Nest Egg Advice

As a small business owner, you know that on top of balancing the books on a monthly and annual basis, another financial goal is to put away enough for when you decide to hang up your working hat for good. Here'a a video from The Globe and Mail's site with some helpful advice from Lee Helkie, partner at Helkie Financial & Insurance Services Inc., and Brendan Charters, co-owner of Eurodale Developments, for small-business owners trying to save for retirement.

Tips for a Successful Startup

In How to Run a Successful Startup by Danny Bradbury (Backbone magazine, April 2012), the founders of 1-800-GOT-JUNK?, HootSuite, Fixmo, and other successful startups reflect on what it takes to build a company from scratch. Getting U.S. funding, managing growth, and testing market assumptions are just some of the pearls of wisdom doled out in this informative article.

Click here to read the entire article or copy and paste this link into your Web browser:

http://www.backbonemag.com/Magazine/2012-04/run-a-successful-startup.aspx

The Key to Work Productivity

So it seems the key to productivity is not so difficult to achieve. In How to get more time off without losing productivity by Harvey Schachter (originally published in The Globe and Mail), we read about a formula for success as prescribed by Dan Sullivan, who operates The Strategic Coach, a consultancy business for entrepreneurs. Sullivan advises his clients to divide their work lives into "focus days, when they focus solely on the activities that bring in the money; free days, when they do nothing business-related and just rejuvenate; and buffer days, when they deal with the rest of business life." A simple plan that gets us working smarter, not harder? Sign us up!

Click here to read the entire article or copy and paste this link into your Web browser:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/careers/management/morning-manager/how-to-get-more-time-off-without-losing-productivity/article2151330/

It all starts with an idea

If you're looking to start your own business, check out this great article from The Globe and Mail. In What's the big idea?, Rosanna Tamburri interviews entrepreneurs of successful businesses to find out how they came up with their business idea as well as what else it takes to flourish as an entrepreneur.

Click here to read the aticle or copy and paste the link below into your Web browser:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/whats-the-big-idea/article1188899/

How to advertise effectively

In Are You Advertising or Just Gambling? Strategies to Take the Risk Out of Marketing, Illiki Rai, owner & publisher of Rising Women Magazine, talks about the importance of understanding one's advertising approach. The most important ingredient to a successful advertising campaign according to Rai? Consistency. Learn how to generate maximum awareness for your product or service by taking a gander at Rai's tips. Click here to read the article or copy and paste this link into your web browser:
http://www.risingwomen.com/arcilliki12.htm

Start tweeting already!

Mega corporations such as Burger King, Cisco Systems, and General Motors have long since jumped on the twitter bandwagon. Why? Because social media is not the future--it's here right now! Small business owners and career gals alike can benefit from using twitter too. Watch this video for interesting twitter stats.

The small and mighty

We read a great article by Tony Wanless today in the Financial Post. In Compact fits all (originally published in today's FP print edition), Wanless explains how many businesses are currently focusing on being smaller and more efficient, with major emphasis on personal values in order to succeed and win over customers. So it appears that bigger is not always better, and that compactness is quickly becoming the order of the day in the business world. A useful read for would-be entrepreneurs.

Click here to read the article or copy and paste this link into your web browser:
http://www.financialpost.com/small-business/succession/story.html?id=1443187