However, there’s one issue that comes to mind as a new mom–overcoming the stigma of m ​ otherhood in a professional role w ​ hile balancing professional and family priorities. Many women are faced with the challenge of overcoming a stereotype

or (subtle or glaring) discrimination due to pregnancy or motherhood. This compels women to actively manage the impressions they make when they become pregnant or a mother, sometimes by concealing the fact. ​I’m fortunate enough to work in an environment where a healthy family life is a pillar of the organization, but I know this is not the case for all women. ​ I’d like to see more industry leaders instituting or supporting initiatives that focus on building out and maintaining a diverse, supportive and conscious work environment. ​ ou recently partnered up with your Y female colleagues to create NERDS WIT (WomenInTech). What was the inspiration behind that and how do you believe it’s impacted Nerds on Site?

The formation of WomenInTech was primarily inspired by the women within our organization.

In conversation, it was evident that we faced similar challenges working in a largely maledominated industry. There was a growing need for socialization and collaboration, especially when many of us are often working remotely with teams spread across the country. I wanted to establish a platform where colleagues could share their experiences, challenges, successes, and best practices with other women and to help reduce the feeling of isolation that can occur in this industry. I believe it’s helped to foster communication and collaboration between women within the organization to promote and encourage Nerds On Site’s initiative to develop female representation at the leadership level.

As a female in the IT world, you’ve faced several challenges yourself. What advice can you give to women who are looking to enter the IT workforce that you wish someone would have given you before you started?

Reach out to the networks and resources available to you. There are more available today than when I started out, specifically geared towards women in the tech industry. There are a number of different fields of study, from graphic design to system architecture or programming – explore different areas and find what you’re most passionate about. Join local or virtual support groups for women in technology.

Get involved!

On a final note, what does the future of Nerds on Site look like? Are there any future projects that you’re hoping to implement within the company that can benefit Canadian SME owners? ​ The future of NOS is exciting! The company’s growth and new partnerships means an ever expanding knowledge base and product offering. Our mission's focus today is providing SME-specific talent and tools to allow our clients to champion in this cyber warfare state today. Our Managed Security Services Protocol (MSSP) offerings bring a new and proprietary security tool to the people and organizations who provide more than 80 per cent of the new jobs in our country - the great CanadianSMEs.

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TECHNOLOGY

HOW TO ENSURE YOUR

IT STRATEGY IS STRATEGIC NOT REACTIVE 1

Ensure the MSP understands your business and IT needs

An MSP must understand their client’s industry and goals inside out to create optimal digital innovation policies. Without this understanding, the MSP is destined to treat your business with a cookie-cutter approach, at the expense of better-considered technology.

JULIAN BOX

CEO at data optimization and privacy specialist, Calligo Canadian businesses looking to expand their operations will often do so by streamlining their internal processes through digital innovation. This will likely involve hiring an external IT business partner, as the large upfront cost of hiring an internal IT team to streamline processes is often too high.

Although hiring an external team of experts is a good idea on paper, not all IT Managed Services Providers (MSPs) are created equal. Here are the three key considerations that will lead you to the provider that will genuinely impact your business.

A good MSP will be able to take your corporate strategy and identify how and where technology can help. They will optimise your existing resources and tools, while also constantly looking for ways to improve your operations, whether through new introductions or changes to the status quo.

For instance, we work with an interior design agency based in Ontario who had set itself a goal of improving collaboration and project accuracy. Rather than offer all our clients the same tool, regardless of their structure or needs, we introduced a Virtual CIO who worked with them to identify the most suitable solution for their business, which in their case was Microsoft Office 365.

2

Ensure they constantly improve your "Business as usual" policies

While digital innovation will often focus on ambitious new projects, a genuinely valuable MSP will also deliver core, centralized maintenance and support services to a high standard. They will have thorough and automated patching processes, rigorous inspection routines, and they will hold their support teams to high benchmarks and expectations. But no matter how impressive those benchmarks may seem, you must check they are sufficient for your business.

For example, different businesses require different speed or availability of help desk support. An ecommerce business operating across multiple time zones at all hours of the day, seven days a week, will need their MSP to ensure continuous uptime and rapid out of hours issue resolution. On the other hand, some businesses mainly operate within normal business hours, but have predictable peaks of activity during the year, for instance 38

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accountancy firms during tax season, and will need increased hours support and high priority service during this time.

3

Ensure that your MSP "future-proofs" your business

The third quality to look for in a strategic MSP is the ability to plan for the long-term. An MSP might recommend sensible technologies that initially work well for your business needs, but may not be scalable or expandable and actually undermine future efforts to grow the business.

A classic example is where an MSP recommends new approaches without considering data privacy laws, and particularly how they may change. For example, Canadian businesses who target the EU market are now subject to GDPR rules. If the introduction of this law was not considered when your MSP redesigned your infrastructure, you may find that some of your data management processes are undermining your adherence.

The same may occur again if your MSP is not aware of new data privacy legislation or new industry-specific regulations that are due to be introduced and that will impact your business.

Any MSP should be sufficiently aware of the current and imminent obligations on your specific business, and on your clients, to be able to make recommendations in their context. If you’re not sure, ask your MSP to provide a review of the pressures and changes on your business and how they will impact your technology choices, and compare it to your own understanding.

Ensuring that an IT managed services plan is strategic rather than reactive is crucial for digital innovation, and for the business to meet its ambitions. Ultimately, it comes down to whether they can align with and support your strategy. If so, the result will be an immediate and continued acceleration. If not, it could mean irretrievable lost opportunity.

For more information about Calligo, visit https://calligo.cloud/

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

Decide… or Drift

W

DAVID W. SMITH

CEO - Logia Consulting Inc David W. Smith, B.Comm, CMC, ACC, RPM. Principal, Logia Consulting Inc. “EmPOWERING Leaders_with human capital consulting, coaching and raining” david@logiaconsulting.ca 306.373.1998 David has more than 30 years of experience as an organizational leader, coach, facilitator and consultant. He has worked as a corporate executive and business owner building visions, strategies and delivering successes that grow value, cultures and character. He believes that people want to contribute, learn and grow to become the best version of themselves they an be.

ork and life decisions in general are often difficult.

I once read the quote, “be Decisive. Right or wrong, make a decision.

The road of life is paved with flat squirrels who couldn’t make a decision.” Like that pondering, drifting squirrel, mid-course corrections are necessary to lead successful lives and careers. I learned of three critical strategies for decision making and adjusting from Dr. Ron Jenson a few years ago. Let me try to unpack these ideas for you to help you avoid needless drifting in making decisions; framing, focusing and flexing.

Fram ing Developing your overall perspective and sense of parameters about any issue related to the decision. Before anything, clarify what the decision really is in the first place.

Doing this can save many a chase down the proverbial rabbit hole. Then, check out four important guiding parameters: Purpose How does this decision to realign relate to your overarching mission and purpose, both personally and professionally? Priorities Which of your personal and professional priorities should you attend to first and how should these be accomplished? Principles - Stay aligned with your underlying guiding principles and values. This is the time to rely on what you know and what has worked for you in the past. Peculiarities - Be aware of personal tendencies that might be more harmful than helpful. Understand your true competencies, weaknesses and blind spots so you are able to make a solid decision.

Never hesitate to seek wise and trusted counsel.

Foc using Laser-like concentration can be critical in decision making. At the same time, the ability to bring an unexpected creative solution to the decision process at hand can make all the difference. Don’t become closeminded, but still keep your focus on the main thing. Concentration - The ability to keep your eye on your goals, along with the

immediate task that requires your attention.

Constant Learning – Knowledge, experience and mental agility in dealing with the various contingencies and options related must play a key role in how the decision situation should be handled.

Flexing Stay nimble and pliable. This is not contradictory to staying with what you know and with what already has worked in the past. It is simply an acknowledgement that life is not always predictable and new obstacles and derailments might call for new, innovative–perhaps untested –solutions. Be ready to flex some new muscles when tackling new issues. Master the ability in any decision-making situation to constantly adapt to change and to adjust to mistakes in an appropriate manner. Be creative and learn to see things in new ways.

In business and life, we must be willing to take some calculated risk. Now and then we have to move forward and make decisions without having all the information needed to be comfortable. The inventor Charles Kettering once said “virtually nothing comes out right the first time. Failures, repeated failures, are finger-posts [guideposts] on the road to achievement.”

Valuable Insight…

To maximize your decision-making capability, you must learn to realign rigorously in the face of inevitable obstacles, setbacks, and challenges to avoid drifting along the road. If you are fully engaged in life, you are going to be thrown off-track frequently. If you are not skilled at making solid decisions, then you are going to spend tremendous amounts of reserve energy putting out fires, dealing with people’s issues, putting projects back on track, and wondering if it all was worth it in the first place. Be sure to take the time to reflect upon these thoughts so you can quickly decide and react when challenges arise. This will ensure you remain cruising at highspeed on the highway, not drifting towards peril like the unlucky squirrel.

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B U S I N E S S C H AT W I T H

PAUL STRUTHERS Executive Vice President and Managing Director of Sage Canada

Photo Credit: Sage Canada

Paul Struthers is executive vice president and managing director of Sage Canada.

Mr. Struthers is responsible for Sage’s overall customer experience, community, product, marketing and sales strategy in the Canadian market, working alongside Sage’s cherished network of customers, partners, and accountants.

business requirements , including accounting, Enterprise Resource Management (ERP), managing payments, payroll and more.

In my role as EVP and Managing Director of Sage Canada, I’m responsible for the overall customer experience, community, product, people, marketing and sales strategy in the Canadian market. I work alongside Sage’s network of customers, partners, accountants and bookkeepers to accomplish these goals, and I have to say that we have a truly exceptional and inspiring network!

For small-sized businesses , Sage Business Cloud Accounting helps save time when accepting payments, help manage your payroll, accounting and more.

For mid-sized businesses , we offer solutions in financial management (Sage Intacct), business management / ERP (Sage X3 and Sage 300cloud) and people management (Sage People).

I’m also honoured to work alongside some the best colleagues I’ve ever encountered in my career here at Sage Canada, across North America, and globally.

I’m also humbled and grateful to have such a large, diverse and inspiring range of customers, from solopreneurs to large companies, as part of our Sage family in Canada.

What are some of the programs products/solutions that Sage Canada offers to Small and Medium sized entrepreneurs?

Sage has a variety of products available under the Sage Business Cloud for both Small and Medium-sized entrepreneurs. Sage Business Cloud offers a one stop shop for all business management needs with purpose-built solutions and a thriving ecosystem of applications .

Sage offers a rich and powerful set of cloud products to support unique 40

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As Executive VP and Managing Director of Sage Canada, what can you tell us about your role?

Having a proper accounting software that keeps track of invoices, payments and cash flow is a crucial aspect for any business. In your expert opinion, what is the best service that Sage offers that helps entrepreneurs successfully manage their finances?

I would recommend Sage Accounting to help entrepreneurs manage their finances. With Sage Accounting, you can access critical business information when you need it, take care of invoicing and banking and manage your cash flow. Best of all, it’s available anywhere and at anytime on any device (smartphone or tablet for example).

What is the biggest challenge that SME owners face when it comes to their accounting needs and how can Sage Canada help them overcome these challenges?

In terms of accounting, the balancing of commitments and making time for admin work, on top of growing customers can contribute to long workdays,

BUSINESS CHAT

especially when there are limited resources or employees at your business.

Sage Canada’s priority is reducing the burden of admin to liberate time to focus on key areas for business growth. According to a 2017 Sage survey, unleashing business builders from burdensome admin could unlock over $600bn in lost productivity.

Sage Business Cloud solutions help improve efficiency by automating time-consuming manual tasks and providing full transparency to your business. This allows for less stress and time restraints for SME owners and allow for focused work on what’s important.

What sets Sage Canada apart from other similar organizations? Why should entrepreneurs choose Sage as opposed to another company offering the same services?

Sage Business Cloud is what distinguishes us apart by enabling customers to grow and evolve over time by simply adding the products needed.

As your business grows and your needs change, Sage solutions can scale to meet your needs.

Sage offers a rich and powerful set of cloud products from easy to use cloud accounting to industry specific business management software to support unique, or more complex business requirements across multiple industries such as services, distribution, and discrete and process manufacturing.

A lot of entrepreneurs are skeptical about getting an online platform to register their accounts and finances in out of fear of getting it hacked or security breaches. How is Sage Canada addressing these issues and implementing security measures to ensure the safety and privacy of its users?

Cybersecurity is an increasingly important issue for all cloud-service providers, as well as entrepreneurs. Sage Canada takes these issues seriously in how Sage Business Cloud is implemented. With bank-level security, customers and partners can rest assured that their company data is safe with Sage as we are continuously investing in the latest technologies and protocols to protect them.

What is the best service that Sage offers for startups?

With Sage Business Cloud, each business can adapt and tailor the service to their needs. Most of our start-ups will start with Sage Accounting, especially via the mobile Accounting app. It helps start-ups manage expenses and income from any device, anywhere.

As Executive VP and Managing Director of Sage Canada, part of your responsibility is to look after the overall customer experience. What are some of the strategies and procedures you’re implementing to ensure that the overall needs of Sage’s consumers are met?

Customers are at the core of everything we do, so delivering a consistently exceptional experience for them is our top priority. With that goal in mind, we spend a lot of time mapping the ideal customer journey with Sage, deeply training our colleagues on all of our products so they can best support our customers, providing our teams with the latest technology and tools to interact with customers, relentlessly focusing on product development that delivers a regular heartbeat of enhanced value to our customers, conducting regular interviews and surveys (online and in-person) with our customers and partners to ensure we are collecting – and acting upon - their top priority business issues and requirements, and creating fun and engaging programs for our colleagues to recognize them for going above and beyond for their customers – something they’re passionate about striving to do every day!

Several accounting softwares are often complex and not very user friendly, making the customer experience not a positive one. How is Sage Canada ensuring that the customer experience is easy and stress free when it comes to their accounting software?

As mentioned previously, delivering an exceptional customer experience is critical to us and we recognize that added stress in implementing a solution or complexity doesn’t benefit the SME owner in reducing that admin burden. That’s why Sage strives to constantly listen to our customers, intimately understand their needs, and work to provide consistent updates and upgrades to our solutions for them, with a focus on improving usability and streamlining and automating many time-intensive processes.

Small businesses often start small and eventually expand to reach a larger client base and increase revenue. What are some of the programs and services that Sage can offer to entrepreneurs who are looking to expand their business? How does Sage support business growth? ‘ Sage Business Cloud is tailored for exactly this dilemma. Sage offers solutions for every part of the business growth journey, all on the same cloud network. This allows customers to join the platform at any stage of the business journey and then continue to scale and evolve over time by simply adding the products needed to suit new needs.

Sage Business Cloud’s core products work across Accounting, Payroll and Payments & Banking, People/HR and ERP solutions. By taking advantage of the consistency, reliability, streamlining of business processes and automation these solutions provide, business owners can comfortably turn their attention to growth and expansion.

What can you tell us about the future of Sage?

What upcoming projects does Sage Canada has planned that can benefit SME owners?

We’re always pushing ourselves to get better for our customers, and one of the ways we can do that is by continuously innovating and bringing the best solutions to market for them. So, we’re very excited to be officially launching Sage Intacct to Canada later this year. Sage Intacct is the leader in cloud Financial Management—uniquely endorsed by the AICPA, ranked highest in customer satisfaction on G2 Crowd and Trust Radius, and recognized as visionary by industry analysts. Sage Intacct enables data-driven CFOs to automate complex processes, consolidate data across many legal entities in minutes, become GAAPcompliant, and make strategic decisions using industry-specific dashboards. We are very excited to provide this ground breaking solution to SME owners in Canada!

We are also further investing in Sage Accounting for our micro and small business customers, as well as for our accountants and bookkeepers, so stay tuned for lots of excitement over the coming year!

On a final note, what has been your biggest accomplishment in your professional life? What are you most proud of?

Well, I’ve been at Sage for 3 years now and I can genuinely say they have been some of the most rewarding years of my career thanks to the customers, partners and colleagues I am surrounded by every day. And as a proud Canuck, focusing on Canada every day of my working life is pretty awesome.

But what has made me most proud is Canada achieving one of the top customer satisfaction scores within Sage globally over the past several years. We still have plenty of improvements to make and believe that our work is never done to address our customers’ needs, but it’s encouraging to see us heading in the right direction. We’re serious when we say customers are at the core of everything we do, and we resolve to keep pushing ourselves to improve every day!

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SMALL BUSINESS

October 26 is Small Business Saturday:

Let’s celebrate the men and women who make our communities vibrant

W DAN KELLY President & Chief Executive Officer CFIB Dan Kelly serves as President, Chief Executive Officer and Chair of the Board of Governors of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB).

hen I think of what I love most about my neighbourhood, I think of the Persian bakery with the amazing barbari bread and my friendly drycleaner who folds my shirts at no extra charge. I also think of the local hardware store, and my dentist who was able to squeeze me in at the last minute when I broke a tooth. These local businesses add colour to my neighbourhood, and give it life and energy. They’re part of the community.

CFIB has partnered with Interac to create Small Business Saturday, a day to recognize the contributions of small business owners like you. Not only do local businesses forge the identities of our neighbourhoods, municipalities and regions, they also drive our economy. In fact, over 95 per cent of Canadian businesses have fewer than 20 employees.

This year, we will celebrate Small Business Saturday on October 26, so be sure to mark your calendars.

Small business owners diversify our economy, create jobs and innovate. Without them, many of us wouldn’t have jobs–small businesses alone employ close to 8.4 million workers in the country, representing 57 per cent of jobs in the private sector. Between 2005 and 2015, they helped create 95 per cent of new jobs in Canada. More than 80 per cent of small businesses have innovated by improving their services or practices, or by creating new products. When small businesses flourish, they can invest back in their communities and develop new markets—and that benefits everyone.

Apart from the numbers, behind each small business are the men and women who dared to try. We can’t forget that to get a business off the ground, one needs courage, willpower and determination. Small business owners have to commit without knowing whether the wild idea they dreamed up will actually come together as they imagined. This often means putting aside job security and a steady paycheque and accepting the risk of failure.

It also typically entails working longer hours

Toll Free: 844-242-4400

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than others, putting off family vacations and free time until the business is well established.

I want to say thank you to all the entrepreneurs who took that chance! On October 26, CFIB will encourage consumers to stop by their local businesses and reflect on what they bring to their neighbourhoods.

We want Canada to celebrate the men and women who put their fear aside and took the leap to enrich our communities. We will be promoting local businesses across Canada through our Shop Small Biz directory. It’s free to join and a great way to connect with local consumers. Visit www.shopsmallbiz.ca to register.

Thank you to the small coffee shop owners who help us start our day off on the right foot, to the artisans who create unique works that transform our homes and to the pioneering creators who make life in the neighbourhoods more vibrant. Let’s celebrate those who made the big decision to start small.

"Small business owners diversify our economy, create jobs and innovate.

Without them, many of us wouldn’t have jobs – small businesses alone employ close to 8.4 million workers in the country, representing 57 per cent of jobs in the private sector. Between 2005 and 2015, they helped create 95 per cent of new jobs in Canada."

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O V E R C O M I N G R E S TA U R A N T

BUSINESS CHALLENGES WITH

M AT T H E W S T U R G E S Partner & Leader of Outsourcing Services at BDO

Photo Credit: BDO

A new BDO Canada survey has revealed that 43 per cent of restaurant owners and operators feel confident that their current bookkeeping payroll practices provide an accurate picture of their financial performance. Why do you believe that is?

This is a concerning finding but is also a reality that we hear frequently when consulting with new clients. We believe that this result is driven by two critical factors: 1

Inexperience in financial reporting and accounting

As the Outsourcing Services Leader, Matt’s emphasis is on client service.

He delivers quality service, develops strong relationships with our clients and acts as a champion of change. Matt works closely with BDO Canada’s leadership to deliver innovative technology solutions that help drive the best client experiences. Matt has over twelve years of experience with Canadian businesses, providing practical solutions to drive growth while maintaining compliance and helping to achieve their business ambitions. During this time, he has worked with clients ranging from early-stage development to multinational corporations with specialization in franchise businesses and multicompany portfolios. Combining his industry knowledge and client-facing approach, Matt works collaboratively with business owners to understand their unique challenges and deliver integrated solutions that fit the needs of the business.

What are some of the changes that need to be implemented to resolve this issue?

The good news is that improving confidence in financial reporting and payroll may not be as complex as it seems on the surface.

Restaurant owners can take a number of small, simple steps to improve their confidence over the financial reporting process: 1

Restaurant owners generally go into business for the love of food or the love of a brand. This passion is one of the most incredible elements of the food service industry in Canada.

In order to gain confidence over the accuracy of financial reporting, restaurant owners need to learn how to ask the right questions.

Unfortunately, many operators lack experience or adequate training when it comes to their finance - 32 per cent of survey respondents noted inexperience with bookkeeping and payroll as a key pain point.

There is a vast amount of resources available to help owners improve their financial acumen. This starts with conversations with your professional advisors - be comfortable asking questions when you don’t understand a result or to ask for help reading financial statements.

New franchisees often find that the operations training provided by their franchisor provides a solid foundation for operational excellence in food service and guest experience. However, this focus on menu and quality too often does not extend to finance and accounting.

Franchisees report too little time spent on the demands of financial reporting or how to properly analyze financial statements.

2

Lacking time available to spend on reporting The restaurant industry is fast–paced and demanding. Owners are finding most of their time is occupied with the core values of the industry – delivering excellent guest experiences visit after visit.

With competitive pressures increasing the demands of owners for restaurant operations, 1 in 5 of survey respondents agreed that they didn’t have enough time to manage bookkeeping and payroll.

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Ask for help to properly read and interpret financial statements

Franchisees can also consult franchisors. Franchisors have a vested interest in franchisee success and will provide support for business owners to get a handle on financial reporting.

2

Partner with a trusted professional Focusing on the restaurants core operations including guest experience, is more important than ever before.

Ultimately, restaurant owners are in business to make money.

To maximize profits, owners must have diligence over financial reporting and partnering with the right professional will provide significantly better insight and financial visibility to make better business decisions.

path to success?

I was very excited to be the executive sponsor of the TELUS pitch this year. TELUS Pitch is Canada's largest small business contest and I’m pleased to report that 2019 was an unbelievable success. We had nearly six thousand small businesses submit entries to participate - a significant increase over last year. Through the TELUS Pitch, we’ve been able to contribute more than$160,000 in cash and prizes to fuel the growth of Canada’s small business community.

to acquire new customers and the ability to scale and differentiate their business .At TELUS, we support many of these challenges by providing services and technology solutions but also through initiatives like the TELUS Pitch competition. Our ability to give back to this really critical community, in the form of cash prizes, mentorship and national exposure, is important not only for TELUS, but also for Canada’s economy as a whole.

What advice can you give to entrepreneurs who are just starting out?

We've been running this program for more than eight years, and each year our impact is greater. As Arlene Dickinson says, “winning $100,000 for a small business is like winning the lottery.”The TELUS Pitch is our platform to celebrate small businesses in Canada. It’s also a great way to play a role in their success as we get to know them better and support them through the growth of their businesses.

I really like a famous quote by Wayne Gretzky. He said, “You miss 100 per cent of the shots you don't take.” So my advice is - take the shot, go for it, and put yourself out there with your new business idea. That's one of the hardest things for a start-up – to finally make the decision to start a new business; but once they’ve taken that step forward, there is a lot of support within the SME community.

What would you say is the biggest struggle that SME owners face? And what are some of the programs and resources that TELUS has to help entrepreneurs overcome these challenges?

By building a network of people who can help you along the way, and putting your name and business forward for contests like the TELUS Pitch, it will enable you to hone your business pitch and value proposition.

The last thing I would add is to ensure you focus on your customers, as I mentioned previously, this is something that is true to TELUS, and we believe that it should be true to every business.

In terms of the biggest challenges SME owners have, our research suggests that access to capital takes the top spot. Capital is the fuel for a small business to propel them into growth mode. I’d add that having a support network is also really important for small business owners as they navigate through the difficulties of running a small business.

A few other challenges we’ve seen include the ability to get the word out 24

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Any leadership books you would like to recommend to business owners?

EMPOWERMENT

INVESTING IN

FEMALE ENTREPRENEURSHIP

PAMELA PELLETIER N a t i o n a l S a l e s D i r e c t o r, D e l l E M C

Pamela Pelletier is a National Sales Director with Dell EMC and a part of the senior leadership team.

She has a proven leadership track record and more than15 years of experience driving sales growth in the technology industry. She thrives on challenges, particularly those that expand the company’s reach. Pamela coaches and mentors colleagues at Dell EMC and within the broader IT industry by leading several groups that aim to help women in tech reach their full potential.

What can you tell us about the annual Dell Women Entrepreneur Network Summit (DWEN) and how is it encouraging women to become entrepreneurs?

Photo Credit: Dell

Through the Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network, Dell supports and nurtures a community of female entrepreneurs by providing access to technology, networks and capital. Through inspiring keynotes, informative panels and innovative workshops, the DWEN Summit is the not-to-be-missed event for entrepreneurs seeking resources and support to help them achieve their entrepreneurial aspirations.

More women are starting businesses at an exponential rate and women-owned businesses are essential to the success of the global economy. While these businesses contribute significantly to the economy and our society, their potential for impact can be limited at times due to financial, cultural and political barriers women often face as they scale their businesses.

EMPOWERMENT

Investing in women and helping them advance professionally is a key priority at Dell and the contributions of our female employees, leaders, customers, suppliers and partners are integral to every aspect of our business. We’re actively supporting our customers with improved access to capital, technology, networks and information – areas where women have historically been under served and where we feel we can make a significant impact.

As the national director at Dell EMC Canada, what would you say is the biggest challenge that women entrepreneurs face, especially those who are in the technology industry?

Women face a number of challenges across industries, but what we’ve learned from the WE Cities Report is the number one challenge women entrepreneurs, face is access to capital and this is exacerbated in the technology industry. This makes it drastically more difficult to successfully grow and scale their businesses.

Other challenges women entrepreneurs are facing come in the form of culture and talent.

Cultural norms and their policy implications put serious binds on female entrepreneurs. As well as talent, both in terms of the entrepreneurs’ own talent (including education and experience) and having access to a skilled staff.

As a woman in a leadership role, do you believe that you’re bringing in a new perspective as opposed to if it was a man in your role?

What do you believe is the number one benefit of encouraging women in the path of entrepreneurship?

Vancouver need to focus on driving capital to further drive business growth, as well as ensure solid foundations for women to learn new skills.

The number one benefit for encouraging women in the path of entrepreneurship is supporting women’s economic empowerment.

This will boost productivity and increase economic diversification and income equality.

Can you tell us about some of the initiatives and programs that Dell Technologies has implemented to support women entrepreneurship?

Women are underrepresented in business today and that is a missed opportunity—not just from a moral standpoint but an economic one. Ultimately, we want to show women the ways they can find resources, mentors and other women to connect with, and drive policy change to create an environment where women can successfully grow and scale their businesses. Women-owned businesses are significant drivers of job creation and economic growth, so by encouraging women in the path of entrepreneurship, women will be continually driving success in the communities around them.

The WE Cities report revealed that Toronto and Vancouver are among the top cities in which women entrepreneurs are leading. Why do you believe that is?

While we saw in an increase of women entrepreneurs in all cities included in the WE Cities report, both Canadian cities are very desirable places for women entrepreneurs to succeed. Where they once would have had to travel to New York or Silicon Valley to connect with the right resources, Canadian women can now tap into resources and networks, domestically.

I think that regardless of gender, we all have valuable perspectives and opinions to bring to the table. The underrepresentation of women, specifically in the tech sector, is a more than 40-year-old challenge and its going to take Toronto and Vancouver are known for their some time to get to where we need to be, but inclusive and diverse cultures and are more I’m encouraged by the role Dell is playing to connected than ever before. An increase in contribute to making a change. We are focused funding and a strong women’s capital base on becoming the industry leader in having allows Toronto and Vancouver to support women progress to their highest women entrepreneurs now more potential, and I’m proud to play than ever. Additionally, a role in helping support with favourable polices and encourage women geared towards women "Dell’s flagship program to support female entrepreneurship to rise to leadership entrepreneurship, both is DWEN, and through this program, roles both, internally markets are extremely we help women-owned businesses through Employee desirable. Women access the right technology, networks and Resource Groups such in both cities have resources required to grow. In addition, through the WE Cities research, Dell is as Women in Action, a high skill set and arming city leaders and policymakers with and externally through an abundance of actionable, data-driven research programs such as experience combined on the landscape for women DWEN. with access to qualified entrepreneurs." personnel. Moving forward, Toronto and

Dell’s flagship program to support female entrepreneurship is DWEN, and through this program, we help women-owned businesses access the right technology, networks and resources required to grow. In addition, through the WE Cities research, Dell is arming city leaders and policymakers with actionable, datadriven research on the landscape for women entrepreneurs. We can collectively accelerate the success of women-owned businesses around the world. When we invest in women, we invest in the future; communities prosper, economies thrive and the next generation leads with purpose. Dell will continue to leverage WE Cities as a diagnostic tool, educating entrepreneurs, customers and local governments on steps they can take to improve.

Beyond entrepreneurs, Dell is also committed to advancing women in the technology sector. With programs targeting young girls at the elementary school level, to our Junior Achievement program with middle school aged girls, through to the post-secondary internship program we run, we are focused on building a pipeline of women who will, hopefully, join our organization one day. Diversity is built into our culture code and so when women join the organization, we also have a range of programs, such as Women in Action, they are invited to join.

On a final note, what advice can you give to your fellow female colleagues who are in leadership roles?

I’ve had a terrific career at Dell, and what I have learned is that while men and women are equal, we’re also different. With this difference in mind, I would advise my fellow colleagues, both men and women, to ensure they are managing and supporting women on their team in a way that works for the individual. We all play a role when it comes to supporting women in the industry, and at the leadership level, it's imperative that we all get involved to make a difference.

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SMALL BUSINESS CHAT

Photo Credit: OnDeck Canada

One-On-One with

Neil Wechsler

After graduating from McGill University with degrees in Civil and Common Law. Neil briefly practiced law before becoming President and CEO of Optimal Group Inc. (formerly Optimal Robotics Corp.) where he grew the company from a technology start-up to a leading NASDAQ-listed self-checkout and payments company. Today, Neil is CEO, OnDeck Canada, a leader in online small business lending.

Can you provide some background information on the newly merged entity of OnDeck Canada and how the collaboration came to be?

OnDeck Capital was founded in 2007 in New York. OnDeck expanded to Canada and in April 2019 combined operations with Evolocity Financial Group to form the new OnDeck Canada. Since 2015, we have funded combined over CAD$440 million to SMEs nationally. We had seen a trend internationally of funding small businesses with alternative financing solutions that are quick, easy and accessible to SMEs and address their needs in real time. We were one of the first to launch in Canada by leveraging experience in the payments business (previously Mercantile Advance) and starting to offer financing services to merchants who were processing payments with us. In that business (which was a cash advance business to those merchants) sooner or later morphed into not only creating multiple products, but into Evolocity Financial Group which offered both merchant cash advances and short-term business loans. As we became more successful, more visible in the Canadian market and started establishing some relationships with significant distribution partners, we decided to combine with OnDeck, a leader in online small business lending internationally, to combine our local knowledge in Canada, and our infrastructure and team with leading technology and an ever evolving product platform. We’re now one family as the new OnDeck Canada, and we’re prepared to transform the market of alternative lending online to small businesses.

As CEO of OnDeck Canada, what can you tell us about the programs and products that the company offers for SME owners?

By joining forces and becoming the new OnDeck Canada, we are in a position to offer the broadest array of SME, non-bank, online lending 48

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Neil Wechsler Chief Executive Officer at OnDeck Canada

products currently in the market. [This] means daily pay, weekly pay, our new Flex Funds (merchant cash advance) product and a line of credit. At the end of the day, the small businesses across Canada will have access to both fixed funds and flexible funds and we aim to provide SMEs with access to financingfrom a trusted provider who is fast and efficient. We’re looking forward to leveraging both our Montreal and Toronto teams across Canada and all the assets OnDeck brings to the table on an international scale to be the new OnDeck Canada as we go towards the back half of this year.

What makes OnDeck Canada stand out from other similar financial groups? Why should entrepreneurs choose OnDeck Canada as opposed to another company?

OnDeck has provided over $12billion USD of small business financing internationally across the U.S., Canada, and Australia in over the last 10 years, and has also helped 100,000+ SMEs. OnDeck is a pioneer in financial technology and an international leader in small business financing. What that offers small businesses throughout Canada is not only a trusted lender on an international scale, but quick, easy, fast access capital in a way that traditionally has not been available to Canadian businesses. We use proprietary data-modelling as a form of AI decisioning that reviews real-time data based on the overall health and performance of a business.

Technology has allowed us to be at the forefront of being able to provide those types of financing products that haven’t been previously provided to small merchants across Canada. I would also note if you look at various geographies across the globe, Canada lags in terms of small businesses knowing that there are non-bank alternatives. We intend to be a leader in terms of providing that knowledge to small businesses that we exist and we’re here to provide you with access to that growth capital in a very efficient manner.

You have over two decades of entrepreneurial experience in helping company’s grow and increase their profits. Can you tell us about some of the initiatives you’re hoping to implement at OnDeck Canada?

We’re very proud of the fact that we’ve been able to grow profitably over the course of the last five years. We’ve done that with, what I would call, a laser-beam focus on ensuring that the customer and merchant always come first and that we are living up to what our values are. [Our values include] responding in a very effective way and flexible manner to merchants’ needs. As we’ve grown, we’ve maintained that focus on the merchant, customers and of course, our partners, and being able to deliver that same kind of merchant experience and journey that we hope.

I think that’s always the most important thing that as you grow as a team to provide coast-to-coast service and expertiseand being able offer merchants in every single province a similar type of experience which is not only trusted, but is a really good experience. Merchants who become

SMALL BUSINESS CHAT

not only customers, but repeat and renewal customers, are evidence to delivering that kind of success and in realizing your business vision is growing.

What do you believe are the biggest challenges that entrepreneurs face and how can OnDeck Canada help them overcome these challenges?

I think knowledge is key and providing merchants that there are alternatives available to them, where in previous years or decades, the normal refrain was to visit a financial institution and go through the lengthily, non-automated, paperheavy and delayed process of trying to obtain capital to grow business. It’s challenging when a business owner has to do it all to a large extent.

They have to deal with the normal day-to-day [operations], everything else going on in their establishment or store, doing the books, raising capital, or may have an event happen and they need to access to capital to buy a piece of equipment or deal with a cash flow issue. They need to have the knowledge there are alternative options to traditional financial services. [They need to know] we’re here to serve, we’re a trusted lender and we’re able to do it because of technology platform that’s able to deliver that kind of experience.

What is the best product that OnDeck Canada offers for startups?

In terms of startups, we focus on businesses who have been around for at least six months to be able to assess a history of credit and business performance. We do offer some startup services depending on the industry that they’re in. If it’s a startup with seasonality, for example, our variable product, Flex Funds, may be more conducive to their type of business if they accept credit cards or have a PoS system. If they accept monthly payments, we can design a product around it as well. Although we are not focused on startups, we do have ways to deal with them that address their particular type of industry they might be in.

Having worked with business leaders for several years, you’ve most likely come across entrepreneurs who have made mistakes that have significantly jeopardized the success of their business. In your expert opinion, what is the biggest mistake that entrepreneurs make and what strategies can they implement to prevent these mistakes?

A lot of small businesses are often undercapitalized. In other words, they don’t have the ability to access the capital they require in a time sensitive situation or when a [sudden] opportunity presents itself. They don’t have a rainy day fund should there be an event. In that

regard, I would always say it’s not a bad thing to have excess capital to balance cashflow. I would always recommend, to a certain extent, to not be over-capitalized, but it is also critical to not be under-capitalized. Ensure you’re positioned well as far as availability of growth capital.

You have a strong reputation of helping startups turn into leading organizations in their industry. What are some of the strategies you use that have helped you create strong leading organizations?

It’s always about people - having good people around you, investing in your people, listening and responding to those people and helping them achieve whatever it is they’re [hoping] to achieve in furtherance of the success of the enterprise you are trying to build. We’re very fortunate here of having the support of really good people to focus on executing what the business vision is. We not only [speak] internally about this, but try to spread the word to all the small business owners that you’re only as good as your people and of course, your products and services you are delivering.

What was the deciding factor that led to the combination of the newly merged entity OnDeck Canada?

Becoming OnDeck Canada (formerly Evolocity Financial Group), a large focus was in terms of the people, there was a nice cultural fit. In any type of transaction, if there’s not a good cultural fit then the odds of being successful go down tremendously. So, we started there. Ultimately, it’s about commonality of vision and bringing two organizations together that are absolutely complementary in terms of the services and products they’re providing. We really believe that 1 plus 1 is going to bring you to a 3 and beyond.

The objective here is clear. It’s [about] becoming the leading provider of online financing to small Canadian businesses and we’re well on our way to achieving that objective. I think there are many years ahead of us of doing this well, growing the market, taking advantage of the market opportunity for us and being the leader in Canada, providing services to small businesses that they’re looking for.

How do you believe the new OnDeck Canada will benefit SME owners?

[SME owners] are going to have access to working capital and growth capital that they traditionally did not have as much access to or awareness of prior. Traditional financing options are essential, but sometimes you need that little bit extra [funds] in a short period of time to be able to deal with cash flow issues, special projects, capital improvements or to focus on growth. We [offer]

that financing that is able to scale as a coastto-coast resource Canada. The newly combined entity of OnDeck Canada will accelerate this resource and awareness of alternative online lending in the Canadian market. I think we will see a [rapid] increase in the adoption of fintech solutions.

What advice can you give to business owners who are looking to grow their company?

Don’t be under-capitalized, focused on people and make sure you have access to capital to grow. If you execute your business in a way that only you know how to do, having access to that capital will allow you to reach your objectives. Capital, people, product – those are the things I believe to be important.

What does the future of OnDeck Canada look like? Where do you see it heading 10 years from now?

I like to think in three-year plans. What I can tell you is you’re going to see OnDeck be the leader in Canada; helping small businesses to grow by providing a variety of financing solutions. What we’re proud of is that we are going to have one of the broadest array of small business finance products available in an online world and that offering is going to continue to grow as the next three-year plan rolls out. There are additional products on the horizon that we’re going to offer, but we’re going to be doing this on a focused way to ensure merchants have a very positive experience by coming to OnDeck Canada.

Prior to choosing the path of entrepreneurship, you were a practicing lawyer. What made you decide to change your career path?

I don’t regret at all having a legal education and background. I can say that I use it almost every day even thought my legal career was short-lived.

I started as a startup and then a small business entrepreneur. What has been most gratifying, as I’ve grown different businesses, is watching those businesses grow and having great people around bringing all different skills to the table. What drove me to do that is I knew that is what I wanted to be doing every day. Obviously, not every day is sunny out. For the most part, if you’re going to choose to spend as much time as we all do in our daily lives working, you have to enjoy it. I really enjoy the people I have around and I enjoy learning from them. Hopefully we’re sharing experiences, as well being successful in what we do. We build on the foundation that we have and we try to grow personally and professionally, and that’s what’s gratifying to me. Over the last 25 years, it’s been relatively successful and I’m proud of that.

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Innovative E-Commerce Shipping Solution

ClickShip Offers Canadian SMEs A Competitive Edge

Photo Credit: Clickship

D

o you view shipping, and the increased pressure to offer faster and lower cost product delivery, as a key opportunity - or an insurmountable challenge plagued by abandoned shopping carts and lost clients? It’s the proverbial question. Is the glass half empty or half full?

More and more consumers are opting for the convenience of online shopping, therefore shipping has become a prime component in the pricing, fulfilment, and marketing strategy of Canadian online retailers.

According to PwC Canada, over 62% of Canadians buy products online at least once a month, and 34% expect same-day or next day delivery. Customer expectations and competitive pressures are forcing e-commerce businesses to explore new pricing models and seek out strategic partnerships for shipping.

Freightcom - an industry-leading, fully-automated shipping platform, with exclusive discounted shipping rates for SMEs, for packages and pallets has launched an e-commerce shipping solution - ClickShip, to help online businesses make shipping a strategic advantage.

With the ability to integrate leading online marketplaces such as Shopify, Amazon, Magento and WooCommerce, ClickShip is designed specifically for seamless fulfilment and easy shipping, with discounted real-time rates from a wide range of top couriers. Flexibility in shipping costs and delivery speeds, allows business owners to adapt and provide attractive options to meet changing customer needs.

ClickShip takes significant online SME shipping pain away and puts you in charge of the process.

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ClickShip’s highly-advanced platform delivers: Shipping Management System: Completely automating and streamlining the entire shipping process and optimizing order fulfilment. A convenient, easy-to-manage, one-stop-shop shipping solution!

Exclusive Real-Time Shipping Rates: ClickShip customers gain access to exclusive discounted shipping rates across a selection of top tier wellknown carriers - including UPS, Purolator, Canpar, DHL, Dicom, and FedEx. With real-time shipping rates, you get up-to-the-minute pricing, 24/7.

Smart Box Calculator: Using an innovative smart box algorithm, your organization will save time and packaging costs by selecting the right sized box for each shipment.

Order tracking: ClickShip offers you 24/7 delivery tracking options, ensuring your customer experience is second to none.

Address validation: Captures and eliminates address errors automatically.

Generate shipping labels: In just one easy step, ClickShip generates your shipping labels.

“The team at Freightcom has excelled with the development of this unique and innovative e-commerce shipping solution,” commented Turab Kermally, Freightcom’s President. “ClickShip takes away all the pain and effort in the shipping process for SMEs, saving both time and money.

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Toronto Digitize. Grow. Repeat.

Take your business to the next level with insights from the entrepreneurs and business owners who’ve done it.

Visit cisco.com/ca/sbmonth to see all events Reserve your seat for our Small Business digital transformation roundtable at Cisco Connect Toronto on October 30

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October 30th, 2019 Toronto Congress Center

Presented by:

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