SUCCESS AHEAD!

Map YourFuture Growth!

October 20th - 26th, 2013 WeekA CElEbrAtiOn

OF EntrEprEnEUrSHip

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YOUnG prOFESSiOnAlSOF CAMpbEll riVEr2013 GAlAFriday, October 25th, 2013www.ypcampbellriver.com

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WHEN EXPERIENCE MAKES THE DIFFERENCEWe are proud to be a 100%

locally owned small business, whosupport many Cambpell River events

throughout each year.

lOCAl EVEntS

Small businesses to our economySmall and medium sized businesses are the cornerstone of the Canadian economy. They account for 99.8% of all Canadian companies and employ more than 60% of private sector workers. On the week of October 20th join other Campbell River Entrepreneurs and sup-port them in building successful, innovative businesses.

This years theme is 26 under: SUCCESS AHEAD! MAP YOUR FUTURE GROWTH. Every business begins with an idea and a vision. Yet the roadmap to growth is never simple. Canadian entrepreneurs know that long term success requires passion, commitment, hard work, a great offering and a solid plan. Expanding your market whether at home or abroad demands determination and adaptability, resources, an appetite for greater risk and even a little luck.

........................................................................History of small business monthBDC Small Business Week™ is a Business Development Bank of Canada (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 one that followed in 1980 were so successful that BDC officially launched Small Business Week across Canada in 1981. The initiative was quickly adopted by Can-ada’s business community. In 2012, over 200 activities across Canada attracted close to 10,000 business people to BDC Small Business Week™. This BDC flagship event celebrates entrepreneurship at the local, provincial and national levels.

........................................................................A quick look at small and mediumsized businessesSmall and medium sized businesses are big in Canada: 98.1% of businesses have fewer than 100 employees and contribute slightly more than 30% to Canada’s GDP.

In a global economy, exports add significantly to economic growth. 86% of exporting com-panies are small (<100 employees), but produce only 25% of the total value of Canadian exports; the majority of exports (57%) are provided by large firms.

Almost 55% (615,599 firms) are micro businesses (1-4 employees). SMEs employed 63.7% of private sector employees in 2011, or 6.8 million people across the country. In 2011, SMEs created about 79 000 jobs. Over the 2001 to 2011 period SMEs were responsible for 53.9% of all jobs created on average in the private sector.

SMAll bUSinESS WEEK

Build your networks and prepare to compete

Register today while booths are still available

Get the latest updates on major projects in Campbell River

CHAMBERCAMPBELL RIVER

Connect Grow Prosper

w w w.CampbellR iverChamber.ca

More information and registration forms online at www.CampbellRiverChamber.ca

Tuesday, October 22th from 11 – 3 at the Campbell River Community Centre

Featuring a construction and major projects panel

Reasons to exhibit and participate• Establish new contacts and expand your network

• Raise the profile of your business

• Get the latest updates on major projects

• Help your business prepare to compete

• Gain practical HR knowledge to access a skilled workforce

• Think Local. Support Local Business

Presenting Sponsor:

Networking Reception Sponsors:

Lunch and appetizers provided by:

FREE ADMISSION

PUBLIC WELCOME

LAYOUT-8.indd 1 13-10-15 12:08 PM

Presenting Sponsor:

Build your networks and prepare to compete

Register today while booths are still available

Get the latest updates on major projects in Campbell River

CHAMBERCAMPBELL RIVER

Connect Grow Prosper

w w w.CampbellR iverChamber.ca

More information and registration forms online at www.CampbellRiverChamber.ca

Tuesday, October 22th from 11 – 3 at the Campbell River Community Centre

Featuring a construction and major projects panel

Reasons to exhibit and participate• Establish new contacts and expand your network

• Raise the profile of your business

• Get the latest updates on major projects

• Help your business prepare to compete

• Gain practical HR knowledge to access a skilled workforce

• Think Local. Support Local Business

Presenting Sponsor:

Networking Reception Sponsors:

Lunch and appetizers provided by:

FREE ADMISSION

PUBLIC WELCOME

LAYOUT-8.indd 1 13-10-15 12:08 PM

Networking Reception Sponsors:

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E-commerce is revolutionizing the way Canadians do business, but Canadian entrepreneurs are missing out. Just 10% of small businesses were selling

online last year, Statistics Canada says.

Meanwhile, Canadian consumers spent an estimated $21 billion on online purchases last year, up nearly 30% in just two years, accord-

ing to research firm eMarketer.

“The world is moving toward this type of commerce,” says Anita Bezeau, Assistant Vice President, Information and Communication Technology Solutions at the Business Devel-

opment Bank of Canada (BDC). “Canadians are online, but Canadian businesses aren’t there. The result is Canadian consumers are buying online from the U.S. and other countries.”

Get your feet wet

The good news: It’s never been easier or cheaper to get started in e-commerce. No longer do businesses need to invest huge sums in an e-commerce website. You can create a sales-ready site with no pro-gramming knowledge using free services such as OpenCart and PrestaShop, or inexpensive providers such as Shopify and eBay Stores.

These sites come with an on-line shopping cart, product

catalogues and the ability to pay via credit cards or

other methods, such as PayPal. Also included are options for customer

reviews and feedback, and data on your sales to help you track performance. “If you know how to use e-mail, you can build an e-commerce site in 15 min-

utes,” says Harley Finkelstein, Chief Platform Officer at Shopify, a

leading e-commerce website provider.

E-commerce can level the playing field for small businesses, including those in small towns,

Finkelstein notes. Online sales allow you to punch far above your weight in attracting cus-tomers. With a well-designed website, a small business can reach as many people online as a much larger company. Plus, your site can be seen worldwide 24 hours a day, and internet marketing tends to be cheaper than tradi-tional methods.

“The Internet has democratized entrepre-neurship,” Finkelstein adds. “Thanks to the Internet, I think the future of commerce belongs to small businesses.” Another advan-tage: E-commerce lets businesses test prod-ucts and marketing approaches at little cost, while getting quick feedback from potential customers.

The online advantage

Unlike a bricks-and-mortar store, where you might be stuck with the same product display for months because of the investment, an e-commerce site can be changed for free in minutes to include new products or a dif-ferent look, Finkelstein says. You can then quickly check your web traffic data to see how clients are responding to your changes.

E-commerce allows the kind of trial and error that entrepreneurs often need to do before succeeding, Finkelstein says. “One of the advantages of online sales is you can pivot quickly.” Bezeau agrees: “The cost of entry is very low. The Internet allows you to try and fail and learn.”

Selling over the Internet helps streamline order processing, reducing costs and errors, Bezeau adds. And it offers businesses a “huge competitive edge” because of the conve-nience of online ordering, she says. “The more convenience you create for clients, the more they’ll stick with your business.”

E-commerce revolutionNOT SELLING ONLINE YET?HERE’S WHY YOU SHOULD.

1 Start small Don’t get bogged down trying to create a huge,

high-end website featuring hundreds of products. Start with a free or low-cost e-commerce site, and test three or four products to gauge customer inter-est while working out the kinks in your ordering and fulfilment process.

2 Test and learn Don’t expect to succeed with your first efforts. “It’s

really about learning,” BDC’s Anita Bezeau says. “Technology allows us to do and test quickly and economically.”

3 Be attractive In your online store, feature

attractive product images, clear descriptions and an easily navigable layout, so visitors can quickly find what they’re looking for and make a purchase. Also, engage visitors with fun and educational extras: how-to tips for products, interesting videos and background information on the story of your company.

3 tips for E-commErcE succEss

We all know Canada’s populati on is aging. But how will changing demo-

graphics aff ect your business?

First, the good news. Aging consumers have diff erent buying habits, so that means opportuniti es if you’re creati ve. The bad news is that as baby boomers reti re, many businesses will face labour shortages because not enough younger workers will be around to take their place.

Either way, businesses that don’t adapt to the reality of the aging populati on could face severe challenges and are going to miss opportuniti es, says Pierre Cléroux, Chief Economist at the Busi-ness Development Bank of Canada (BDC).

The impacts are already being felt in some sectors and regions where busi-nesses are struggling to fi nd younger employees to replace reti ring boomers. “If we don’t manage our labour force according to the new trends, it’s going to be diffi cult for businesses to be suc-cessful,” Cléroux says.

Retain older employees

In the next 20 years, the median age of Canadians is expected to rise to 45, up from 26 in 1991, Stati sti cs Canada projects. Twenty years ago, nearly two people entered the labour force for every person nearing reti rement. Today, the rati o is one to one, and it is expect-ed to drop further.

Happily, Cléroux says entrepreneurs can take steps to adapt—and even fi nd opportuniti es by reviewing how to adapt products and services to an older consumer’s needs.

“Every sector of the economy is going to be impacted,” Cléroux says. To deal with the coming labour crunch, you can start by creati ng more accommodati ng workplaces to enti ce aging employees to put off reti rement, he suggests. Older workers oft en can’t or don’t want to work full-ti me. Flexible hours, part-ti me

Boomers and your

business

jobs and temporary work are ways to keep them on board. Some companies also deliberately recruit seniors to fi ll labour gaps.

“Older workers usually have a great work ethic and experience,” Cléroux says. “Businesses will need to keep their people working for them longer. The percepti on is that at 65 people are done. That percepti on will have to change.”

Les MacIntyre is a fi rm believer in retaining older employees to make up for a shortage of younger workers at his company, Superport Marine Services. He has no mandatory reti rement age and off ers reti rees fl exible, part-ti me and temporary jobs. He also pairs them with younger workers to pass on skills. “Those guys pick up a wealth of exper-ti se. The reti red guys have the pati ence to pass on that knowledge. They bring a lifeti me of skill,” he says.

MacIntyre also works hard to foster a positi ve workplace culture so reti rees are eager to come back. “I try to insti ll a sti mulati ng and sati sfying workplace so they enjoy working here and I have a high retenti on rate.”

Immigrants are key

Another soluti on is immigrati on, which has always been important in address-ing labour shortages in Canada, Cléroux says. That role will grow: 20 years from now, 32% of the labour force will have been born outside Canada, versus 21% today.

Cléroux says Canadian entrepreneurs will need to be more welcoming to foreign-born workers. “Businesses will have to be more fl exible in accepti ng people trained, educated and born out-side Canada.”

Creati ve changes will be needed to remain competi ti ve, he adds. “We can no longer do the same things as in the past. The structure of the last 40 years is going to have to change. But if we do things correctly, we should be able to retain Canada’s competi ti ve positi on.”

How canada’s aging populati oncould hurt businesses—and help them

SMAll bUSinESS WEEK

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Say you’ve got a small business in need of a loan. You’re growing, and you’d like some extra money for an expansion project. Sales are going up, and you’re making a nice profit. Should be an easy sell to the bank, right?

Not necessarily, especially if you don’t do your homework, says Pat Latour, Senior Vice President, Financing and Consulting, at the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC). “If you’re going to expand, you’ve got to have a plan. If you don’t, you can jeopardize the rest of the business that is doing well,” he says.

Many businesses walk into a bank’s office without the right planning—and then they’re surprised when their loan request is turned down. “Knowing the numbers is key. How will the expansion affect your profitability?” Latour asks.

“Growing businesses need more working capital because they’re often supporting additional inventory and more staff.

And it often takes a while for the expansion to increase profit-ability,” Latour explains. “On the other hand, an expansion can also lead to unexpectedly rapid revenue growth. Entrepreneurs should also plan for that scenario and be ready to use the extra revenue to aim even higher,” he says.

How do you get your ducks in a row for a successful loan request? First, take time to work out your anticipated return on the investment, including not just the cost of the fixed asset, but also the way your business operations will change as you grow.

Second, it’s vital to think about your timing when applying for a loan. Busi-nesses often wait too long, Latour says. Instead, they use cash flow to finance major expansions or, even worse, wait until they’re facing a cash crunch to see the bank.

“One of the

biggest reasons businesses fail or an

expansion doesn’t suc-ceed is a lack of work-

ing capital. It’s always easier to get financ-ing beforehand than

when you have a timing crunch,” he says.

Latour advises fast-growing businesses to meet their banker every year to get a pre-approved loan for capital expen-ditures, which they can draw on instead of tapping working capital. Such a credit facility also lets a business react more quickly to opportunities, since it doesn’t need to apply for a new loan each time it needs funds.

change to grow

Sean Darrah learned some of these les-sons at his fast-growing food services business, Pace Processing. Starting from

a 1,500-square-foot space in 2001, it had

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new, bigger building. He had always used working capital to finance his growth, but he now realized he needed a loan for the costly expansion.

He was in for a surprise when he ap-proached a bank and was initially turned down. Despite sales growth of 25% to 30% per year, he had been spending all his operating cash and writing off equip-ment every year. “It looked like we didn’t have many assets,” Darrah says, who then hired an accounting firm to help him demonstrate his company’s true value.

The bank took another look and agreed to the loan, which allowed Pace to move into its own new 25,000-square-foot building in 2010. Darrah also got a line of credit for future capital spending. “What prevented us from taking the next step was always spending all our cash. It was really clear we needed to change to grow.”

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Supporting small businesses in Campbell River since 1971.

Business success isthe sum of small efforts,

repeated day in and day out.

The Campbell River Chamber of Com-merce Business Expo

is a high engagement, business-to-business event that provides excellent opportunities for local businesses and suppliers to profile their business, con-nect with other exhibitors, and identify opportunities to collaborate and lever-age opportunities related to the transition that our community is undergoing. “Many of our exhibitors also use this event as a client and customer appreciation opportunity,” says Colleen Evans, Chamber President. “In addition to potential business and new clients that may arise from meeting the other exhibitors, past exhibitors have told us that they use the expo to have quality face-to-face time with their clients and potential clients.” “It’s sometimes really hard in a busy business to get those few hours to dedicate to client appreciation so many of our exhibitors invite their clients and suppliers to meet them at the expo and they provide gift bags or draws for them to enter while they are there,” further added Evans.

This year join us and hear from a panel of key construction and major projects representatives that will provide updates on key construction projects in our com-munity, accessing a skilled workforce and

information that will help our local busi-nesses and suppliers prepare to compete and maximize these opportunities. The panel will be of interest to exhibitors and the public alike.

The Business Expo will be held on Tuesday, October 22nd at the Campbell River Community Centre from 11 – 3 PM. The panel presentation will begin at 1:30. Attendees and participants will be encouraged to enter a draw at the Chamber’s booth for round trip airfare for two between Campbell River and Vancouver, courtesy of Pacific Coastal Air-lines. Admission is free to the public. The expo is presented by the Chamber and sponsored in part by BC Hydro with sup-port from Berwick Retirement Communi-ties and Canadian Western Bank. Quay West Kitchen & Catering will be onsite throughout the event and will be provid-ing complementary appetizers after the panel’s presentation.

2013 Business ExpoLUXURIOUS

COCKTAILS

DINNER

DANCING

DOOR PRIZES� e evening

will include: • introduction of the new executive board• recognition of the outgoing board members• culture, conversation and connections.

Seymour Paci� c Developments Ltd.is the presenting sponsor and the YPCR has receivedsupport from many of Campbell River’s businessesand organizations to ensure the event is a success.

Dress up and show your support for local initiatives inCampbell River. Everyone welcome!

Proceeds from the Gala go to the Discovery Passage Aquarium.

COCKTAILS

DINNER

DANCING

DOOR PRIZESGALA

2ND ANNUAL

Friday, October 25, 20136:00 pm

Maritime Heritage Centre

Tickets available only through the YPCR website www.ypcampbellriver.com(not available at the door, adult only, over 19). � e event is expected to sell out.

� e YPCR would like to thank Seymour Paci� c Developments Ltd.as well as their gold level sponsors 97.3 � e Eagle, � e Campbell River Mirror

and Fusilli Grill for their support and partnership.

For more information on the YPCR please email Elise Greggat membership@ypcampbellriver.com