Blog

Creating a robust business plan is crucial to the success of any startup. It not just provides a roadmap for your business, but also helps to attract potential investors. Here’s a practical guide to help you put together your business plan. Gather Relevant Information Start by collecting all the necessary information about your business. This includes understanding who will run the business, who will advise you, and a thorough analysis…  Read more

Every business encounters financial challenges at one point or another. But when the going gets tough, just remember that you’re not without options. One practical strategy that can help you weather the storm is asset liquidation. Asset liquidation is a process of converting your business’s tangible or intangible assets into cash, providing you with the vital liquidity to bridge financial gaps until your business recuperates. However, this strategy demands careful…  Read more

Assessing the viability of your new idea is an essential part of market research. While seeking input from friends and family is common, gathering information from the market itself can provide more accurate insights. Here are 4 effective research tactics to collect accurate information about your business idea: Harness the power of the internet Leverage the power of the internet to explore your chosen market. Investigate your main competitors, their…  Read more

Even if you have outsourced your financial functions, as a small business owner, it is crucial to have a solid understanding of key financial concepts to work with your advisor and ‘speak their language”. This article outlines several important concepts that every small business owner should be familiar with. Basics of income and expenses As a small business owner, it’s important for you to understand how you generate and spend…  Read more

As a business owner, it’s crucial to understand the power of social media marketing. Social media platforms provide an opportunity for businesses, no matter the size, to reach a larger audience, engage with potential customers, and drive sales. So, you’ve heard that your company needs to be on social media. Although this is true, it doesn’t mean your business is going to go from 0 to 100 overnight. Using social…  Read more

Starting a new business can be incredibly exciting, but it’s important to thoroughly evaluate your business idea before taking the plunge to ensure you’re creating a sustainable and successful venture. To get started, here are 9 questions to consider as part of an overall evaluation process. Save yourself money, time, and heartache down the line by investing a little time now. What customer problem does your business solve? Your business…  Read more

For a small business owner, managing finances can be a daunting task. Keeping track of expenses, payments, and cash flow can be overwhelming, especially if you’re dealing with debt too. A business loan, line of credit or a business credit card can help your company hire new employees, purchase inventory, purchase equipment, and finance growth, but too much debt can become an unsustainable expense. Debt management is vital to the…  Read more

As a small business owner, you always look to keep your business running efficiently. Expense reimbursement fraud is the last thing you want to face. Not only can it hurt your bottom line, but it can also damage your company’s reputation. Here we discuss what is employee expense fraud, reasons behind it, and most importantly, how to prevent it from happening to your business. What is expense fraud? Expense fraud…  Read more

It seems like the perfect storm has hit, with rising interest rates and inflation soaring. As a result, households are dealing with higher borrowing costs, leaving them with less disposable income to spend. And that means businesses are feeling the pinch. To make matters worse, staff shortages are adding to the pressure. Retail sales decline affects all businesses. Almost every sector is experiencing a downturn. Building companies, property companies, retailers,…  Read more

No matter what size your business is, or what industry you’re in, supply chain management is often an essential part of running a successful business.  As a small business owner, managing the supply chain can be overwhelming and time-consuming, especially when you have many other responsibilities to worry about. Fortunately, technology has made it easier to manage your supply chain more efficiently and effectively. Here are some pros and cons…  Read more

There are lots of ways businesses waste money. At BDG we have worked with a number of different businesses in varying industries, so we have seen it all! Usually, we start a business with the goal of making money or earning income, but with so many different responsibilities to juggle when running a business, some money can fall through the cracks.  So what money-wasters have we seen most often? We’ve…  Read more

  Bookkeeping can be a struggle for business owners. While some business owners have the budget to hire a bookkeeper, or engage an accounting firm to handle their bookkeeping, many simply don’t have the funds to do so. As a result, they end up doing the bookkeeping themselves (and not always well). We’ve seen a lot of issues with bookkeeping in the past, and honestly, just a general lack of…  Read more

It takes a certain type of unique, iron-clad grit and tenacity to be a business owner. This is because entrepreneurs face very low odds of succeeding compared to an employee: In fact up to 90% of start-ups will fail according to Forbes.com. So what is it that the 10% of successful business owners are doing to set them apart from the rest? Here are 4 characteristics of successful business owners:…  Read more

Many folks want to become entrepreneurs because they are enticed by the control over their workday, the lack of a 9 to 5, and no cap on a yearly salary. But in reality, starting a small business can be an emotional rollercoaster. It can take up to two or three years to break even for a start up, new entrepreneurs can end up working up to 60 hours a week,…  Read more

Hide the stale Christmas cookies at the back of your office fridge, and throw the fake Christmas tree out of the window, it’s time for some new and snazzy ideas to spruce up your Christmas holidays at your small business office this year. Here are 5 products to ask for this Christmas for your office! 1. Grinch edition BarkBox for your office dog If you have office dogs, real or…  Read more

One of the easiest ways to make big improvements in your business or life is to follow the Japanese theory of constant never-ending improvement. This means making small changes everyday which eventually produce big changes over time. For example, in your personal life, this could mean taking your office stairs instead of your elevator everyday. This may not seem like a big change to your daily life, but after a…  Read more

  Many Canadians who have used reproductive technologies over the past 10 years are now eligible for a tax break due to Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s 2017 budget. This will assist couples or singles who may spend into the thousands to get pregnant. A single round of In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) can cost $10-15,000 and is generally not covered by health insurance. Add this to the meagre success rates of 20-35%…  Read more

Shame. Fear. Guilt. Power. Freedom. These are some of the automatic emotions we feel about money according to motivational speaker Tony Robbins. He believes we have trained our brains to react to financial circumstances with those emotions. We make these choices unconsciously, and therefore we often select emotions that do not serve us in a productive way. If you have negative subconscious thoughts towards money, such as “I do not…  Read more

Brendon Burchard, the world’s highest paid performance coach, surveyed 20,000 high performers such as athletes, CEOs, and founders to see what habits made them rank so high in their performance and found they all had these three habits in common. If you are small business owner or a person who wants to improve your performance, check out how these following three high performance habits can change your life. 1. Develop…  Read more