Small Business Week
SMALL BUSINESS WEEK SUMMIT
To celebrate Small Business Week, the Greater Barrie Chamber of Commerce partnered up with the Greater Barrie Business Enterprise Centre (GBBEC) and BDC to present a Summit for small business owners throughout the area. Participants were given practical business tips & tools to take their business to the next level; network with other small business owners; and discover the secrets to others’ success that they can use to achieve their own business dreams.
Below you will find a summary of each day's events:
The Greater Barrie Chamber of Commerce is very grateful to all of the Small Business Week participants, and particularly to the following sponsors: BDC, Grand & Toy, Ministry of Economic Development & Trade, The Barrie Examiner, Huronia Business Times, Canada Business Ontario.
 |
 |
 |
 |
Breakfast & Round Table Discussions
Joanne Stuart of Northern Lights Canada helped to kick off Small Business Week with a very informative presentation about the new accessibility legislation. Joanne's focus was on accessible customer service, and how the biggest barrier to good accessible customer service is attitude - people don't know what to do, so they do nothing. Accessible customer service isn't all about ramps and physical barriers, it's also about how you treat people with disabilities.
Kim Demberline spoke about her experiences in customer service since a spinal chord injury put her in a wheelchair. She said that she felt like the same person, but that people all around her treated her differently. She became invisible - cashiers have handed her change to the person next to her in line, store clerks respond to her questions by talking to her companions, people talk to her like she's a 4 year old, ruffle her hair, and more, all because they see the chair before they see the person. Kim asked what you would see when she enters your business - would you see a chair? an inconvenience? What you should see is a CUSTOMER.
1.85 million Ontarians have disabilities, and they represent 40% of the people with disabilities in Canada. Ignoring or mistreating people with disabilities will cost your company money, and can easily lose you customers. Kim noted that she doesn't shop in stores that have treated her badly, and that she also tells her friends about her experiences so that they can avoid those stores too. RBC estimates that Canadians with disabilities have over $21 BILLION in spending money - do you really want your business to miss out on that opportunity?
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
Panel Discussion & BA5
The second event of the summit included an afternoon of panel discussions and a Business After 5 (BA5). The panel discussions included experts from the GBBEC's Entrepreneurs Club. After the experts were introduced, each was given a few minutes to offer tips and recommendations for their topic before the audience questions. The following are some of the notes provided to participants:
Succession Planning - very few have a plan, even fewer use it. Ask the serious questions of your business. What gets measured gets done; including benchmarks in your strategy will make you more likely to follow your plan.
Marketing & Strategic Thinking – the richest man in Canada bankrupted 7 companies before being successful - he failed 7 times, and LEARNED from each one before moving on. Don't be afraid of failure, failure is part of business - understand why you failed before moving on to your next project.
Employee Benefits - we all want to assist and reward our employees. The Canada Revenue Agency has very specific rules about what you can and cannot do. For example, what happens with the rewards points on credit cards is determined by whether an employee uses his/her own card or a company card. The employer is responsible for knowing what benefits are taxable, and must ensure that employee documents are accurate.
Offering your employees a Group Retirement Plan will make you a more attractive employer and will give you a competitive edge. You can set up a plan without spending any money if you want; you would only incur a cost if you contribute on behalf of your employees. Be sure to follow the CAP guidelines to avoid lawsuits.
Business Law - what would happen to your business if you died? You should know the answer, it's extremely important. Speak to your legal adviser about what you should do to be ready. Tackle the difficult question.
Recently, Google moved the option to set your local preference to the main page - this will strengthen integration between Google places & search results, and can affect how you are marketing your business online.
Does your brand say what you want it to say and are you delivering on the promise it's making? Ask how you're doing, look at what you're doing & not doing, and make the commitment to change what you need to. A logo is an element of branding, your brand is made up of so much more.
Greening Your Business - the image of green has expanded recently, and things like localization & sustainability are coming into it now. Purchasing local food saves on energy costs for transportation and creates a great opportunity for agriculture industry to expand locally. Take advantage of renewable energy incentives like the Feed in Tariff program; your hydro company may rent your roof space to install solar panels and collect solar energy.
After the panel discussion was complete, the BA5 started, and close to 200 business people were networking and enjoying Wildwood Hospitality Services’ fantastic fiesta!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Frank O’Dea Luncheon
When Frank O’Dea was in his early twenties, he was homeless and begging for money on the streets. For years he had been selfish and not participating in the family; his father decided he needed to save the family from Frank, so he put him out of the house and told him not to get in contact until he’d fixed his problems. Frank was given great jobs and opportunities, and he spent five years wrecking them all - drinking and not caring, he was spiraling and telling the world where to go. One day, after hearing a self-help radio ad about dealing with alcohol, he was ready to accept help; he picked himself up, and started the long trek back to participating in and contributing to society.
In 1975, coffee consumption was on the decline; Frank and his partner started Second Cup as a coffee bean store, but they were losing money. In trying to figure out how to sell more, they decided to start serving coffee and charging more for it so people would know it was premium. The relationship between consumer and beverage changed, a cup of coffee became a treat rather than just a drink. They expanded to six stores, then to 70 with a franchise model, but they disagreed in too many areas and spent too much time fighting. Frank decided to enact their shotgun arrangement and end the partnership; he made an offer, and was bought out.
He had more money than he'd ever seen, but regretted selling and needed to do something. Frank signed up for a retreat to find peace. The one rule of the retreat was silence; he could only talk to one person, Father Bill, at 5:30pm each day. The retreat started on Sunday, and by Wednesday he was frustrated and ready to leave. Father Bill told him to talk to God. He also told him that his sense of loss shouldn’t replace his feeling of accomplishment; a Picasso is a Picasso regardless of who owns it, and Frank’s contribution to society through Second Cup was the same, even though he no longer owned it, he should still be proud of what he’d done.
Through a simple conversation with a man working for United Way, Frank became involved in giving back on a large scale. He formed Street Kids International, the animation they produced was declared a benchmark for educating, and has been shown to 40 million kids around the world. He continued on, working with landmine removal, children affected by war, and more.
Frank firmly believes that if you start with hope, you can expand to any horizon –hope, vision, and action CAN CHANGE THE WORLD.
|
|
|
|
|
Please Register before 2:30pm on the day prior to the event. Registrations after that time may not be accepted.
If you are unable to attend, please call 721-5000 to cancel before 12:00pm on the Thursday prior to the event. Those who are pre-registered but do not attend and have not canceled will be charged for the event.
