Small Business

Tips to successfully pursue your job and side gig without burning out. ​ In today’s fast-paced world​,​ many individuals pursue side hustles to boost their income or satisfy personal passions while working full-time. Balancing a full-time job with a side hustle can be challenging, but with proper time management, it is achievable. Thankfully, there are many tips and tricks to help successfully manage the two commitments.   Set clear boundaries   First off, it is important to set clear boundaries. You ​should​​​ allocate specific hours for your side hustle and stick to them to avoid burnout.   Evan Kossman, a full-time web developer and part-time freelancer in Ontario, ​says​​​ that he works 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., takes an hour break for dinner, and works on his side projects for two hours before taking his down​ ​time.   “I communicate my schedule to my clients, so they understand that they may not get a response back from me during standard working hours,” Kossman says.    Clear communication and boundaries are key to his success. Developing a consistent routine that accommodates both your job and side hustle will help you juggle both.  Prioritize tasks  Prioritizing tasks is essential for balancing a full-time job and a side hustle. Utilizing tools like to-do lists or digital planners can help organize your workload so that you meet deadlines and manage your time effectively. By breaking down tasks and setting clear priorities, you can focus on the most important activities for both your primary job and side hustle, reducing stress and increasing productivity.     Stay motivated and organized   Staying motivated and organized is crucial for success. Danielle Altra, a teacher in Ontario manages her own tutoring side business. She says that “my calendar is imperative to managing my time and prioritizing tasks.”   Danielle prioritizes her daytime teaching job and sets specific hours throughout the week for her tutoring. Ensuring everything is organized in her calendar helps her understand when she has extra time or needs to focus on one task over another.   “Working two jobs can be exhausting, but I try to stay positive and motivated as I love teaching and it is my true passion. In the end, it is worth it!” Altra explains.     Schedule downtime  Scheduling time for relaxation and hobbies is necessary to avoid burnout​. Perhaps you watch a favourite TV show every week​,​ or attend yoga classes. Setting time for yourself to decompress is important.   “I like to set aside time to go to the gym and take time for myself. Spending time with my friends and family also helps me relax and not get too overwhelmed when thinking about the tasks I need to complete,” Kossman shares.         ​​Goal-​setting ​​​  Set short-term and long-term goals for your side hustle.​ ​Short-term goals track immediate progress and help you stay engaged, while long-term goals provide a clear vision of where you want your side hustle to go. This dual approach facilitates steady progress and motivation​ to reach​ ​​your overarching objectives.   “I keep a journal and make sure to set daily, weekly and monthly goals. It can be anything from how many hours I want to tutor in a week, to how I want to grow my side hustle in the future. Writing down my goals and keeping myself accountable helps me stay on track,” Altra says.  With the right strategies, balancing a full-time job and a side hustle is possible. Whether you’re looking to earn extra income or pursue a passion, implementing these tips can help you manage both effectively.  

Small businesses differ from large corporations because instead of having a widespread customer base, they are localized and depend on the community to support their business. This may sound discouraging for small business owners, but small businesses are in a far better position when forming close customer relationships. Forming close relationships with customers goes beyond having a casual conversation. In addition to in-person interactions, small businesses should consider implementing customer engagement in their marketing plans. Customer engagement involves engaging customers through different business aspects to produce enthusiasm and positive interactions. When a business continuously practices customer engagement, consumers consider it convenient and considerate. This means customers will be more loyal to businesses that accommodate their needs while being passionate. Maintaining customers’ loyalty is economically sound since attracting a new customer costs five times more than retaining current clients. Customer engagement directly boosts sales, especially when businesses train sales teams in effective outreach methods. Additionally, when small businesses provide customer engagement that makes the purchasing process easier, like how-to instructions for specific products, the customer feels more comfortable buying those products. Customer engagement also encourages customers to buy more expensive products and upgrades by 38 per cent. However, customer engagement is more than just a one-and-done deal. It requires consistency to build long-lasting relationships with consumers. Here are some cost-effective customer engagement strategies that small businesses can easily implement into their business plans. Focus on business websites and blogs Capturing a consumer’s attention through a visually pleasing web design is one of the first ways to draw them in and encourage engagement. This can be achieved through a clean and clear layout, easy-to-use navigation tools and ensuring that your website looks good on different types of devices.   After implementing these basics, small businesses can include visuals and videos to showcase their staff and product development process. This can include photographs of staff, images of your products instead of generic visuals from the internet and educational videos and tutorials.  Interactive elements like polls, quizzes and surveys can help consumers gain insight into the operations of a small business while demonstrating that the business owner values feedback. Use email marketing methods Practically every consumer has an email address, and businesses can use this as a tool to communicate information that wouldn’t usually be explained during in-person customer interactions. For instance, by simply asking for an email address, small businesses can inform customers about new products, benefits and facts. Similarly to websites, these emails can include interactive elements such as polls and comment sections. This method is also time efficient because business owners can automate emails to send at specific times.  Promote and update social media Social media is another place where small business owners can share photos and videos about their operations so new customers can get a sense of the business before even walking through the door. Like a website design, a social media feed should be organized and easy to navigate. As more people share, like and tag your content, it can appear on new customers’ platforms. Encouraging customers to tag your company’s social media handles can be accomplished by asking consumers to do so in the caption of their social media posts. Additionally, with each social media platform being different, picking one that best corresponds with a small business’s products or services can help engage customers. For example, Instagram may be best if a small business sells visual products like furniture, art and jewelry. On the other hand, if a small business provides services to a community, outlets such as Facebook or Twitter can help them connect with community members. Giveaways and loyalty programs Customers like to be rewarded for purchasing from a business. Giveaways for first-time purchasers or loyal regulars can not only keep them coming back but also produce positive interactions that customers will remember. Examples of giveaways include giving a small gift on the customer’s birthday. This is something that any small business can do because it can be as simple as providing a free coffee, beverage or item of clothing, a discount and much more. The business owner can determine the small gift so they can feel in control while the consumer still feels appreciated. On the flip side, small businesses can implement many types of loyalty programs. Some examples include subscription programs, points programs that allow customers to accumulate points for rewards or mission-driven customer loyalty programs that enable customers to contribute to non-profit organizations when they buy enough of a particular product. Relationships between consumers and businesses do not need to be disconnected or inauthentic. Instead, customer relationships can be an opportunity for business owners to spark the same passion they have for their products and services in consumers. Ultimately, customer engagement helps small businesses grow their sales, increase customer retention and enhance community relationships.

Securing financing to start a new business or project can be challenging. For most businesses, venture capital (VC) funding is not feasible because gaining access to a venture capital firm is difficult. According to an article published by Harvard Business Review, only one deal is selected for every 101 a VC firm considers. Additionally, only 10 per cent of deals are made from cold-pitching, meaning that most VC deals are made from pre-existing connections or the VC initiating contact themselves. Bank loans can also be difficult to obtain. Securing a bank loan in Canada is usually only possible for businesses already operating and generating revenue. Loans must also be repaid with interest, even if a business or project fails. So, is it possible to finance business ideas without these traditional gatekeepers? One option is crowdfunding, which is a form of fundraising where a business asks many people for a small contribution to the venture. Although crowdfunding has existed for several years, only some businesses successfully raise enough funds to launch their ideas. Read ahead to learn more about successful crowdfunding stories and what sets them apart. Hike! Hike! is a card game about racing huskies that launched in 2022. It raised over $150,000 on the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter, exceeding its roughly $9,000 goal. Snowy Board Games, the creator of Hike!, was not a veteran of the card game space. Hike! was its first-ever game, and its Kickstarter campaign was its first attempt at crowdfunding. How did the campaign work out so well, despite the company’s lack of experience? One answer is that they chose the right crowdfunding platform. Board games are well-funded on Kickstarter. Polygon reports that in 2022, the funding success rate for table-top games was 76.3 per cent, and the average funding for a successful table-top game on Kickstarter was $58,000. By choosing Kickstarter for its campaign, Snowy Board Games gave itself a significant advantage because it already had a large chance at success based on previous campaigns. That is not to say that Hike!’s success was only a product of statistical likelihood. The fact that it raised more than average crowdfunding campaigns is a testament to that. Beyond choosing the right platform, Snowy Board Games strategically asked for funding when it could show a nearly complete product. Snowy Board Games had already designed their game, written their rules, commissioned an artist and assembled a final game so investors could see exactly what they would get if they backed the project. By showing a high-quality, near-finished project to an investor space with a high likelihood of financing, Hike! achieved its goals. Loish Lois van Baarle, known as Loish, is an artist who attracts more than 10,000 monthly patrons on Patreon. Patreon is a membership platform that provides content creators with business tools to run a subscription service, enabling them to earn a monthly income by offering rewards and services to their subscribers. Loish is a career artist and has worked with companies like LEGO, Amazon and Coca-Cola on a freelance basis. She creates unique, high-quality art that attracts both fans and clients. What makes her stand out next to the countless other artists trying to make a living on the platform? Loish’s success can be partly attributed to her reputation as a well-established expert before she started a Patreon. When new followers discover her Patreon, she already has an impressive portfolio to showcase. Loish also gives an incentive to subscribe to her Patreon by offering art lessons. For $10 per month, she offers art tutorials, monthly Q&A sessions, drawing challenges and access to her Discord chat room, where patrons can come together and form a community. Loish has picked a high-demand target market while delivering ongoing high-quality services to her supporters, ensuring continued success. BooCooPets Some businesses or projects don’t fit in crowdfunding frameworks like Kickstarter or Patreon. BooCooPets, Inc. is one of them. BooCooPets is a website for everything related to pets and aims to be a central hub where pet owners can find meetups, shopping tips, travel guides, medical services and searchable information on pet rescues. BooCooPets posed an interesting problem. It needed crowdfunding, but its goal was to start a new business rather than launch a product or service. Its solution was equity crowdfunding. Equity crowdfunding is when investors purchase a portion of a company in exchange for a stake. Equity crowdfunding works because it directly connects big and small investors and companies. Anybody can be an investor, which can be attractive for those who want to invest in companies with limited capital. However, it can be challenging to get traditional equity investment. BooCooPets, originally named Kaboodle, launched on the equity crowdfunding website Wefunder and had multiple rounds of successful funding, the last of which raised over $60,000. What led to its success? BooCooPets had many things investors look for, including a solid business case proposed by a career entrepreneur with a great track record. Larry Loyd, founder and CEO of BooCooPets, has an entrepreneurial history, including opening six restaurants, an interior design firm and a logistics monitoring company. Beside him, COO and co-founder Art Pedroza is vice president and managing director. Is crowdfunding right for you? Even though crowdfunding is a viable way to secure funding, it doesn’t apply to all cases and is not a guarantee. It’s important to carefully consider whether or not it applies to your individual business situation. Even though crowdfunding is easier to secure than traditional funding channels, it’s not risk-free and usually requires time and monetary investment. Success stories like Hike!, Loish and BooCooPets prove that it has found a legitimate place in the business world. Crowdfunding has given entrepreneurs more democratized funding opportunities, allowing anyone with a great idea to potentially turn it into a reality.

It’s crucial for businesses to gain insight from the customers who support them. By gaining valuable insight, business owners can see how customers perceive aspects of their company, such as their products, customer service and website. Additionally, they can use data collection methods to understand how their business can improve and connect with customers through feedback. However, small businesses may be discouraged from data collection since it is mainly associated with large companies. For instance, Apple and Snapchat are both known to collect a substantial amount of customer data compared to smaller businesses. According to a 2020-2021 survey by the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, about seven in 10 Canadians have refused to provide an organization with their personal information due to privacy concerns. Instead of relying on invasive data collection techniques, small businesses can use inexpensive digital tools and in-person data collection methods to gain customer insights. Small businesses can easily collect three out of the four different customer data types. Small businesses can collect engagement data, which shows how consumers interact with a business’s website and social media pages. Small businesses can also gather behavioural data by talking directly to customers and looking at purchase histories. Lastly, small businesses can evaluate attitudinal data, including customer satisfaction and other purchase criteria. Small businesses should use customer data collection because they can use their findings to learn more about client preferences and satisfaction. They can apply these insights to switch around customer service techniques, reduce operational costs and expand inventory for products that consumers like best. Small businesses can also learn more about how customers prefer to shop and the issues most important to them. Moreover, by examining customer data, small businesses can increase revenue and customer satisfaction while decreasing unnecessary costs. While some customers find data collection invasive, some can see past privacy concerns because they realize that their input can make a positive change or receive compensation for their feedback. The same survey by the Privacy Commissioner of Canada states that 38 per cent of Canadians will provide personal information to businesses for discounts or incentives on a good or service. Small businesses that collect customer data should do so in a way that ensures the customer that their feedback is appreciated and will be used to benefit their shopping experience. Customers also want to ensure that providing their feedback will not inhibit their privacy, so it’s important to uphold strict privacy practices. Here are some non-invasive customer data collection methods that small businesses can use to learn more about their customers while respecting their privacy. Surveys Business owners can use surveys to collect customer feedback and identify improvement opportunities. For example, surveys can ask customers about their satisfaction with the business’s products, customer experience, pricing and promotions. Small business owners should keep surveys short by asking specific questions. Additionally, they can send them to customers digitally to avoid confusing handwriting and potentially losing physical copies. To send out online surveys, business owners should ask customers for their email and inform them about filling out surveys for rewards, like a small discount. Interviews and focus groups Interviews and focus groups allow small business owners to get face-to-face feedback about new products, logos, website design and more. Before asking questions, small business owners should explain what they are inquiring about in interviews and focus groups so customers know what to expect. Although this method requires time to recruit willing customers,  small businesses can receive feedback immediately rather than waiting for survey responses. Focus groups have been shown to significantly impact businesses and their future direction. Twitter founders Biz Stone and Evan Williams used focus groups to learn about Facebook users’ dissatisfaction with the platform. They discovered that the biggest complaint was that the news feed was too cluttered and difficult to keep up with. Using this feedback, Stone and Williams developed Twitter to allow users to share articles, news and opinions in 140 characters or less, later bumped up to 280 in 2018. Interviews and focus groups allow for honest feedback on important elements to help reinvigorate or launch businesses. Social media monitoring Every small business should have accounts on social media channels to market their products and services. Monitoring activity on these accounts can tell business owners what content customers are drawn to, what products they are excited about based on likes and shares and what motivates them to purchase from a particular small business. Using a third-party social platform that monitors and organizes a business’s social media can cut down on time and clearly show what posts get the most engagement on multiple channels. Businesses can use this information to understand what posts customers are drawn to and why. For example, engagement has been found to increase significantly when businesses post about their commitment to sustainability. Furthermore, social media marketing can pinpoint what customers value, leading to more brand recognition and a more ethical brand reputation. Online tracking on the business’ website  Online tracking consists of tracking users’ behaviour across websites. Small business owners can use online tracking tools to gain insights into customers and their online activity. For example, small businesses can track users’ behaviour on their company websites, including how long they spend on the website or whether they’re confused while using it. This information can help businesses enhance their website design if they don’t have the time to conduct interviews or focus groups. One of the ways to do this is by implementing CRM software, which organizes and tracks the number of visitors and stores emails and other personal information that customers willingly give when they enter the website. Small businesses need to recognize that customers have great ideas and can provide the feedback necessary to strengthen a business’s operation and brand. However, collecting customer data should be rewarded with a better customer experience rather than punished with a lack of privacy. It is up to small businesses to prove that customer data collection can be ethical and benefit both sides.

Starting and maintaining a business can be difficult. However, business owners from marginalized communities face unique obstacles, making succeeding in the business world even harder. Factors such as race, gender and sexual orientation have historically prevented marginalized individuals from receiving opportunities. While some work has been done to change this, there is still a long way to go to altogether remove these inequities from the business world. Many programs have been developed across Canada to help marginalized businesses thrive despite their challenges. Read ahead to learn about some of these programs and resources. Canada’s 2SLGBTQI+ Chamber of Commerce (CGLCC) The CGLCC focuses on uplifting 2SLGBTQI+ businesses and entrepreneurs in Canada by connecting them to a support network to aid their business ventures. Working with the Canadian government and several organizations, the CGLCC certifies 2SLGBTQI+ businesses across Canada to participate in their numerous programs and opportunities. Their programs cover areas such as youth entrepreneurship training, diversity and inclusion training and global business connections. Digital Media Zone (DMZ) Black Innovation Programs The DMZ helps to develop technology start-ups by connecting small businesses with customers, industry experts and other resources to drive their success. The DMZ provides programs specifically for Black business owners, designed to help these individuals overcome the unique challenges they face in the technology industry. Three programs are available to aid Black Canadian start-ups: the launchpad, pre-incubator and incubator. The Launchpad program helps aspiring entrepreneurs develop the skills necessary to create their businesses. The Pre-Incubator program supports entrepreneurs in developing their business ideas, researching their market and creating a roadmap for their business. The Incubator program helps already-formed businesses to continue growing. The resources offered through this 18-month program include grants, fundraising support, investor meetings, coaching and networking opportunities.  Entrepreneurs with Disabilities Program (EDP) The EDP supports people with disabilities or health conditions looking to start a new business or expand their current one. The program is available in Western Canada and supports residents living in rural and urban communities. Their services include digital marketing support, business mentorship, business consultations and planning, market analysis and networking opportunities. The Scotiabank Women Initiative Scotiabank offers several resources for Canadian women-owned businesses. This includes providing financial support through various loans and grants, publishing online articles and hosting workshops to develop entrepreneurial knowledge. Scotiabank also offers the Scotiabank Women Initiative Mentor Program, a 12-month one-on-one mentorship program for women. This free program matches business owners with a mentor based on the individual’s unique needs and goals. The business owner and mentor meet monthly for a year, providing the business owner with continuous support in growing their business. Participants will receive personalized support from their mentor and tools for tracking progress and setting goals. BDC’s Indigenous Entrepreneur Loan  The Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) seeks to provide Indigenous business owners with resources to support their operations and entrepreneurial goals with its Indigenous Entrepreneur Loan. The BDC offers financial support, including loans with flexible repayment terms. Part of the interest paid on loans is donated to a charity of the individual’s choosing. The BDC also offers connections with its partners for additional support, such as the National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association (NACCA) and the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Businesses (CCAB). Even though marginalized business owners face unique challenges and obstacles in today’s market, several resources are available to assist them along their entrepreneurial journeys. Continue to research other options that suit your specific situation and needs.  Every entrepreneur deserves the chance to pursue their business goals without barriers. This way, our businesses can reflect and celebrate the diversity of Canada.