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bootstrapped Positioning Yourself to
ATTRACT WHOLESALE ACCOUNTS LINKEDIN FOR ENTREPRENEURS how to price your product
FINANCING Your dream idea with Venture Capitalist
Stuart Browne more on Page 18
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EDITORIAL K A R E N M. LOWE Executive Editor F R A N C IN E GREY Creative Editor K I M BLEY LOWE-B EN N ETT Editor N I C O LE LOWE Editor
08 positioning yourself to
ATTRAC C T W H O L E SA L E AC C O U NTS by JENNI F ER F O S H AY
16 L in ked I n for E n tr ep r en eu r s : IT I S O NL I NE B USI NESS B RA ND ING PART 2 by SH EL LY ELSLIGER
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
RESO URC ES
Page 12
TIPS TO BALANCE SCHOOL AND BUSINESS By Yandy Zuo
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B U Y-SEL L AG REEME N T D E TA I L E D
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By Seun Adeyemi
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BOOTSTRAP P ED by
H OW TO P RI C E YOU R P RO D U CT
TIM KANE
By Michelle Alexandra
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T H E SIDE HUSTLE YO U N EED TO C O N SIDER By DAVELLE MORRISON
36 B U IL D ING A C O M M UNI TY by Zandra Thomson
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editor’s note Many of us start our business venture not knowing or understanding the full financial responsibility of what we are doing. Many entrepreneurs I work with started because they had a passion, allowing the money issues to fall where they will. In some cases, there was “hope” the venture would be profitable, so it was taken on. The problem is, most do not have a financial plan or template. I often encourage people not to let money prevent them from doing what they want to do, and I believe that with all my heart. What I also encourage is to have a plan in place. Acuity is from acumen, which speaks to your ability to react quickly in making the right decisions and judgements. The ability to make sound judgements quickly, in all areas of business is important but especially so for the financial aspect of the company. Yet, most entrepreneurs do not know how to price their product to make a profit, what to spend or not spend on, how much to spend, how to prioritize, and so on. In order to have a solid foundation of the financial aspect of your venture, you need a solid plan that takes into consideration issues that can arise and how to resolve or work around them, risk mitigation. Mistakes in your business cost money, but a plan can either eliminate or reduce the costs incurred as a result. The beauty of our current business environment is how easy it is to access information, to learn whatever is required to succeed. Dreamer 2 Creator Business Magazine exists to help even further by simplifying the data. Uncertainty, in itself, is not altogether a bad thing. It took me a while to figure out the name for this month’s issue. I knew it would be on money but could not figure out how to frame it. I am still not sure Financial Acuity is the correct theme, but it says a lot. In fact, while writing this, I realize that you can replace the word “finance” with anything else in business and life. For example, lost an intern in a busy season of my life with school assignments, magazine launch, calls for help from the consulting side of me and now additional tasks I did not expect to do forced me to adapt. I had to readjust my time to avoid burn out and still do a great job. My business acumen includes the ability to pivot and manage different projects by knowing how to prioritize tasks, say no to non-priority activities but above all, manage personal and business finances. Here is to Dreams Created!
KAR E N M . L O W E Executive Editor
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3 FINANCIAL ACUITY DREAMER2CREATORMAG.CA ISSUU.COM/DREAMER2CREATORMAG mail@dreamer2creatormag.ca
Copyright 2019 Dreamer 2 Creator Business Magazine. ISSN 2562-5330 (Print) ISSN 2562-5349 (Online) All rights reserved. No parts of this publication may be copied, reprinted, displayed, edited or distributed without the written consent of Epigram Consulting Services Inc. Dreamer 2 Creator Business Magazine is a Canadian Magazine, published and distributed by Epigram Consulting Services, located in Brampton, Ontario, Canada.
BUSINESS: THE ULTIMATE ADVENTURE
resources This article is intended to get you started in the right research direction. There is a lot of information to sort through, and exact information will depend on several factors, location, age, business type, industry and more. Grants: Business grants in the traditional sense of the word are very hard to find. For example, an employment grant means you will be reimbursed some of the money used to pay your employees. The government sponsors this program, processed by third parties and have caveats because the government is either trying to reduce youth unemployment and provide jobs for immigrants. Links to start are: https://innovation.ised-isde.canada.ca/ s/?language=en&lang=eng https://skillsforchange.org/employers/canadaontario-job-grant/ Loans: Futurpreneur Canada helps entrepreneurs between the ages of 18 and 39. Futurpreneur Canada partners with BDC to provide up to $60k. https://www.futurpreneur.ca/en/ You may also go directly to BDC for loans and grants https://www.bdc.ca/en/financing/pages/default.aspx https://www.bdc.ca/en/bdc-capital/venture-capital/ pages/venture-capital.aspx
Community Grants Community grants tend to be local to you so you will need to research this yourself. Start with your local credit unions. Alterna Savings gives loan to Ontario businesses only. Access Community Loan fund gives to the Greater Toronto Area and Hamilton. Crowdfunding Crowdfunding is an option. The mistake many persons make with crowdfunding is not putting their money in first. Persons are less likely to commit to being the first investor. Make sure your profile is also compelling. www.kickstarter.com https://www.indiegogo.com/en https://www.patreon.com/ Pitch Competitions Dragon’s Den is an example of pitch competitions, but many smaller ones are easy to get in and can yield $500, $10,000, or more. Use eventbrite.ca to start your search Labour Costs Using university and college interns will also give you help with labour costs. This requires time to mentor the intern, but you will both grow from the experience. You are sometimes required to pay a stipend. I recently learnt that Facebook groups offer internship opportunities as well.
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