TRADITION OF SUCCESS
HUB International
Enterprising insurance brokerage
celebrates 100 years of continuous service
to the Niagara community. p26
NIAGARA
2010 Niagara Golf
Marathon Raises Over
$55,000!
PRESS RELEASE
VOLUME 8, ISSUE 9, OCTOBER 2010
SALES MOVES WITH JEFFREY GITOMER
THOUGHT DEDICATION. YOU DECIDE
WHAT TO THINK, AND HOW TO REACT
BY JEFFREY GITOMER
O
n September 7, 2010 at Thundering Waters, 24 golfers decided to participate in a local movement that is bringing
much needed attention to health care in Niagara.
The 24 golfers, ranging in age from early 20’s to early 50’s, completed 100 holes of golf in 1 day in 11 hours!!
To date the Niagara Golf Marathon has raised over $55,000
and will be accepting donations until Oct 31, 2010. If you would
like to make a donation, please visit www.niagaragolfmarathon.ca
and donate securely online using your credit card. All donations
are tax deductible to the extent permitted by law and a tax receipt
will be issued.
Proceeds from the event are being donated to the Niagara Health
Systems “It’s Our Time Campaign”.
Join us and together we will make history, by immensely improving the current level of health care in Niagara with the purchase of
state-of-the-art equipment and improvements to all current sites.
Your donation will improve access to quality healthcare and make
Niagara a leader in the vital areas of cancer care, kidney dialysis,
and treatment of mental illness and heart disease.
If you are interested in golﬁng in the 2011 Niagara Golf Marathon
please call Adam Shields at 905-687-0106.
2010 Golfers
Gregory Darte
Matt Harris
Rob Hill
Chris Kruczynski
Dr. Scott Loomis
Bob Martens
Alexander Matovic
Jordy McGowan
www.BUSINESSLINKNEWSPAPER.com
David Napper
Bryan O’Connor-Hutt
Karl Regier
Bryan Saelens
Adam Shields
Chris Sinclair
Tim St. Amand
Sean Stewart
www.NiagaraGolfMarathon.ca
Dave Teutenberg
Jim van der Zalm
Joe van der Zalm
John van der Zalm
Ron van der Zalm
Roberto Vergalito
Steve Way
Dave Woods
W
hat is the importance of attitude?
Every person, you included, wants to achieve more,
earn more, find happiness, be successful, and be fulfilled. At
the root of all these elements is attitude. Positive attitude. Your
positive attitude.
Every person, you included, instinctively knows that. Yet most people,
you included, don’t really possess a positive attitude. Oh, you may think
you do, but I promise you, you don’t.
• Most people don’t read about attitude.
• Most people don’t study attitude.
• Most people don’t practice attitude.
• Most people don’t live the essence of attitude.
• Most people don’t live the principles of attitude.
• Most people are not dedicated to attitude.
You included.
In fact, you may have never read a book on the subject of attitude.
I believe I was born with a positive attitude, and I believe you were born
with a positive attitude. It took 24 years for me to discover mine. I wonder
if you have found yours yet.
Everyone, you included, has heard the expression, “Attitude Is Everything!” Continue this article at www.businesslinknewspaper.com.
BUILDING NIAGARA
NIAGARA SUCCESS STORY
Modern Turf Care
Beatties Basics Ofﬁce Products
Where landscape design is all in the family.
Celebrating 150 years of traditional values
and innovative business practices.
PAGE 12
PAGE 48
CONTENTS 10.10
VOLUME 8, ISSUE 9, OCTOBER 2010
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Jim Shields, Adam Shields
DIRECTOR OF AD V E RT I S I N G
Julie Shields
CONTRIBUTING W R I T E R S
J. Gitomer, E. Howe, S.J. Wegg, G.D. Visca, S. Leslie
K. Mwanzia, D. O’Neill, J. Snoei, S. Snoei, M. Jennings
D. Clark, R. Posteraro, N. Thornton, J. Jones, K. Narsansky
A. White, S. Putman, C. Tulloch, B. Grumme, L. Beaudry
N. Secord, M. Kawabi, C.J. Calvert, L. Foster, G. Parkin
D. Mole, C. O’Kelly, A. Robinson, P. Sung, M. Wardell
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2
THE SMALL BUSINESS GUIDE
5 CULTURAL TOURISM –
SWISS STYLE
The old adage “If you build it, they will come”
took on a new twist in Lucerne, Switzerland.
32 THE FRONT BUSINESS CLUB
“Our members are very important to us, we treat everyone like a member of our family; The Front truly believes
that if your business grows so will we.”
10 CHANGE IS COMING
TO NIAGARA
37 FIVE STEPS TO SUCCESSFUL
WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT
“Business leaders have actively participated in the
development of plans and strategies that will diversify
and restructure the Niagara economy.”
Five essential steps you must take when developing
your website.
19 ONTARIO TECHNOLOGY
CORRIDOR
Niagara’s “The Generator at one” is one of many new
multi-million dollar projects touted.
THE BUSINESS LINK NIAGARA NIAGARA’S BUSINESS NEWSPAPER
ALSO INSIDE
3
MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS
6
EXPERT ADVICE
7
WEARING YOUR BRAND
8
BUSINESS ESSENTIALS
9
GDC GROUP
11 BUYER’S VALUE
16 NABWN
31 AT HOME WITH BARBARA GRUMME
34 NIAGARA FALLS
40 CORPORATE GIFT GIVING AND
EVENT PLANNING PART II
36 EDUCATION FOR LIFE
Part II of this feature will discuss more of the positives
that come with gift giving in the workplace and
provide extra tips on party planning.
39 ONLINE SHOPPING
38 BUCKET LIST
47 2ND MOST IMPORTANT PERSON
50 VERGE INSURANCE GROUP
www.BusinessLinkNewspaper.com
OCTOBER 2010
MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS
OCTOBER 2010
www.BusinessLinkNewspaper.com
THE BUSINESS LINK NIAGARA NIAGARA’S BUSINESS NEWSPAPER
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OCTOBER 2010
THE ARTS
“THE NEW PERFORMANCE HALL WILL BE AN INCUBATOR FOR THE STUDENTS IN THE SCHOOL PROGRAM, ENCOURAGING EXPERIMENTS IN MUSIC
THEATRE, AND MULTIMEDIA,” – Michael Haeﬂiger
CULTURAL TOURISM – SWISS STYLE
BY S. JAMES WEGG
M
uch can be learned: business, arts and
government partnerships.
The old adage “If you build it, they will come” took
on a new twist in Lucerne, Switzerland. In the early
1990s, the concert hall for the International Music
Festival (established in 1938 by Arturo Toscanini)
had most certainly passed its best-before date.
“IMF couldn’t grow or develop any further or
fulﬁll the needs of sponsors,” recalled Rosie Bitterli
(currently Chief of Culture and Sport for Lucerne) as
we spoke in her ofﬁce. “If Lucerne didn’t invest, the
Festival’s chances for survival were slim and we’d
have problems positioning Lucerne internationally.”
Doing nothing was not an option. With a population of just over 60,000, Lucerne plays host to a ﬁveweek summer festival that annually presents some
of the ﬁnest orchestras, chamber ensembles and
soloists on the planet. The largely sold-out concerts
are a boon to the local hotels, restaurants and many
other tourist attractions for this beautifully-situated
city (at the foot of Mount Pilatus and on the shores
of Lake Lucerne). After arriving by train from many
other cities and countries, these spectacular cultural
events are just a few steps away.
Without this festival, Lucerne’s prestige as one of
the places on the planet to savour world-class artists
would be greatly diminished. And so a new set of
public/private partnerships began to evolve.
In 1998, after ﬁve municipal votes and the extraordinary skills of French architect Jean Nouvel
came to fruition, the Kultur and Kongresszentrum
Luzern (KKL) opened its doors. The Festival was here
to stay and able to grow its programming and audience, further enhancing the area’s reputation for
high-quality performances and infusing millions
upon millions of Swiss francs into the economy.
With Niagara’s own performing arts centre (and
school—more about that in a moment) being given
the green light, perhaps there are things we can
learn from the Lucerne experience.
Beyond the municipality, canton (province) and
the festival, any business related to tourism soon
found its way to the table as the plans developed
to build KKL.
“We all wanted to maintain Quality Tourism,”
explained Bitterli. “We all brought what we could
and we did it together. People are very proud of
what we have achieved.”
Along with the two levels of government, a new
oversight foundation was set up along with a further
foundation whose mandate was the establishment
of Switzerland’s fourth largest art museum—its new
home would be part of KKL. These four entities own
the building (which features a nearly 2,000-seat
concert hall, the museum and a variety of other
ﬂexible spaces that draw many conventions to the
building every year). Bitterli went on to say that the
city and canton own the biggest part of KKL consortium, a private company has been hired to manage
the building and the Lucerne Festival remains at
arm’s length, responsible for the programming during its contracted weeks. Those who program or use
the house are not involved [in its governance].
As complex as that structure may appear, having
attended 46 concerts over 38 days, I can say with
conﬁdence that all aspects of this arrangement are
OCTOBER 2010
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working seamlessly to the advantage of tourists/
music lovers and the performers alike.
Now celebrating its 10th anniversary of the concert hall’s magniﬁcent acoustics, the Lucerne Festival is not about to rest on its laurels.
Further expansion is planned: education will be
a key component.
Michael Haeﬂiger, the Festival’s artistic and executive director is working on plans for still another
building. Remarkably similar to the simultaneous con-
struction of a new performing arts centre and relocation of the Marilyn I Walker School to downtown St.
Catharines, the proposed Salle Moduable in Lucerne
will show the world even more artistic endeavours
but also train the next generation in their craft.
“The new performance hall will be an incubator for
the students in the school program, encouraging experiments in music theatre, and multimedia,” he said
during our conversation between performances.
Next month we’ll look further into these exciting
developments in Europe and here.
S. James Wegg is managing editor of James
Wegg Review (JWR). The popular on-line Ezine,
has over 1,000 articles related to ﬁne arts and
ﬁlm including reviews, previews, interviews and
commentaries. Further information can be found
on the website: www.jamesweggreview.org;
contact by phone 905-938-2850 or email
[email protected].
THE BUSINESS LINK NIAGARA NIAGARA’S BUSINESS NEWSPAPER
5
ASK THE EXPERT WANT SAGE ADVICE? YOU’LL GET IT HERE!
FINANCIAL WEALTH EXPERT
INSURANCE EXPERT
QUESTION
QUESTION
What are the secrets to
successful investing?
I was recently involved in
an accident and the Niagara
Regional Police did not give me
an accident report. How does
that affect my insurance claim?
ANSWER
Christopher Kruczynski
Senior Wealth Advisor
Successful investing takes time and discipline. When markets are volatile, its easy to get
off track. At times like these it’s best to get back to these basic principles for long-term
investment success.
Jeff Reuter
1. Have a plan and stick to it: A good plan outlines your goals and objectives as well
as the risks you are willing to take.
ANSWER
Unfortunately, the NRP have indeed stopped providing accident reports at the scene of an accident. This
can hold up your claim in several ways. In the worst case scenario, where you have no information
about the other party, your insurance company has to obtain your written consent to order your
police report, they then have to pay the NRP to obtain it and wait for the mail. If the ofﬁcer that took
the report goes on holidays after the accident (this seems to happen more than you would believe)
the timeline is lengthened even more. Meanwhile, your insurer has no information and cannot even
conﬁrm fault. Under your collision coverage, the insurer will inform you that you may be responsible
for your deductible. If the motorist who is not at fault, does not have collision, they have to wait for
the insurer to obtain all of the information before any repairs or settlement can be made. Under the
no-fault portion of your policy, your damages will be reimbursed if you are not at-fault, however, the
insurer needs to conﬁrm who is at fault based on the police report. The only thing you can do to speed
the situation along is to obtain the information on the other individual yourself. And if the responding
ofﬁcer asks you for it, be sure to get it back. You may also obtain the report yourself from the police
station, assuming the ofﬁcer has not gone on holidays. Our ofﬁce provides our clients with a form that
prompts you for all of the pertinent information.
2. Be diversiﬁed and balanced: A balanced portfolio that includes stocks, bonds and cash to reap the beneﬁts each of these assets
offers. Diversiﬁcation can both improve return and reduce risk.
3. Think long term: Long-term thinking is more important than ever. Intra-day swings of ﬁve percent or more can make you feel like
you’re missing major opportunities to enhance returns.
4. Buy and retain quality: Focus on quality. Financial stability, low and manageable debt levels, a stable history of proﬁt and dividend
growth, and a strong management team—all key factors of quality investments.
5. Stick with winners and sell losers: It’s human nature to sell winning investments, while hanging on to losers and hoping for the
best. A disciplined strategy will accept losses and doesn’t sell winners too soon.
6. Review, reassess, rebalance: Capital markets change, and so will your objectives and risk proﬁle. Adjustments ensure you are
headed in the right direction. Planning, reviewing and rebalancing will ultimately ensure ﬁnancial success.
Every action needs a solid plan.
tel: 905.641.7716
80 King Street, Suite 705, St. Catharines ON
[email protected]
www.mkgscotiamcleod.com
® Registered trademark of The Bank of Nova Scotia, used by ScotiaMcLeod under license. ScotiaMcLeod is a division of Scotia Capital Inc. Scotia Capital Inc. is a member of the
Canadian Investor Protection Fund. This article is for information purposes only. It is recommended that individuals consult with their Wealth Advisor before acting on any information contained in this article. ScotiaMcLeod does not oﬀer tax advice, but working with our team of experts we are able to provide a suite of ﬁnancial services for clients. The opinions
stated are not necessarily those of Scotia Capital Inc. or The Bank of Nova Scotia.
tel: 905.732.2418
515 Niagara St. N., Welland, ON.
[email protected]
www.reuter.on.ca
BUSINESS ADVISOR EXPERT
PROPERTY RESTORATION EXPERT
Question
QUESTION
Are Master Mind groups
worth any consideration?
What can I expect during a
property damage insurance
claim?
Answer
Certainly not for everyone, a business professional strategy
team (sometimes referred to as a Master Mind group) may be
Verne Milot
the most economical means of getting you and your enterprise
energized about critical growth objectives. Think about it, how
better to succeed than to have 4 or 5 like business minds supporting you in strategic direction, plan
implementation and encouragement.
One key to success is a structured meeting format that clearly addresses each member’s individual
needs and potential for contribution. With member selection criteria that include career background,
personal strengths, business goals and interests, groups can be matched for early gains, as well as
longer term rewards.
If interested in learning more about professionally supported business strategy teams, contact
Growth Associates for a free programme description. You may be astounded by the outcome!
ANSWER
Your insurance company will assign the detailed loss to a preferred
contractor who will contact you immediately to set an inspection
appointment to determine the extent and severity of your claim.
There are usually 2 phases to most insurance claims—emergency and restoration.
If emergency services are required (cleaning; drying; extracting, securing of property) they will be
scheduled ASAP with your written authorization. Depending on the severity the emergency services
could take up to 7 days to complete.
Once the emergency services are completed our project manager will re-inspect to scope the
damages and provide a detailed estimate to you and your insurance company. Your insurance company
needs to approve the estimate and then the homeowner must authorized the contractor to proceed
with the repairs. If a deductible applies then it will be collected by the contractor prior to commencing
any repairs. The expected time frame for completion of repairs will depend on the extent of the repair
scope. A dedicated project coordinator is assigned to every job which provides constant communication
between you the homeowner and the contractor. The job coordinator schedules all trades in a timely
manner and ensures job quality on a daily basis.
Once repairs are completed the business owner or homeowner signs a letter of Satisfaction stating
that all repairs have been completed as per agreed scope and that all repairs have been completed
to their satisfaction. Once this form is signed the insurance company will be invoiced directly by the
contractor. Most insurance companies and/or contractors will provide a guarantee on all workmanship.
It is vital that the contractor doing the emergency services and repairs are fully insured, trained and qualiﬁed.
Matt Holmwood
Visit www.growth-associates.com/contact.html
for a FREE Business Effectiveness Evaluation.
tel: 905.688.2226
184 King St., St. Catharines, ON
[email protected]
www.Growth-Associates.com
tel: 905.688.9224 24hr Emergency Service: 1.905.708.4835
12 Export Avenue, St. Catharines ON
[email protected]
www.miller-restoration.com
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THE BUSINESS LINK NIAGARA NIAGARA’S BUSINESS NEWSPAPER
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OCTOBER 2010
INCREASE SALES BY WEARING YOUR BRAND
“Picture it, you overhear a great conversation among your top customers praising you and describing you exactly the way
you want to be perceived.”
BY GERRY D. VISCA,
International Speaker on Branding
I
n this article we focus on the
power of deﬁning your personal brand and wearing it everywhere
you go. Too often I see top level sales people with
no ‘deﬁned brand’. All of us have the potential to
inﬂuence the perception by others. Think about it,
a brand is only given life by what we all think, feel
and say about it. Branding is about developing an
experience or soliciting an emotional response. We
all have a brand, also referred to as our image. From
the clothes we wear to the foods we eat to the
skill sets we display at our place of work everyday.
We are sending out signals to people all around
us. Others are forming opinions of us based on
these signals and the perception of our brand. So
what are you doing to create, express and project
your brand?
For me it can be deﬁned this way:
“Canada’s Creative Coach with a mission
to creatively inspire strategies and people
to action.”
describe your brand. For instance, you may receive
comments like:
Dependable, inspiring, engaging, supportive, positive,
passionate, educational and highly motivational.
It is crucial that you solicit feedback on a continual basis in order to gauge the effects of the
signals that you are sending out. Let’s face it—an
organization is only as strong as the sum of its
parts. In the marketplace, the organization will
communicate a certain culture and we as consumers will deﬁne what the brand is to us. As users of
the brand we will further deﬁne what this brand
means to us by the way in which people feel. However, once our customers start to look beyond the
face of the organization they will get to know the
people within and form immediate impressions
that can last a lifetime.
Your personal brand is always in motion, from the
clothes you wear, the foods you eat to the words
and expressions that you choose in meetings. So
remember your brand is the ultimate reﬂection of
who you are.
Gerry Visca is an International Speaker on Branding.
For more information call (905) 528.6032 or visit
Gerry Visca’s website at www.gerryvisca.com
Here is a tip: approach those people closest to
you and write down some words that they use to
ASK THE EXPERT | WANT SAGE ADVICE? YOU’LL GET IT HERE!
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY EXPERT
Question
I need a new portable computer,
should I buy a Netbook, an iPad or a
regular Laptop?
Answer
The short answer is—you should get whatever provides you with
the correct solution for you. New products emerge every now and
then which makes the landscape more interesting. Here is a quick
breakdown over what’s available, and what they mean to you, as a user:
Scott Putman
Netbook: Inexpensive and works well for those that just need to surf the web, check emails and simple
computing needs. Netbooks are also typically slower than other portable solutions, and not always
easily upgraded. They’re mostly designed for residential users.
Ipad: A very popular and cool product and can accomplish a number of business tasks. The biggest
drawback is that there is currently no Microsoft Ofﬁce, so you’d have to use a document editor and
convert back to an ofﬁce application. In addition, there are no USB ports (you need to purchase a
separate adapter), so for full business use, it still has some way to go—especially with regards to
peripherals and inter-connectivity.
Laptop: Still the best solution for business. Screens typically start at 12” and go to 17” or even 19”.
They are available in regular or tablet form, with a wide range of speciﬁcations and prices. A laptop will
cost more than an iPad or a netbook, but you’ll have full complete Windows functionality.
Contact us about for speciﬁc solutions to suit your needs.
tel: 905.937.7658
3-23 Nihan Dr., St. Catharines, ON
[email protected]
www.iovision.ca
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OCTOBER 2010
BUSINESS ESSENTIALS
BUSINESS PROFILE
THE GDC GROUP
Local internet development ﬁrm is helping clients to maximize
their on-line presence and reach their business potential.
BY SCOTT LESLIE
The Business Link
W
ith the internet, there’s a whole new world of possibilities out there for today’s businesses—and the team at The GDC Group wants to help you make the most of them.
Based out of St. Catharines, The GDC Group is a leading internet consulting and development
ﬁrm. Serving small and medium enterprises as well as major corporations, The GDC Group provides
a complete range of web services including custom website design and hosting, application development, e-commerce solutions and search engine optimization. As online marketing consultants, their
team can teach business owners how to use social media like Twitter and Facebook more effectively.
They’re even a full service graphic design agency, taking care of everything from corporate identity
development and advertising to tradeshow materials and printing services.
Over the past fourteen years, The GDC Group has helped numerous local and national businesses
to grow their on-line presence.
“We help our clients maximize their online business identity,” says Tyler Deane, Owner and Director of Client Services at The GDC Group. “All our web sites, applications and marketing plans are
designed and suited to meet their needs and reach their target audience.”
At The GDC Group, their website development team can craft everything from a simple product
website to a large corporate website with full functionality. (All their websites are specially customized
for each client, rather than using
a standard website template.)
“We help our clients maximize
The GDC Group works closely
with their clients through each
their online business identity…
stage of the project—from the
All our web sites, applications and
initial consultation and creative
process to development and fumarketing plans are designed
ture upgrades. In recent years,
and
suited
to meet their needs and
The GDC Group has been exreach their target audience.”
panding their web development
arm, and currently serves many
Tyler Deane, Owner and Director
companies and non-proﬁt agenof Client Services at The GDC Group.
cies in the Niagara Region.
The GDC Group is also an expert in the area of search engine optimization. Their team’s specialized tools identify various keywords
and phrases that will come up in search engines and help drive web trafﬁc to their clients’ websites.
Search engines like Google can change dramatically over a six month period so Tyler and his team
often have to undertake a great deal of research and analysis on each search engine project.
“You can have the best website in the world,” Tyler says of the importance of search engines. “But
if it’s not being advertised to your target market, your customers will never ﬁnd you.”
The GDC Group was originally founded in January, 1997—but one of their biggest successes to
date has been in the area of developing and consulting on ecommerce solutions. For instance, their
ﬁrm was the ﬁrst in Canada to create an unlimited shopping cart solution designed speciﬁcally for
Canadian merchants and businesses. (Their line of ecommerce solutions are now trademarked as
CanadaCart.ca and used internationally.)
At The GDC Group, most of their team work remotely. As a result, their low overhead allows them
to provide very cost-effective services. (They haven’t changed their rates since day one.) In fact, their
reasonable rates and high degree of client care has earned them a long list of satisﬁed clients. Over
90% of their business currently comes through referrals.
It’s a trend that bodes well for the future of the company.
“These days, we serve everything from universities to mom and pop operations,” Tyler says. “We’re
not trying to be the biggest company out there—we’re trying to be the best.”
For more information call 1.877.432.9321 or visit www.thegdcgroup.com
OCTOBER 2010
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THE BUSINESS LINK NIAGARA NIAGARA’S BUSINESS NEWSPAPER
9
CHAMBERTALK
St. Catharines—Thorold Chamber of Commerce
www.sctchamber.com
CHANGE IS COMING TO NIAGARA
“Business leaders have actively participated in the development of plans
and strategies that will diversify and restructure the Niagara economy.”
BY KITHIO MWANZIA
I
f there is one thing Niagara knows, is that it is a
region in transition. Niagara has embraced the
economic transition and sought out ways to leverage opportunities. Business leaders have actively
participated in the development of plans and strategies that will diversify and restructure the Niagara
economy. This has demonstrated that the impetus
for change has clearly been lead by the private
sector. However, this private sector impetus must
be equally matched by strategic changes in how
Niagara is governed, regulated, and taxed.
It is with this in mind that the St. Catharines – Thorold Chamber recently released the report Supporting
Prosperity through Effective Government in Niagara.
The attainment of the objectives in the report will allow Niagara to continue to maintain and nurture a
culture of investment and innovation. Greater prosperity will enable us to enhance the quality of life of all
those living in Niagara now and into future. With the
municipal election soon to be concluded, the report
provides the perspective of the business community
as candidates make commitments on how to grow
Niagara’s economic capacity.
The report is a business-based report that outlines the areas in which Niagara can improve from
the perspective of the private sector. The focus
areas include: governance, services, taxation and
transportation. As the private sector does its part to
grow the economy in Niagara, create employment
and provide the funds to municipalities through
10
THE BUSINESS LINK NIAGARA NIAGARA’S BUSINESS NEWSPAPER
taxes, their efforts must be matched with a change
in approach at the regional and municipal government level. The business community has indicated
that there is a cumbersome system of rules and
regulations in Niagara that cuts across regional and
municipal government. This cumbersome system
has and will hinder Niagara’s growth in the future
if it does not change.
There are areas that the public sector must
change in order for the region to have a sustainable future. In order for change to happen, Niagara
must use this election as an opportunity to seek that
change. The road map to this change is clearly laid
out in the Chamber’s report Supporting Prosperity
through Effective Government in Niagara. This report reﬂects the ideas and positions of the business
community. It will be Niagara’s private sector that
will sustain change, therefore it must be Niagara’s
business community that seeks it.
The Chamber has planned a series of events for
municipal and regional candidates as part of an election strategy to engage the business community on
the 2010 municipal elections. If you have any input
on these subjects please forward your comments to
[email protected] follow regular updates on
Chamber advocacy issues at twitter.com/sctpolicycdnr.
Supporting Prosperity through Effective Government in Niagara can be found at
www.sctchamber.com/advocacy/.
This column by Kithio Mwanzia, Policy Coordinator
St. Catharines – Thorold Chamber of Commerce.
www.BusinessLinkNewspaper.com
OCTOBER 2010
ALL SALES ARE BASED ON THE
BUYER’S VALUES
EXAMPLE OF CAR BUYING
Betty
Lorrie
Frank
John
Harry
Tall Woman
Sales Rep
Single–Age 24
Franchise Owner
Millionaire
1. Spacious
Mileage
“Killer” Car
Image
Big
2. Well-made
Comfort
Power
Comfort
Cool
3. Fuel-Efﬁcient
Looks
Speed
Cost of Operation
…
4. Looks
Room
Power Windows
…
…
5. Breakdowns
Big Gas Bills
Looks too square
Heavy Repairs
…
BY DENNIS O’NEILL
The Business Growth Coach
A
ll buying-decisions hinge on
the buyers values. How do
you discern their buying values?
Our values are the things most important to us.
We have ‘values towards’ (gain) and ‘values away’
(pain). Values determine all of our decisions.
Example Car Buying
Car buying decisions come from a person’s car buying values. To discern those values, ask …
1. What’s most important to you in buying a car?
2. Then, what’s next important to you?
3. And then?
4. Anything else?
5. Is there anything you particularly don’t want?
Look at the chart above for the actual sample answers of ﬁve individuals.
Each person has a set of car-buying values. These
are the customer’s rules. Their decision will be based
on their rules. Just ask the above question to get
their rules.
Any product/service
With any buying decision, just ask what’s most important to you in buying (widgets)? And what’s next?
And then? Anything else? What don’t you want?
My car
A smart car salesman sold me a car some years
OCTOBER 2010
www.BusinessLinkNewspaper.com
ago. At the time I was in the radio business. What
I really wanted was a great radio on wheels. He
asked me what was most important and I said the
radio. February cold was breathing its fangs so he
had someone go and warm up a particular car and
bring it round front. I got in to the full sound of
stereo with my station tuned in. Within 3 minutes I
said…”Perfect. I’ll take it.”
Insurance
An insurance sales pro talked with an older man
who had all kinds of insurance so no one else could
sell him. The pro asked what was most important
in the man’s life. He said… “Supporting my charities.” The sales pro asked “What would happen to
the charities when you are gone? The man hadn’t
thought about it. “Shouldn’t you take out a policy
to take care of your charities?” sold.
People buy on their values (emotional). They rationalize on beneﬁts (rational).
Personal
Values
Values are an integral part of every
culture. Along with worldview and
personality, they generate behavior.
Being part of a culture that shares a
common core set of values creates
expectations and predictability
without which a culture would
disintegrate and its members would
lose their personal identity and sense
of worth. Values tell people what is
good, beneﬁcial, important, useful,
beautiful, desirable, constructive...
etc. They answer the question of
why people do what they do. Values
help people solve common human
problems for survival. Over time,
they become the roots of traditions that groups of people ﬁnd
important in their day to day lives.
Values can be positive or negative;
some are destructive. To understand
people of other cultures, we must
come to understand the values, beliefs and assumptions that motivate
their behavior.
– wikipedia
Selling is basic
Determine their values and provide whatever delivers those values.
That’s why all my sales coaching has its foundation in ‘values selling’.
Dennis O’Neill, the Business Growth Coach is located
in Niagara-On-The-Lake. For more information
on how to grow your business, call 905-641-8777
or visit www.dennisoneillcoach.com
THE BUSINESS LINK NIAGARA NIAGARA’S BUSINESS NEWSPAPER
11
BUILDING NIAGARA
TM
“NO MATTER WHAT THE JOB IS—WE’RE NOT SATISFIED UNTIL OUR CUSTOMERS ARE SATISFIED. WE STRIVE TO PROVIDE
THE HIGHEST QUALITY WORKMANSHIP, AND QUALITY IS SOMETHING THAT CAN NEVER BE COMPROMISED.”
Main photo: John and Sharon Snoei, Owners of Modern Turf Care. Top left: The Modern Turf Care team.
MODERN TURF CARE: WHERE LANDSCAPE DESIGN IS ALL IN THE FAMILY
BY MICHAEL JENNINGS
F
or St. Catharines business owner John Snoei, gardens aren’t just shrubs and mulch—they’re a
passion that connects his family and helps it to grow.
Together with his wife Sharon, John owns and
runs Modern Turf Care, a thriving landscape design
and property maintenance company with a loyal
following of residential and commercial customers
that stretches from Oakville to Fort Erie.
12
With the goal of surpassing their clients’ expectations, the Snoei’s level of care and dedication allow
them to connect with each of their customers. Sitting
down together early in the process, John and his team
take the time to get to know the unique needs of each
client, and meet them in the design and details of a
unique green space—right down to the incorporation
of maintenance and pruning schedules.
“Our customers are busy people so we’re also
happy to meet them at any time, whether it’s after
THE BUSINESS LINK NIAGARA NIAGARA’S BUSINESS NEWSPAPER
hours or on the weekend,” says Sharon. “We’re committed to making the landscape design process as
worry-free and hassle-free for them as possible.”
A History of Growth
For John, landscaping has always been a part of the
family. Growing up in Jordan, his parents operated
a greenhouse company where John helped out on
weekends. The experience helped him develop a strong
appreciation for the business of horticulture. When his
father sold the greenhouse and moved the family to St.
Catharines in 1987, it also gave John the knowledge
he needed to start a business of his own.
Armed with a push mower and a trimmer, the industrious ﬁfteen-year-old launched a property maintenance business, carefully tending his neighbours’
properties—some of which he still works on today.
First-time customers became regulars and before long,
John had a thriving company on his hands. In the early
days, several of John’s family and friends came on
board as his ﬁrst employees. He also married his sweetheart, Sharon, who joined the ﬁrm in 1994.
The little lawn mowing business grew into
Modern Turf Care—a full scale property maintenance company. Property maintenance continues
to be the foundation of Modern Turf Care, providing
an impressive list of clients and years of experience
and knowledge. They offer everything from custom
pruning and fertilization to tree and shrub care to
the planning and planting of annuals. Moving from
technician to manager to business coach to “Action
Coach” has also allowed John and Sharon to better
manage their time and resources.
With the addition of a professional designer, the
Snoei’s were able to provide clients with detailed
scale drawings of their projects, a growing number of
which included pools and water features, retaining
systems, drainage and large scale installations. Their
experience in maintenance complemented the landscape installation side of the business, allowing for
www.BusinessLinkNewspaper.com
OCTOBER 2010
BUILDING NIAGARA
TM
planting strategies and techniques that make for a
well thought out design.
Covering all the Bases
Though John and Sharon remain at the core of the
operation, the Modern Turf Care family now includes
12 experienced professionals who share their family
commitment to quality long-term design and impeccable attention to detail. And while Modern Turf Care
continues to provide property maintenance services,
their impressive design work is drawing a growing
number of customers with each passing year.
The company’s in-house experts have earned
rave reviews for the eye-catching incorporation
of decking, rocks, fencing and water features into
their designs. Their network of experts is called in
for projects that require brick work, irrigation and
pool installation. Modern Turf Care values the relationships with their suppliers and chooses only top
quality plant and hardscape products. No matter
what a client requires Modern Turf Care has become
a one-stop-shop for those who wish to turn an average backyard into the green space of their dreams.
Demand is so high that John and Sharon are already
booking jobs for next year.
“Spots book up quickly, especially in the spring,”
explains John. “We recommend that our clients sign
up in winter to reserve their spot—and give us an
opportunity to get a jump on designing the perfect
landscape for them.”
The off-season time is put to good use, adds Sharon.
“Before we begin any project, we provide the
customer with detailed sketches and a complete
breakdown of the process and materials used,” she
says. “No matter what the job is—we’re not satisﬁed until our customers are satisﬁed. We strive to
provide the highest quality workmanship, and quality is something that can never be compromised.”
With growing customer demand, Modern Turf Care
is expanding its range of services. Bin rentals are now
available as a convenient and “driveway-friendly”
method to hold up to 14 cubic yards of plant debris,
construction waste or excess soil and gravel. Secure
outdoor storage is also available for those in search of
the perfect off-season home for RVs, trailers or boats.
Part of the Community
The growth of the Snoei’s family business has made Modern Turf Care something of a household name across the
Niagara Region. The company is involved in prominent
industry organizations including Landscape Ontario, and
was voted “Niagara’s Favourite Landscaping Firm” in
Niagara This Week’s Reader’s Choice Awards.
The Snoeis also remain active community members,
OCTOBER 2010
www.BusinessLinkNewspaper.com
eager to make a difference in the region that has supported their success. Through Modern Turf Care, they’ve
donated crews and resources to charitable projects like
the construction of “The Healing Garden” at the Hotel
Dieu Shaver Health and Rehabilitation Centre in St.
Catharines. They’ve also sponsored a number of local
sports teams. But because it’s a family business, their
Christmas giving plan is closest to their hearts.
“We match donations to support a family at
Christmas through the Salvation Army’s Adopt a
Family,” explains Sharon. “This program allows them
to purchase gifts and food for needy families who
would otherwise go without over the holidays.”
While John and Sharon work on expanding their
business to an ever-widening market, Modern Turf Care
will always be rooted in their strong family values.
“It’s a real family atmosphere,” Sharon says of
their operation. “Some of our customers and employees have been with us from the very beginning.
Even our sons are looking forward to joining the
business when the time comes.”
Of course, Modern Turf Care’s customers are the
ﬁnal judge on the great service they receive:
“Modern Turf Care has just completed the landscaping and interlocking driveway at my new home,”
says one customer. “It is an exceptional job carried
out by a team of very competent employees. They
are polite, well-mannered and most importantly,
they ﬁnished the project to my satisfaction. Prior
to the start of the project, Modern Turf Care were
willing to arrange meetings at my convenience to
provide detailed sketches and breakdown of costs.
Modern Turf Care has my seal of approval.”
Residential and commercial customers are welcomed into the family with open arms and friendly,
expert service.
To learn more about their company or to explore
monthly and seasonal specials, visit Modern Turf
Care online at www.modernlandscape.ca or call
905-688-2859. John and Sharon are likely out in the
garden, but they’ll get back to you promptly.
For more information call 905.688.2859 or visit
www.modernlandscape.ca
THE BUSINESS LINK NIAGARA NIAGARA’S BUSINESS NEWSPAPER
13
TECHNOLOGY IN SMALL BUSINESS – MOBILITY
“Mobility Anytime, Anywhere, on Any Device is here today and has enabled small business to level
the technology playing-ﬁeld with the corporate enterprise.”
BY DARREN CLARK
T
he dream of working ANYTIME, ANYWHERE, on ANY DEVICE just may have gotten a lot closer
to reality. With the huge success of the iPad and the iPhone along with a myriad of Cloud-based
(Internet) services, we just may have the perfect storm.
The iPad is nothing like anything we’ve seen before. It sits somewhere between a PC, a Netbook, and a
media player/e-book reader. Surprisingly, Small Business has embraced it. Users are loving the portability,
long battery life, brilliant display, instant on, and huge array of applications. Combine this with a shift to
Cloud Computing or a shift in information and processing from the device in front of you to somewhere
in space (Cloud) and the local device (Operating System) becomes a whole lot less relevant paving the
way to use ANY DEVICE to get work done.
Enter Online Storage. With Apps available like Dropbox and Google Docs we can now collaborate easily
with employees and partners and operate the business from ANYWHERE. A great example is editing a
Microsoft Word Document on an iPad while connected to a wireless network on a ﬂight to Vancouver with
the ﬁle stored in the cloud at Dropbox (on-line ﬁle storage service). All data is instantly synchronized with
your desktop computer in the ofﬁce for your co-workers to review, change and send to your client while
you are still in the air. Sound impossible? Not anymore—ANYTIME. This whole scenario can be setup in
less than an hour on a small business budget. This can be set up in a variety of ways to accommodate
your business practices! Think about how this time-saver could work in your business, giving you more
freedom away from your desk.
Mobility Anytime, Anywhere, on Any Device is here today and has enabled small business to level
the technology playing-ﬁeld with the corporate enterprise. You may even lower your budgets when you
empower your workforce without walls or wires.
“The iPad is nothing
like anything we’ve
seen before. It sits
somewhere between a
PC, a Netbook, and a
media player/e-book
reader. Surprisingly,
Small Business has
embraced it. Users are
loving the portability,
long battery life,
brilliant display,
instant on, and huge
array of applications.”
Darren Clark is a seasoned IT Consultant with Choice Technology Group which offers IT Services tailored
for successful businesses across the Niagara Region. He can be reached at 905-356-5600 ext. 225
[email protected] or visit www.choicetechnology.ca
14
THE BUSINESS LINK NIAGARA NIAGARA’S BUSINESS NEWSPAPER
www.BusinessLinkNewspaper.com
OCTOBER 2010
OCTOBER 2010
www.BusinessLinkNewspaper.com
THE BUSINESS LINK NIAGARA NIAGARA’S BUSINESS NEWSPAPER
15
SPOTLIGHT: NIAGARA AREA BUSINESS WOMEN’S NETWORK GROUP
NIAGARA AREA BUSINESS WOMEN’S
NETWORK GROUP CELEBRATES 20 YEARS
Local organization provides effective networking opportunities for
today’s business women.
Amale Sarkis of CIBC (left) and Patricia Whitehead of Sandercott & Evans having fun at the Gala Luau.
BY SCOTT LESLIE
The Business Link
I
f you’re looking to build a successful business, hard work and
determination can put you on the right path. But one of the
secrets to business success is networking with your fellow business owners. It’s a secret that the Niagara Area Business Women’s
Network Group has been promoting for years now.
The Niagara Area Business Women’s Network Group (NABWN)
is a professional business women’s organization that provides a
supportive and encouraging networking forum for Niagara area
business women.
“Our main goal is to help one other become more successful,” says Virginia Mellen, an Advertising Salesperson and
NABWN member. “But we also take a great interest in growing
16
THE BUSINESS LINK NIAGARA NIAGARA’S BUSINESS NEWSPAPER
as people and as individuals.”
NABWN meets on the last Wednesday of each month at the St.
Catharines Golf & Country Club on 70 Westchester Avenue in St.
Catharines. Breakfast is at 7:30 a.m. and a meeting is held afterwards from 8:00 to 9:30 a.m. (In December, they hold a special
Christmas dinner meeting at White Meadows Farms in Pelham
instead of the usual breakfast meeting.)
During each meeting, NABWN members meet over breakfast to
network with other like-minded women business owners and professionals. Here, members have the opportunity to talk about their
respective businesses and learn more about one another through
NABWN’s series of speakers and special events. They also provide
their members with information on networking strategies and…
Continued on page 18
www.BusinessLinkNewspaper.com
OCTOBER 2010
SPOTLIGHT: NIAGARA AREA BUSINESS WOMEN’S NETWORK GROUP
OCTOBER 2010
www.BusinessLinkNewspaper.com
THE BUSINESS LINK NIAGARA NIAGARA’S BUSINESS NEWSPAPER
17
SPOTLIGHT: NIAGARA AREA BUSINESS WOMEN’S NETWORK GROUP
Continued from page 16
…business development as well as opportunities
for professional and personal development.
“Our monthly meetings are just part of the
NABWN experience,” Virginia says. “We also offer
several social activities outside our meetings like
plant and book exchanges. That’s helped our members to develop many long-term friendships.”
Each year, NABWN also awards a “Networker
of the Year.” This recognition is given out to the
member that best represents the goals of the organization and to encourage the members through
effective networking.
History In The Making
NABWN’s success has been a long time in the making. It all started in the spring of 1990 when Stockbroker Anne Sorochinsky, Chartered Accountant
Hanna Gibbons and Lawyer Del Daignault were talking about a women’s networking organization they
knew in Hamilton and how it would be a great idea
to launch a similar group in the Niagara area.
The friends began meeting for coffee at one other’s ofﬁces and networked among themselves. Soon,
other local business professionals like Insurance
Broker Sandra Shorthouse and Travel Consultant
Dayle Ashford joined the group.
As their numbers began to grow, a formal constitution for NABWN was drafted and philanthropic
initiatives were put in place. It wasn’t long before
NABWN began to outgrow the ofﬁce boardrooms
they had been using up to that point, and the group
began meeting at larger venues such as White Oaks,
Howard Johnsons and the Holiday Inn.
According to Virginia, NABWN’s reputation for
excellence has helped their group experience substantial growth over the past several years.
“Our members are always referring NABWN to
other business women,” she explains. “And that
word of mouth has really helped us to grow as an
organization.”
A Diverse Membership
Since it ﬁrst started back in 1990, NABWN has developed into one of the most successful women’s business
networking organizations in the Niagara Region.
Currently, NABWN has a membership of over 65
professionals and business owners representing a
broad range of trades and industries. These include everyone from dentists, travel agents and
real estate agents to designers, jewellers and res-
18
THE BUSINESS LINK NIAGARA NIAGARA’S BUSINESS NEWSPAPER
taurant owners. Each member represents some
of the best in their particular field.
Due to the exclusivity of its membership (only
one member is accepted per trade to reﬂect as many
businesses as possible) and its well-rounded crosssection of businesses and decision-makers, NABWN
provides tremendous beneﬁt for members looking
to grow their businesses.
The annual NABWN membership fee is $125
which covers the cost of breakfast and other assorted meeting costs.
NABWN’s membership is not without its requirements. Members are expected to attend and
participate at the monthly breakfast meetings and
support the socials sponsored by other members.
They’re also expected to promote NABWN within
the wider business community. Applicants looking
to join NABWN need to ﬁll in an application form
at www.nabwn.com—and NABWN will select
memberships based on the current make-up of the
organization.
Working For The Community
NABWN has always been active when it comes
to helping out various worthy causes in the Niagara community. For example, last year NABWN
members had a toy drive at their Christmas dinner.
(These toys were then donated to a local charity
for needy children.)
NABWN has also established bursaries at Brock
University and Niagara College, providing valuable
funds to women looking to continue their postsecondary education at these institutes. To date,
NABWN members have raised over $50,000 to date
for this initiative.
Over the years, NABWN has remained loyal to its
core principles of maintaining exclusivity for each
member, promoting business referrals and supporting one another.
This year, NABWN is celebrating their 20th anniversary. It’s a landmark moment for their organization. But NABWN is also looking towards the future
and to offering more opportunities for local business
women to reach their potential.
“We’re a very uplifting organization,” Virginia
says. “We want to continue motivating other business women in the Niagara Region and help them
be the best they can be.”
For more information about NABWN
call 905-988-2875 or visit the website at
www.nabwn.com
www.BusinessLinkNewspaper.com
OCTOBER 2010
ONTARIO TECHNOLOGY CORRIDOR PROMOTING INTERACTIVE
MEDIA SECTOR OVERSEAS
Niagara’s “The Generator at one” is one of many new multi-million dollar projects touted.
BY SCOTT LESLIE
The Business Link
D
uring the last week of August, several
executives from the Ontario Technology Corridor attended the Game Developers
Conference in Cologne, Germany. Known as
the “GDC Europe 2010,” this conference is
the largest professionals-only game industry
event in Europe—and one of the largest in
the world.
But the Ontario Technology Corridor—a
grouping that includes the municipalities of Ottawa, Waterloo, London, Niagara and the GTA,
and many of Ontario’s most innovative media
and tech ﬁrms—wasn’t “playing games.” It was
on a mission to tell the world about the province’s burgeoning interactive media sector.
“Our job is to add to our tremendous homegrown crop of companies and help demonstrate that Ontario is a prime destination in
North America for gaming investments,” says
Gerry Pisarzowski, Vice-President of Business
Development for the Greater Toronto Marketing Alliance, an Ontario Technology Corridor
partner.
Just how big is our interactive media sector? According to recent ﬁgures, it generates
OCTOBER 2010
$15-billion in revenue and over 200,000 jobs,
contributing a total of $12.7-billion to Ontario’s
gross domestic product.
In recent years, hundreds of gaming and digital media graduates from Ontario colleges and
universities have also become valuable employees for many of the world’s top animation,
media development and digital entertainment
ﬁrms such as Pixar, Electronic Arts, Disney and
Microsoft. In fact, Canada has now become the
world’s third largest source for video game development talent, recently beating out the U.K.
for that position. (Canada is only surpassed by
Japan and the U.S. in this area.)
In order to help solidify its position as an
interactive media leader, the Ontario Technology Corridor has launched $130-million in new
gaming infrastructure projects in 2010 alone.
This summer, for example, a new digital
media centre for Ontario ﬁrms called The
Communitech Hub: Digital Media and Mobile
Accelerator opened in Kitchener. This $107-million development offers 30,000 square feet of
space committed to the growth of digital media research and commercialization. This fall,
the University of Waterloo also launched the
new Stratford Institute—a $20-million project designed to promote cross-disciplinary and
www.BusinessLinkNewspaper.com
cross sector collaboration in digital media.
Another prominent new facility in the Ontario Technology Corridor is Niagara’s “The
Generator at one”—a $3-million state-ofthe-art digital interactive media production
facility located at One St. Paul Street in St.
Catharines. Designed to allow entire media
projects to be completed in one central location, the centre includes a production studio, a
research and development lab, a data centre,
and a presentation theatre. “The Generator at
one” also features a Vicon T160 Motion Capture System, one of the most advanced motion
capture systems in the world. Funded through
the Government of Canada’s Community Adjustment Fund, the centre was created through
a partnership with Niagara’s Interactive Media
Generator (nGen), Fourgrounds Media, Furi Enterprises, and Morro images.
With multi-million dollar projects like these
and more still to come, Ontario Technology
Corridor executives found it easy to make
their case to the various digital entertainment
ﬁrms at this year’s GDC that Ontario is the best
place to expand their businesses. With its deep
talent pool, competitive economy and strong
tax incentives, Ontario—and the Niagara Region—clearly offer the best of all worlds.
“Our job is to add to our
tremendous home-grown
crop of companies and help
demonstrate that Ontario
is a prime destination in
North America for gaming
investments,”
– Gerry Pisarzowski, Vice-President
of Business Development for the
Greater Toronto Marketing Alliance
THE BUSINESS LINK NIAGARA NIAGARA’S BUSINESS NEWSPAPER
19
S P E C I A L F E AT U R E
THE SMALL BUSINESS GUIDE
ENTREPRENEURIAL SUCCESS BEGINS WITH A PLAN
By Rena Posteraro, Coordinator
Niagara College’s Business Development Centre
E
ntrepreneurs are a distinct breed
of individuals—they are doers, not
just dreamers. The Niagara region is
well-known for its growing population of small business owners. There are over
27,000 small and medium-sized businesses,
with more than 3,800 businesses opened between 2001 and 2007—a 17% increase in the
number of ﬁrms located in the region. According to Statistics Canada, about 36% of Canadians are self-employed, with new businesses being registered every day; however, more than
50% of new businesses fail within the ﬁrst ﬁve
years. So, what’s the problem?
Many entrepreneurs have a great concept,
but a problem arises when they don’t know
where to start. When starting a new business, time needs to be dedicated to developing the idea, as passion does not always
translate into proﬁt.
There are three key steps to help a dreamer become a doer:
20
Step 1: Research, Research, Research!
The ﬁrst step should always be research.
Knowing your business and its potential will
prepare you for the road ahead. You wouldn’t
buy a car without test driving it ﬁrst, so be
sure to test drive your business. The more
you know, the more successful you will be:
• carefully evaluate your idea;
• identify your consumer;
• familiarize yourself with the industry
/competitors;
• analyze effective promotional techniques;
• determine the potential for proﬁt.
Step 2: Write a Business Plan
A business plan is an essential roadmap to
success. Without a well-researched and upto-date business plan, proﬁts can prove to
be unreachable.
One of the biggest issues in starting
and growing a business is a failure to
plan. The key to success is being wellprepared and knowing what to do every
step of the way.
Whether it’s a new or established business,
THE BUSINESS LINK NIAGARA NIAGARA’S BUSINESS NEWSPAPER
the direction the business will take is guided
by the business plan. When beginning the
planning process, be critical, realistic and
set measurable goals. Nothing leads to failure faster than unrealistic expectations. So
again, research, research, research... and
write it down!
Step 3: Find a Business Advisor
or Mentor
Advisors help to mentor you and your dream
as you start on the road to running a successful business. An advisor will be there to help
through changes and advise in all areas of
business, including marketing, advertising,
ﬁnance and human resources, to ensure that
measurable goals are reached.
Remember, you’re not expected to know
what to do alone. There are many resources
to seek when starting up a new business, including government-funded programs.
Organizations, such as the Niagara
College Business Development Centre
(BDC), provide business knowledge and
experience to ensure efficient and effec-
tive results. A long-term managementmentoring relationship is established
and maintained with the owner, assisting with the creation of a business plan
and a distinctive strategic plan carefully
catered to each individual business. With
the assistance of the BDC, 75% of businesses are still operating successfully
after three years.
When taking the plunge into small business ownership, success can be reached if
you research, write a plan and always ask
for help.
The Niagara College BDC has assisted
over 2,100 business get started in the Niagara Region and coordinates services
for the Ontario Self Employment Beneﬁt
Program, funded by Employment Ontario,
in Beamsville, Grimsby, Jordan, Niagara
Falls, Niagara-on-the-Lake, St. Ann’s, St.
Catharines, Thorold and Vineland. For
more information, visit www.mybdc.biz.
www.BusinessLinkNewspaper.com
OCTOBER 2010
S P E C I A L F E AT U R E :
SMALL BUSINESS GUIDE
‘TOUCHING’ YOUR TARGET MARKET AND
FUTURE CUSTOMERS
“…to get attention today
will take a minimum of 12
touches with a prospect.”
By Neil Thornton
I
f you are like most owners and sales
professionals, you are looking for
ways to grow your business development, capture new customers and
grow market share. It seems people are now
coming out of this economic downturn and
realizing new sales is a priority. You can no
longer rely on your existing client base to
grow the way you want. (You have probably already developed their relationship
to capacity....right?) The pressure is on and
you want to stay ahead of your competitors.
Ready, set....GO!
Wait a minute, before you head out with
your traditional sales tools, we need to caution you that the rules have changed and
getting attention is harder than ever before.
People are overwhelmed, attention spans are
short, we are ﬂooded with marketing images,
people are critical of pitches, e-mails are out
of hand and the lists of distractions are end-
OCTOBER 2010
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less. So how do get attention today?
Even if you have a prospect in front of you,
you have less than 10 seconds to make an
impression, get attention and provide your
value proposition. If your message is solely
about you and your product, you are shut
down immediately. Where is the ‘value’ to
your customer in your value proposition?
(For more resources on value propositions
please contact us.)
In talking with most sales producers, the
sales cycle (time required to take a client from
introduction to billing) is much longer than
ever before. We hear stories of what used to
take days now becoming weeks, months and
even years. Wow, you had better ﬁll up your
pipeline it is going to be a long ride.
Our research over the past few years has
revealed that to get attention today will take
a minimum of 12 touches with a prospect.
Here is the kicker; most sales people give
up after 3-5 attempts!
So what are touches you say? Touches are
the various ways you and your company can
stay on your prospect’s radar and in their
heads. If you consider a touch a brochure
solely about you, your products and how
good you are you are going to struggle with
this and most likely end up in the trash. A
touch is something the prospect would consider of value and a resource for what they
are trying to accomplish.
Here are 4 examples of touches we
have seen used by local leading edge
companies.
1. An industry article with useful business
tools that you have written that your prospects can apply.
2. An invitation to a resourceful workshop
run by you that your prospects want to
attend.
3. A white paper, written by you, on upcoming industry and market changes and ways
your prospects can prepare.
4. An invitation to receive valuable tips by
signing up to your e-zine or blog.
Note: If you do not have the resources, energy or time to develop your own material,
you can use an industry expert’s work. Caution: Just be prepared to loose the business
to them.
We have developed a list of 12 ways to
touch your prospect customers. If you want
a copy of that list, please contact us and we
will send it over to you.
To execute your plan properly you will
need a ‘touch campaign’ and a clear structured strategy.
Keeping track of your campaign will require tools and software. Few people, if
any can reach their targets without a good
CRM (Customer Relationship Management
Program). Keith Narsansky at The Business
Solution is someone who can help you immensely if you are looking for help in this
regard. www.thebusinesssolution.com.
For more ideas about business strategy, growing sales, communications
and getting into action, please visit us
at www.thorntongroup.ca.
Neil Thornton is the President and Lead Executioner of the Thornton Group of Companies. Neil can be reached at 905.401.1434 or
[email protected]. © 2010 All Rights Reserved - Don’t even think about reproducing
this document without written permission from
Neil A. Thornton and 1707021 Ontario Limited
– The Thornton Group • 905.401.1434
THE BUSINESS LINK NIAGARA NIAGARA’S BUSINESS NEWSPAPER
21
S P E C I A L F E AT U R E :
SMALL BUSINESS GUIDE
BRAND IT WITH
CONSISTENCY
“…branding is something that should be taken very seriously
and given weight in your company’s thought process.”
By Joe Jones
M
ost people that I talk to often
have the wrong idea of what
branding means. They usually
assume I am referring to their
logo. Branding is the overall vision or plan
on how everything relates to each other. The
word brand began simply as a way to tell one
person’s cattle from another by means of a
hot iron stamp. This branding took thought
and time, from the appearance of the brand
itself to what the brand stood for. A cattle
owner could have a brand that displayed
that this livestock was a higher grade then
the other livestock. However everything with
the cattle owner’s brands always had consistency. This consistency allows you to grow
and build on your previous achievements
and reputation.
Without consistency your brand suffers
and will become obsolete. Imagine that
cattle owner using a different brand, style
or placement on each cattle that he or she
owned. This image would be considered as
unprofessional, the reputation would not
suggest organization or worth. It would
end up portraying the very opposite of his
desired reputation. However, in business
I often see the same mistakes happen as a
result of inconsistent brands: the logo looks
different from the letterhead, a different font
on the business card and the brochure has a
different colour scheme.
Whether you are a new business starting
out or an established company, branding is
something that should be taken very seriously and given weight in your company’s
thought process. Ralph Lauren once stated
“I am not looking like Armani today and
somebody else tomorrow. I look like Ralph
Lauren. And my goal is to constantly move
in fashion and move in style without giv-
22
THE BUSINESS LINK NIAGARA NIAGARA’S BUSINESS NEWSPAPER
ing up what I am.” The best way to achieve
consistency is to develop using your original
ﬁles. Find a design company that is capable
of designing everything for you. This will
ensure you are always using the same fonts,
colour schemes and styles. Using multiple
companies for each item is often a recipe
inconsistency. When using multiple companies you are often paying for them to recreate the previous work.
“Branding is the reputation of
who you are, what you do and
what you offer. The important
question to ask yourself is what
message are you branding?”
Branding should not be something that
you are constantly redeveloping. Branding
should be something that allows you to build
up and set yourself apart from your competition. Branding is the reputation of who you
are, what you do and what you offer. The important question to ask yourself is what message are you branding? “A business based
on brand is, very simply, a business primed
for success,“ –David F. D’Alessandro, former president and COO, Manulife Financial
Corporation.
Joe Jones is the President of Symetric Productions. At Symetric Productions our graphic & web
designers are capable of developing all of your
branding needs. We often handle everything for
our clients: logos, newspaper ads, vehicle graphics, business cards, billboards and more. This
process is often less costly for our clients because
we are using the same original ﬁle and reworking it ﬁt the new piece. For more information
on branding please call 905-933-4910 or visit
www.spcan.com
www.BusinessLinkNewspaper.com
OCTOBER 2010
S P E C I A L F E AT U R E :
SMALL BUSINESS GUIDE
WILL YOUR NEXT
CUSTOMER SERVICE REP
BE VIRTUALLY ALIVE?
By Keith Narsansky
I
want you to imagine for a minute what your business will be like in the future. What
if you could reduce your costs while providing your customers with better service,
and at the same time, maximizing your sales and proﬁt? What if you could provide
your customers with the product information they require to make a buying decision,
without you having to be there? What if you could answer customer’s questions without
even speaking to them?
Stop imagining! The future is now!
An interactive kiosk and digital signage system can augment your CSR staff.
Virtual Sales Person
Virtual Greeter
Virtual Receptionist
Virtual Information Booth
Virtual Concierge
And More
Display products you don’t normally stock, so that you can provide the full product line without having the extra cost of carrying those products. Change your in-house display’s content yourself, so that
you could quickly and easily respond to changing conditions, such as, daily or weekly specials. This
customer service rep is available 24/7, never takes a break, and is never sick or in a foul mood.
It can virtually perform many functions that your current staff does now. This allows your
staff to spend quality time with customers whose needs are more complicated and need the
human touch. The kiosk can provide customers with product or business information at a high
and consistent level. The kiosk can pre-sell customers on what they want to buy so that when
a customer service rep does become available; their order can be quickly processed so you can
move on to the next customer more efﬁciently.
Front line staff on a daily basis performs the tasks in the table below. If the volume of your
customers is too great for your front line staff, customers will have to wait and if they wait too
long, some of them will move on. Now if you had a kiosk, your customers could self-serve this
minimizing or eliminating wait time.
Common Front Line Staff Activities and In-House Displays
• Occupy your customer’s dead time while waiting
• Display detailed product information
• Display specials
• Information booth while staff is busy or not available
• Display product or service while in use
• Show where to ﬁnd product
• Display schedules
• Display maps
• Provide a tool for customers to ﬁnd the right product or service based on their needs
• Encourage impulse buying
• Display featured products
• Answer questions
• Give product recommendations
• Display events
• Place orders
• Display announcements
What’s the Solution?
Skeptical? If you are like most people, you use the internet and ATMs to do most of your banking. Would a kiosk ever fully replace human CSR? Doubtful, we always need human interaction
to assist in complicated issues. However, it was not that long ago that if I told you ATMs would
greatly reduce the times you went to a bank teller, you would think I was crazy.
Kiosks and digital signs can reduce your operating cost while providing better service to your customers. Whether you need a kiosk to assist in selling product or service or to act as a virtual information
booth; with a kiosk on your side, it will be a competition killer. Contact The Business Solution today
and discuss your business operation with us. If we can help, we will, and if not we’ll let you know.
Keith Narsansky, CMA is the Software Architect and Business Process Engineer at The Business Solution. Better serve your customers while maximizing sales and proﬁt; integrate your entire company;
and get a real time view of your business. Virtually Live: The ultimate marketing and management
system. www.TheBusinessSolution.com
OCTOBER 2010
www.BusinessLinkNewspaper.com
THE BUSINESS LINK NIAGARA NIAGARA’S BUSINESS NEWSPAPER
23
S P E C I A L F E AT U R E :
SMALL BUSINESS GUIDE
Social Media With Adam White
CONTENT IS ALL AROUND YOU, START CAPTURING IT
“It sure is easy to be
enthusiastic about the
company blog a week after
it launches. The challenge
is keeping it active and
updated six months or a
year from that date.”
“The trick is to let the
hustle and bustle of life
create these updates
for you. The content
you need is already out
there, so why not start
capturing it?”
By Adam White
I
stood at the edge of the Niagara River
in Chippawa grasping my dog’s leash,
bracing my feet on the rocky shore
to avoid an unwanted dip in the cold
water. My companion was waste deep and
would have been quite content to take a brisk
swim out to Navy Island. Once I was conﬁdent
I would not topple, I used a free hand to snap a
picture of him with my iPhone. With a few taps
of my ﬁngers I uploaded the image to my blog
hosted on Tumblr, the perfect place to quickly
share fun multimedia content. My Tumblr
account is linked to Twitter, and a link to the
image was automatically sent to my followers.
The photo was syndicated to Facebook before
my shoes were dry. By the time I had pulled the
headstrong fur ball back onto the path people
I had never met were commenting on the
image via the discussion system Disqus. Other
Tumblr users had found the picture amusing
and passed it on to their own readers. This
was a private, meaningless moment, but with
absolutely minimal effort I was able to turn it
into a social experience. Why can’t we do this
with our businesses?
The biggest hurdle businesses face when
entering the social media arena is maintaining
a regular schedule of content creation. It sure
is easy to be enthusiastic about the company
blog a week after it launches. The challenge is
keeping it active and updated six months or
a year from that date. A system that becomes
a burden will fall by the wayside. Before you
get started blogging, or utilizing Facebook,
Twitter and YouTube, you need to have a
frank and realistic discussion about what you
can contribute and how often. We tend to
be too precious about what we say with the
company’s voice and assume that every blog
post need be an epic. We worry that every
tweet should be a nugget of pure insight and
that every video be produced to the highest
standard. What we fail to realize is that such
perfectionism is paralyzing and extremely
difﬁcult to sustain without a signiﬁcant
investment of time or money. Instead, look
at how you can incorporate and share your
day-to-day experiences.
As an exercise, carry around a notepad
for a week and start making observations.
Assume you have all the web tools hooked up
and conﬁgured, and you are simply hunting
for things to share. As a rule keep everything
short. You are looking for things you could
photograph, events that could become short
web videos and observations which would
take no more than two or three sentences
to express. This is content which will prove
to observers that your business is active and
engaged. What you share is not a substitute
for in-depth writing, it is instead what you
share in between those more effort-intensive
pieces. It is the answer when you suddenly
realize you were too busy to update the
businesses’ Facebook page this week.
The reality is that you need to regularly
maintain and update your businesses’ social
media accounts, and you need to slot this
work into your already busy day. If you decide
to only participate when you have spare time,
then it will never happen. Your ability to
impact others will be diminished the more
scarce you are. The trick is to let the hustle
and bustle of life create these updates for you.
The content you need is already out there, so
why not start capturing it?
Adam White (AdamWhite.org) is a developer at
JMR SoftwareSystems (JMR.ca). Visit his new
Niagara video blog at CheckInNiagara.com or
join the Social Media Club (SMCNiagara.com).
YouTube Social Statistics
As of May 2010
Over 3 million people are connected and
auto-sharing to at least one social network
An auto-share Tweet results in 7 new
youtube.com sessions
YouTube Video Consumption across
social networks:
Facebook: 46.2 years of video watched a day
MySpace: 5.6 years of video watched a day
Orkut: 12.7 years of video watched a day
Hi5: 1.2 years of video watched a day
– www.website-monitoring.com
24
THE BUSINESS LINK NIAGARA NIAGARA’S BUSINESS NEWSPAPER
www.BusinessLinkNewspaper.com
OCTOBER 2010
S P E C I A L F E AT U R E :
SMALL BUSINESS GUIDE
POWER UP YOUR BUSINESS:
INVEST. INNOVATE. GROW.
Provided by the BDC
T
he economy is recovering and entrepreneurs are gearing up to seize new
opportunities. They need to hone
their competitive edge with dynamic
plans and a renewed commitment to meeting
the needs of a rapidly changing marketplace.
This is the message endorsed by the 31st
edition of Small Business Week®, an event
created and organized by the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), under the
theme “Power Up Your Business: Invest. Innovate. Grow.” Events held from October
17 to 23 will bring entrepreneurs together
at conferences, luncheons and trade fairs
where they will have the opportunity to
learn, network and exchange information
and ideas with their peers. Last year, hundreds of activities across Canada attracted
more than 10,000 businesspeople.
BDC supported Canadian businesses
through the recession with ﬁnancing, consulting and venture capital services and now
stands ready to help them during the economic recovery. In our last ﬁscal year, we
boosted our lending to Canadian businesses
to a record $4.4 billion, a 53% increase over
the previous year.
BDC offers a variety of ﬁnancial products
designed to help Canadian businesses grow,
such as term loans, subordinate ﬁnancing
and venture capital. We are also a major
player in helping businesses improve their
management techniques by providing tailored consulting services through a national
network of consultants.
Consulting
Our national network of professional business advisors can help you assess, plan,
and implement results-driven, cost-effective management solutions, whatever your
company’s development stage. BDC offers a
full range of services from strategic and succession planning to production management
and ISO certiﬁcation.
Subordinate Financing
An innovative form of ﬁnancing, subordinate ﬁnancing combines the characteristics
of term ﬁnancing and venture capital. Businesses with strong growth potential and
good management may be eligible for quasiequity and equity ﬁnancing for expansion
and market development projects.
Venture Capital
BDC Venture Capital is a major venture capital investor in Canada, active at every stage of
the company’s development cycle, from seed
through expansion, with a focus on technology-based businesses that have high growth
potential and that are positioned to become
dominant players in their markets.
BDC business solutions include:
BDC is committed to helping entrepreneurs
succeed, and looks beyond the numbers to
your whole business—your goals, vision,
projects, management team, strengths, and
weaknesses—to ﬁnd the right solutions at
the right time. We understand the value of a
patient, ﬂexible and knowledgeable approach
to ﬁnancing entrepreneurs. For more than 65
years we have given our clients across Canada
the support needed to take their business to the
next level. At BDC, it’s entrepreneurs ﬁrst.
Financing
Obtain long-term loan to increase your working capital and purchase ﬁxed assets. Repayment is ﬂexible with possible deferred principal payments as well progressive or seasonal
options tailored to your business’ cash ﬂow.
For more information about our business solutions and eligibility criteria visit our BDC Branch
located at 39 Queen Street Suite 100, St. Catharines, Ontario L2R 7A7, call 905-322-3028, or
visit www.bdc.ca for more details.
OCTOBER 2010
www.BusinessLinkNewspaper.com
THE BUSINESS LINK NIAGARA NIAGARA’S BUSINESS NEWSPAPER
25
S P E C I A L F E AT U R E :
SMALL BUSINESS GUIDE
A Tradition Of Success
HUB INTERNATIONAL
Enterprising insurance
brokerage celebrates
100 years of continuous
service to the Niagara
community.
By Scott Leslie
The Business Link
I
In today’s insurance industry, “commitment,” “selection” and “personalized service” are all critical to the
success of any progressive insurance
broker. But when you’re dealing with a foremost insurance brokerage like HUB International Limited, you can add another quality
to that list—“tradition.” Over time, their ﬁrm
has built a proud 100 year legacy of making
their clients’ lives easier, secure and most
of all, better.
Located at 63 Church Street in St. Catharines, HUB International Limited is a North
American insurance brokerage focused on
mid-sized commercial clients and the personal insurance sector. Their wide range of
products and services include property and
casualty insurance, life and health insurance,
risk management, reinsurance, employee
beneﬁts and wealth management.
A member of the Council of Insurance
Agents and Brokers and Worldwide Broker
Network, HUB International Limited is one of
the largest privately held insurance brokerage
ﬁrms in North America and licensed in every
province and state in the U.S. and Canada.
26
A Long Distinguished History
HUB has developed into a large international ﬁrm with over 250 ofﬁces and 4,000
employees across North America. But this St.
Catharines brokerage also has deep roots in
Niagara—and a long distinguished history of
serving Niagara’s insurance needs.
It all began with the vision and initiative of
a young St. Catharines teen named Howard
E. Rose. Born and raised in Port Dalhousie,
Howard had been working for some time
as a clerk with the early N.S. & T. Railway.
But he also dreamed of operating his own
general insurance ﬁrm, and offering a personal brand of service his clients couldn’t
get anywhere else. In 1910, the 18-year-old
realized that very dream, establishing the
“H.E. Rose & Company” on St. Paul Street
in downtown St. Catharines, not far from
James Street.
Back in the early days, it wasn’t unusual to
ﬁnd Howard answering the phones personally, providing insurance advice to everyone
from dairy farmers to blacksmiths. When
his brokerage began to outgrow his modest
ofﬁce, Howard would move the company in
1930 to 3 Queen Street—a location that became known as The Rose Building.
During these years and well into the 1950s,
everything was done by hand. Paperwork
was very detailed and bookkeeping and ledgers were common-place. Many employees
remained with the brokerage for decades.
And the insurance industry focused mainly
on areas like ﬁre and property insurance.
But there were changes on the horizon for
H.E. Rose & Company. Looking to expand
their business, they merged with a promi-
THE BUSINESS LINK NIAGARA NIAGARA’S BUSINESS NEWSPAPER
“Times may have changed since the days of Howard E. Rose. But the
insurance professionals at HUB International are looking forward to
meeting the challenges of the future and serving their clients’ insurance
needs for another 100 years.”
nent insurance ﬁrm called G.C. Horne & Son
in 1967. A prominent local ﬁrm at the time,
G.C. Horne & Son had been serving the Niagara area since 1932 when G. Charles Horne
moved to St. Catharines and purchased the
George E. Jones & Son brokerage.
Following the new merger, the company
name was ofﬁcially changed to “Rose, Horne
& Stevenson”—incorporating the Horne
name and that of Clark Stevenson, the manager of H.E. Rose & Company.
According to one-time company owner
Peter Horne who had joined his father’s
ﬁrm out of high school back in 1954, the
merger proved beneﬁcial to both sides in a
number of ways.
“Mergers give brokerages the opportunity
to expand their range of insurance provid-
ers,” he explains. “They also allow you to
take on larger accounts and better serve
your clients.”
The merger was a major turning point for
the brokerage. Together, the two ﬁrms were
able to provide their clients with an even
wider range of products and a combined 90
years of general insurance experience. Peter
Horne and Clark Stevenson were able to increase their client base from a few hundred
to well over 5,000 clients. The newly merged
business would also move from its Queen
Street ofﬁce to a new location on the corner
of King Street and William Street.
By 1975, business was booming and Rose,
Horne & Stevenson would move to a new…
Continued on page 28
www.BusinessLinkNewspaper.com
OCTOBER 2010
OCTOBER 2010
www.BusinessLinkNewspaper.com
THE BUSINESS LINK NIAGARA NIAGARA’S BUSINESS NEWSPAPER
27
S P E C I A L F E AT U R E :
Continued from page 26
…headquarters on 71 King Street. Here, they
established a new expanded modern ofﬁce
and offered a new in-house life, health and
group beneﬁts department. The brokerage
also began to develop a more comprehensive
approach to areas like coverage, analysis,
risk management, bonding, account service
and property evaluation.
The company’s spirit of change would
carry well into the 1990s when Rose, Horne
& Stevenson merged with Gosen, Anderson,
Rigby (G.A.R.) Insurance in 1992. G.A.R. also
had a long history in the Niagara Region,
having been established by Earl Thompson
back in 1947. By merging with the St. Catharines ﬁrm, Rose, Horne & Stevenson became
one of the largest insurance brokerage ﬁrms
in the Niagara Peninsula with 24 employees. Their client base also increased to over
9,000 private individuals, businesses and
organizations.
A Monumental Event
As the decade progressed, the ﬁrm would
go on to merge with MacDonald Ohm Insurance Brokers Limited—another historic
Niagara-based ﬁrm that had been operating
in Thorold since before the turn of the century. But there were bigger expansions and
opportunities yet to come.
The most monumental event in the com-
28
THE BUSINESS LINK NIAGARA NIAGARA’S BUSINESS NEWSPAPER
SMALL BUSINESS GUIDE
pany’s history took place on November 30,
1998 when Rose, Horne & Stevenson and ten
other insurance brokerages across Canada
merged to form The HUB Group.
“In the early 1990s, several Canadian insurance brokers had formed an organization called Insurance Network Solutions,”
explains Jim Henry, Senior Account Executive with HUB and president of the ﬁrm at
the time. “For years, we’d all been trying to
ﬁnd ways to strengthen our businesses—and
this presented the perfect opportunity.”
The merger was a landmark occasion for
Rose, Horne & Stevenson—but it was also
borne out of necessity. Over the past decade,
major banks such as CIBC, RBC and TD
Canada Trust had begun offering their own
insurance services. As a result, mergers had
become a critical strategy for smaller brokerages looking to grow their business.
“Most of the insurance brokerages in the
community today have a long history of mergers and acquisitions,” Jim says. “Consolidation has simply become a natural method of
growth in a mature marketplace.”
By the following year, HUB had purchased
44 brokerages across North America and increased its annual revenues to $140-million.
Over the past several years, the ﬁrm has experienced unprecedented growth, acquiring
a long line of prominent insurance brokerages in the U.S. and Canada.
With its expansion into the U.S., the com-
pany became known as HUB International
and the “Rose, Horne & Stevenson” name
was phased out in 2001. HUB International
is now the largest insurance broker in Canada by premium volume and the ninth largest
in the world.
“The industry has changed so much over
the years,” Peter says of the ﬁrm’s formative
years. “Nowadays we have things like environmental liability insurance—products no
one would have thought of years ago!”
Times may have changed since the days of
Howard E. Rose. But the insurance professionals at HUB International are looking forward to meeting the challenges of the future
and serving their clients’ insurance needs for
another 100 years. Their legacy will always
be there to guide the way.
63 Church Street, Ground Floor
St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada
Tel 905-688-1534
Toll Free 1-800-263-4927
www.hubinternational.com
www.BusinessLinkNewspaper.com
OCTOBER 2010
S P E C I A L F E AT U R E :
SMALL BUSINESS GUIDE
CHOOSING AN HONEST, RELIABLE,
AND COMPETENT COMPUTER SUPPORT COMPANY
“Your data is the single
most important asset you
possess—protecting it
ensures continuity. ”
By Scott Putman
C
hoosing a computer support company can be a tedious and painful experience. After all—on paper
they may all sound the same. Your
company’s data is perhaps the most valuable asset you have—and you don’t want to
place it in the hands of just anyone. Trust
is a major factor—perhaps the single most
important one to determine who to choose.
Here are some factors you’d want to consider in this process:
Is the company ﬁnancially stable? Taking care of a client’s information systems
requires that a service partner is willing to
re-invest in the latest support technology,
so that your systems get the best support
OCTOBER 2010
www.BusinessLinkNewspaper.com
available at all times. Longevity may be an
indicator, but the kind of clients and the nature of support are equally important.
Will they guarantee a minimum response
time? When your computer network goes
down, you need it ﬁxed immediately so you
can get back to running your business. Professional service organizations will be able
to provide crisis response within 1 hour of
your call (if not sooner).
Can they schedule system upgrades and ﬁxes
after normal business hours so as not to interrupt your business? System upgrades and installations can bring down your system for several
hours. Make sure that your support company
can schedule these types of upgrades during the
evening or weekends so as not to interrupt your
business more than strictly necessary.
How would it compare with, for instance,
hiring full time internal computer support
staff? By outsourcing your computer support, you can often save your company thousands on hiring, salary, and beneﬁts.
Are their technicians highly trained to
solve your problems fast and cost effectively?
Professional service organizations make sure
that their technical skills are up-to-date, and
that they are trained to ﬁnd the most cost
effective solution to your problem instead of
charging you for expensive upgrades, hardware, and solutions that aren’t necessary.
To what extent do they guarantee their work?
Make sure that they can GUARANTEE that
pricing? A professional service organization
should be able to provide you with a detailed,
ﬂat rate quote for a project—and guarantee
to deliver your solutions without charging a
penny more. This will give you peace of mind
knowing you won’t end up with a bill 2 or 3
times more than you anticipated or getting
hit with hidden charges or extra hours.
“When you hire a professional to solve a problem, it should be ﬁxed
right the ﬁrst time so you can get back to running your business.”
they will solve your computer problem or it’s
FREE. When you hire a professional to solve a
problem, it should be ﬁxed right the ﬁrst time so
you can get back to running your business.
Are they big enough to handle any computer job, yet “small” enough to still provide
you the individual attention you deserve? As
a customer, you should have direct access
to key persons, such as the owner or senior
manager, to handle any problems, concerns,
questions, or issues you may have.
Do they provide a detailed, ﬂat-rate project
Your data is the single most important
asset you possess—protecting it ensures
continuity. There may be other variables
that are important to your unique situation,
but following this guideline will provide you
with a basis for evaluating potential service
organizations.
Scott Putman is the President of I/O Vision. For
more information please call 905.937.7658, email
[email protected], or visit them at 3-23 Nihan Dr.,
St. Catharines, ON. www.iovision.ca
THE BUSINESS LINK NIAGARA NIAGARA’S BUSINESS NEWSPAPER
29
S P E C I A L F E AT U R E :
SMALL BUSINESS GUIDE
WRITE YOUR BUSINESS PLAN IN A WAY THAT WILL
PROVIDE THE MOST VALUE TO YOU
“Without committing your
plan to paper, it is too easy
to lose track of your initial
goals and vision when your
life gets taken over by
running the business.”
By Cameron Tulloch
O
ne of the biggest misconceptions
we hear from our clients is that
business plans are only for entrepreneurs seeking ﬁnancing. A
great business plan can be so much more. It
can provide a blueprint for your company’s
future. This blueprint can provide entrepreneurs with a realistic starting point and
a vision or goals to work towards once the
business is fully operational.
I like to describe to my clients the value of
a business plan by looking at the time they
will spend working “ON” the business compared to working “IN” the business. Before
launching any new venture, we have all the
time we need to think about who our ideal
30
customer is, how we are going to effectively
deliver our product or service, how we are
going to build and promote our brand, how
we want to grow our operations over time,
and how much money we want (or need) to
make. After we launch, we spend almost all
of our time working IN the business-chasing sales leads, delivering services, making
products, paying bills, managing staff, and
everything else that goes into an entrepreneur’s work-day. Without committing your
plan to paper, it is too easy to loose track of
your initial goals and vision when your life
gets taken over by running the business.
The most important advice I can offer is
to write your business plan in a way that will
provide the most value to you in your future,
while setting realistic business goals. Clients
too often try to make their business plan ﬁt
into a template. While a template may be a
great jumping off point, forcing your business to ﬁt into precontrived headings will be
time consuming and frustrating.
Start by setting objectives. Ask yourself
“What sections will I refer back to in the
future?”. Financial projections usually add
the most value as you can use them to set
concrete and measurable goals, these projec-
THE BUSINESS LINK NIAGARA NIAGARA’S BUSINESS NEWSPAPER
tions will also be critical for your business
laying the foundation for future business
opportunities. A market analysis and marketing plan is worthwhile to understand how
to best use your marketing time and money.
Planning your business processes will help
you to efﬁciently and effectively deliver your
service to clients.
After taking the time to write your business plan, make sure you use it. Let it be your
guiding light while you are too busy
working “in” the business to see
where you are going next. Share
the business plan with anyone
you want to share your vision
with—a new hire, a banker, a
marketing professional. Last
but not least, update it. If your
business changes as you learn
along the way, open up your
plan and commit yourself and
your business to your new
direction.
Centres in Niagara Falls and St. Catharines.
Angela and Michael in Niagara Falls, and Jessica, Jennifer and Cameron in St. Catharines
support people as they work to start and grow
their small businesses.
Cameron Tulloch is a Small Business Consultant for the St. Catharines Enterprise Centre.
For more information call today.
Niagara Falls: 905.356.7521 x 5004
St. Catharines: 905.688.5601 x 1767
Business planning support
is just one of the many
services available free of
charge at the Enterprise
www.BusinessLinkNewspaper.com
OCTOBER 2010
THE SILENT KILLER
What is black and fuzzy, grows quickly, and kills people?
Answer: mold
BY BARBARA GRUMME
Y
ou encounter mold every day in air
outside and in buildings. Molds are
microscopic fungi, a group of organisms.
Foods spoil, leaves decay and wood lying on
the ground rot due to mold. Paper or fabrics
stored in a damp place get a musty smell that
is due to the action of molds. It can destroy an
entire building and it makes people sick.
But molds can be useful to people. The drug
penicillin is obtained from a speciﬁc type of
mold. Some foods and beverages are made by
the actions of molds, including mushrooms and
yeasts. The good kinds of molds are selected
and grown in a controlled fashion.
Molds are undesirable when they grow
where we don’t want them, such as in
homes. Over 270 species of mold have
been identiﬁed as living in Canadian homes.
Molds that grow inside may be different
from the ones found outdoors. They come
into the home in many ways—through open
windows or doors, on clothing, pets, food or
furniture. Fungi are highly adapted to grow
and reproduce rapidly, producing spores and
mycelia in the process.
Some mold growing, for example on the
window sill but not elsewhere, is not a cause
of concern. You can clean the mold yourself.
The presence of mold is a sign that there is
too much moisture in your home—a situation
which must be corrected. Inspect the home
to ﬁnd the extent of the mold.
What makes molds grow?
Molds will grow if we provide them with
moisture and nutrients. If we keep things dry,
molds do not grow. High moisture levels can
be the result of water entering the building
when there is a weakness or failure in the
structure. Moisture accumulates within the
home when there is not enough ventilation
to expel that moisture.
Different kinds of molds grow on
different materials. Certain kinds of molds
like an extremely wet environment. Other
kinds of molds may be growing even if
no water can be seen. Dampness inside
the material can be enough to allow them
to grow.
Why are molds a concern?
Materials get stained or discoloured, and
over time they are ruined. Mouldy paper and
cardboard disintegrate over time. Fabrics are
OCTOBER 2010
damaged. Continued mold growth can cause
wood rot and structural damage. When molds
are growing inside the home, there may be
health concerns. Molds release chemicals and
spores. Health experts indicate that, depending
on the type of mold present in a home, the
amount and degree of exposure, and the health
condition of the occupant, the health effects
of mold can range from being insigniﬁcant to
causing allergic reactions and illness. A mold
area is considered “extensive” if a single patch
of mold is larger in area than a sheet of plywood.
Being exposed to this much mold is not a good
idea. Do not attempt to clean up large areas
of mold yourself. You need professional help
to determine why the mold is there in the ﬁrst
place and how to clean it up.
You may need professional help when:
• There is a lot of mold.
• The home is very damp and moist.
• Mold comes back after repeated cleaning.
• A family member suffers from asthma or
respiratory problems or other health problems
that appear to be aggravated inside the home.
your problem and your cost to ﬁx.”
How to clean up mold problems
(according to on line articles published
by CMHC)
• “Small areas” of mold can be cleaned with a
detergent solution such as Sunlight dish soap
or cleaners sold speciﬁcally for this purpose.
• Wear a mask, safety goggles and rubber
gloves.
• Seek professional help if there is a lot of
mold or if mold comes back after cleaning.
Bleach is NOT recommended
The presence of organic (humic) materials,
the pH (acidity/alkalinity) of the water, the
surface material and contact time affect
the effectiveness of bleach for disinfection.
Since these factors are not generally
controlled, bleach cannot be relied upon for
disinfection. The most compelling reason
for advising against bleach is that fumes
are harmful but in addition, overuse of
bleach will result in increased releases of
chlorinated effluents which can be harmful
to the environment.
How can you tell if it is mold?
Discoloration: Discoloration is a sign of mold.
However, all discoloration is not due to mold.
Carpeting near baseboards, for example, can
be stained by outdoor pollution entering the
home. Stains or soot may also be caused by the
smoke from burning candles or cigarettes.
Washable surfaces: Scrub with an unscented
detergent solution; then sponge with a
clean, wet rag and dry quickly.
Using an unscented detergent will make it
easier for you to detect residual moldy odours.
Mold may be any colour: black, white, red,
orange, yellow, blue or violet. Dab a drop of
household bleach onto a suspected spot. If
the stain loses its colour or disappears, it may
be mold. If there is no change, it probably
isn't mold.
Moldy drywall: Clean the surface with
a damp rag using baking soda or a bit of
detergent.
Do not allow the drywall to get too wet.
Mold that comes back after cleaning is usually
an indication that a source of moisture has
not been removed. Seek professional help
from a trained IAQ investigator.
Smell/Odour: Sometimes molds are hidden and
cannot be seen. A musty or earthy smell often
indicates the presence of molds. But a smell
may not be present for all molds. Even when
you don't notice a smell, wet spots, dampness
or evidence of a water leak are indications of
moisture problems and mold may follow.
According to Graham Wilson, a lawyer in St.
Catharines, “It is necessary for a seller to inform
the buyer, if it is known that there is mold in the
house. But unless the seller speciﬁcally stated
and signed something saying there was no
mold, it's buyer beware. That's why a home
inspection is so important. Once it's yours, it's
www.BusinessLinkNewspaper.com
General cleaning:
Vacuum surfaces with a vacuum cleaner which
has a High Efﬁciency Particulate Air (HEPA)
ﬁlter or is externally exhausted. Scrub or
brush the moldy area with a mild unscented
detergent solution… Continue this article at
www.businesslinknewspaper.com
Barbara Grumme is a Sales
Representative for Century 21. For more
information call 905.356.9100,
email [email protected]
or visit www.barbaragrumme.com
THE BUSINESS LINK NIAGARA NIAGARA’S BUSINESS NEWSPAPER
31
THE FRONT BUSINESS CLUB IS THE
FUN PLACE TO DO BUSINESS!
“Our members are very important to us, we treat everyone like a member of our family;
The Front truly believes that if your business grows so will we.”
BY LYNN BEAUDRY
T
he Front Business Club is located in the heart of downtown
St. Catharines, operating as a members club for small to
medium sized businesses. It offers members and their guests a
comfortable, professional atmosphere to conduct business and
to grow their professional networks. Our members are very important to us, we treat everyone like a member of our family; The
Front truly believes that if your business grows so will we.
We are prepared to help your business grow and succeed, providing members with a photocopier, private boardroom, wireless
internet, free outgoing phone calls and faxes throughout Canada
and the U.S., large HDTV for presentations, freestanding projector
screen, white board, lounge area, mailbox rentals, liquor license,
advertising opportunities and much more!
The Front was created out of necessity for our sanity. My husband, Mark and I worked out of our home and every time the
phone rang, the dog barked. At one point Mark had told me that
it was either him or the dog, so I suggested that he come up with
another plan that would save the dog, Mark and our professional
image! No small business wants to portray the image of being
disorganized, so Mark came up with the idea of The Front Business Club. We had dreamed about it for about 5 years and then
we decided to take the plunge and just do it…the dog was saved
and so was our sanity!
It took us 6 months to build and 52 interior designs before
we agreed to the look. We kept coming up with new ideas for
our future clients and their businesses. Mark and I had the vision
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THE BUSINESS LINK NIAGARA NIAGARA’S BUSINESS NEWSPAPER
that we wanted our clients to have a professional atmosphere
in order to mask to their customers that they actually worked
out of their homes or had a small ofﬁce elsewhere. Mark worked
night and day with the help of our friends and our son, Mitch.
We still have friends who walk in and say, “I painted that piece
of ceiling tile”. We had a full day where we all came in and just
built furniture. Mark was laying down the boardroom ﬂoor half
an hour before our grand opening party. It’s funny now but not
so much at the time.
“Every month there is a networking
lunch, a Law of Attraction luncheon
and a Front @ 5, not to mention
we also have ongoing weekly events
which include Coffee Chat on
Monday mornings.”
When we opened our doors, we had 3 paying members and to
date we now have approximately 160 members. The Front started
out with a bang! A grand opening party for all of our friends
and businesses associates featuring music by The Permtones.
It was a fantastic way to celebrate that our dream had made it
to fruition.
The Front has changed over time, due to member needs. We
now have a liquor license, later hours; more networking events,
www.BusinessLinkNewspaper.com
OCTOBER 2010
another meeting room and a new menu just to
name a few. We highlight members through our
advertising, our website www.thefront.ca, newsletter, and our window display. If there is a time when
you want to highlight your business please don’t
hesitate to ask.
The Front has hosted many events throughout its
22 months since opening. These have included a Superbowl party, Halloween party, Christmas parties,
surprise birthday party for a member’s wife, Grape
& Wine brunches, a baby shower, the World Cup
games on the HDTV and many others. One of our
mentionable highlights is the fact that the Barbados
consulate was here last spring for an information
evening as well as customer appreciation event.
Every month there is a networking lunch, a Law of
Attraction luncheon and a Front @ 5, not mention
we also have ongoing weekly events which include
Coffee Chat on Monday mornings.
Members enjoy the relaxed business like atmosphere where they can come in, work on their laptops, be served coffee, have lunch with their clients
and network, or just catch up with an old friend. The
Front has seen many deals be created and executed.
Members businesses have grown with the contacts
that are made here.
The Front is proud to be host to several service
groups. The Sunrise Rotary Club
(www.clubrunner.ca/cprg/home/homed.asp?cid=303)
meets every Tuesday at 7:15a.m., and they are a dy-
OCTOBER 2010
www.BusinessLinkNewspaper.com
namic group of people. The Business 4 Business networking group (www.business4business.ca) holds its
weekly meetings every Friday morning at 7:30a.m.,
which is an exclusive referral group of businesses
who want to grow their business. Brock University
is a member as well and hosts many classes at The
Front for their entrepreneur program.
Each month The Front hosts a charity event with
the proceeds going to a selected members cause.
We’ve been successful in raising money donations,
clothing drive collection and food drive donations for
many charities in the Niagara Region. We even had a
chili cook-off with other businesses in the Region and
raised $1,800 for Haiti. This in turn was able to pay
for the gas for a cargo ship full of medical supplies
to be delivered to the devastated country.
Drop by at 283 St. Paul Street for a tour and I will
show you why you need to be a member of the fun
place to do business….The Front Business Club!
“Members
enjoy the
relaxed
business like
atmosphere
where they
can come in,
work on their
laptops, be
served coffee,
have lunch
with their
clients and
network…”
The Front Business Club is located at 283 St. Paul
Street in St. Catharines. For more information call
905.641.4567, email [email protected] or visit
www.thefront.ca.
THE BUSINESS LINK NIAGARA NIAGARA’S BUSINESS NEWSPAPER
33
COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT
Photo credit to Photography with Grace
Photo credit to Photography with Grace
NIAGARA FALLS
The world’s most famous address has several attractive qualities.
BY SCOTT LESLIE
The Business Link
N
iagara Falls is a community unlike any other.
Known as the world’s most famous address and “The Honeymoon Capital of the World,”
Niagara Falls is divided into the Canadian Horseshoe Falls and the American Falls. The Horseshoe Falls
drops about 173 feet while the height of the American Falls varies between 70 and 100 feet due to the
rock formations along its base. (The larger Horseshoe Falls are about 2,600 feet wide while the American
Falls are 1,060 feet wide.)
Although the Niagara Falls are world-renowned for their natural beauty, they’ve also become a valuable
source of hydroelectric power. Niagara Falls is the most powerful waterfall in all of North America. During
the peak season, the volume of water going over the Falls can reach as high as 202,000 cubic feet per
second. As a result, Niagara’s generating stations
produce about 4.4 gigawatts of power on an
“…tourism has become
annual basis.
In addition to its status as a power centre,
the real lifeblood of the
Niagara Falls boasts many principal industries
community, attracting nearly
including processed food, abrasives, chemicals,
20-million visitors each year
automotive parts, metal and paper goods,
and wines and alcoholic beverages. Logistics,
from around the globe.”
warehousing, I.T. and call centres are also vital to
the local economy.
Over the years, however, tourism has become the real lifeblood of the community, attracting nearly 20million visitors each year from around the globe. Niagara Falls offers many sights, sounds and activities
to experience. For instance, The Maid of the Mist takes visitors on a boat tour to the foot of the Falls,
providing breath-taking views of this 13-storey spectacle. The city also offers world-class attractions
and entertainment. Casino Niagara features 45 gaming tables, a comedy club, weekly live shows and
four different venues for dining and drinks. There’s also the Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort, a luxury
Ontario casino hotel complex, offering fun for gamers and non-gamers alike. The casino hotel offers hotel
accommodations, a spa, shopping and a wide variety of dining options.
Another one of Niagara Falls’ big tourist attractions is Marineland—a themed amusement and animal
park featuring daily shows with orcas, beluga whales, sea lions and dolphins. This fun-ﬁlled game farm is
open from May to October, and offers excitement for the whole family with three restaurants, an animal
feeding zoo and an amusement midway.
Niagara Falls is a world-class destination with something for residents and visitors alike—whether
it’s vineyards and golf courses, ﬁne dining and casual eateries, luxurious spas and leisurely drives in the
country or cycling adventures and hiking trails. Their standing as the world’s most famous address is
clearly well-deserved.
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www.BusinessLinkNewspaper.com
OCTOBER 2010
OCTOBER 2010
www.BusinessLinkNewspaper.com
THE BUSINESS LINK NIAGARA NIAGARA’S BUSINESS NEWSPAPER
35
EDUCATION FOR LIFE
“Research has found that the beneﬁts of a Montessori Education
are numerous!”
BY NATASHA SECORD
O
ne of the most fundamental choices we make as parents is the choice of our
child’s education. Whether you are at the stage of choosing a ﬁrst Preschool
for your little one, or you have a child who is already in the school system but is not
thriving, it is worth looking into the Montessori Method of Education as a viable option
for your child’s education.
Research has found that the beneﬁts of a Montessori Education are numerous!
One of the main goals of Montessori is to provide a stimulating, child oriented environment where
students can explore, touch and learn using uniquely designed materials. At Beyond Montessori School, our
Accredited Montessori Faculty deliver customized education for each child. Our students are not expected
to conform to set standards of achievement as in conventional schools, but are encouraged to progress
in their own unique way and discover their natural self. Montessori teachers recognize that each child
learns at his or her own pace, with individual learning styles, talents and needs. An obvious beneﬁt is
that your child can work toward achieving his or her own potential in any subject area. No child is held
back to wait for the rest of the class or prematurely pushed ahead, resulting in frustration while trying
to keep up with classmates. There is total freedom to learn which makes learning enjoyable.
While a Montessori Education results in higher levels of excellence in academia, students also enjoy
longterm social and emotional beneﬁts.
Children learn to respect themselves, respect each other and their environment, as well as developing
an understanding of the importance of peace. Learning how to work and play together with others in a
peaceful and caring community is one of the most important life skills that we can impart to our children.
Each classroom at Beyond Montessori School is set-up with a “peace space” where students can resolve
interpersonal conﬂicts in a mature and respectful manner. The school is like an extended family, where
the children learn to take care of themselves and each other.
At Beyond Montessori School, our students are encouraged to be curious, to ask questions, to come
up with their own solutions and to think outside the box. From demonstrating greater responsibility,
independence and self-conﬁdence, to a deeper enthusiasm for learning; Montessori children consistently
demonstrate exceptional abilities to adjust to new situations and utilize life skills. Later in life these principles and values will continue to serve them well, as is evident with the founders of Google. Larry Page
and Sergey Brin, said in an interview with Barbara Walters, that Montessori education allowed them to
learn to think for themselves and gave them freedom to pursue their own interests. They credited their
years as Montessori students as a major factor behind their success.
A Montessori Education is truly “Education for Life”.
Natasha Secord is the Head of School at Beyond Montessori School. Located downtown St Catharines
and serving the families of Niagara with a Montessori Education for Toddler through Early Elementary.
Our Curriculum is enriched with daily French, music, visual arts, phys ed, children’s yoga (Zooga), eco
workshops, peace projects and so much more. Visit us online at www.beyondmontessori.com and book
your individual tour by calling 905-937-0700.
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www.BusinessLinkNewspaper.com
OCTOBER 2010
FIVE STEPS TO SUCCESSFUL
WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT
Five essential steps you must take when developing your website.
BY MARK KAWABE
W
hether you’re just getting your feet wet online or are renovating your online presence, there
are ﬁve essential steps you must take when developing your website. In this day of “ready, ﬁre,
aim”, it’s easy to think you can go back and ﬁx what’s not working later, but doing it right the ﬁrst time
will save you time and money.
1. Know Your Site’s Audience. How well do you understand the underlying motivations of your prospective customers? What are the psychographic variables that inﬂuence them? For clues, look to your existing customers. Why are they your customers? What is it you offer that made them choose you over your
competition? Understanding the things that make them “tick” inﬂuences the rest of the site’s development
from content, technology and design.
2. Provide Content the Visitor Wants. My favourite Japanese restaurant doesn’t serve nachos. If they did,
I’d stop going there. Your site needs to provide information your prospects and customers want so they’ll
be glad they came and will be likely to return in future. When you tailor the way you provide information
to visitors based on their psychographics your site will pack more punch.
3. Avoid the “Bleeding Edge” of Technology. Avoid using technologies that require additional plug-ins
to the browser to work. With the proliferation of spyware, malware and viruses “built in” to websites, visitors are exceptionally wary of adding software to their computer. Stick with widely-available technology
unless there is a compelling reason to go with something new.
4. Code For Search Engines AND Humans. When you visit a website you see what’s on the screen. When
search engines visit websites they see code. How your website is coded can make it easy or impossible for search
engines to index your website and it can also inﬂuence your site’s ranking. A note about Flash-based websites:
while Google and other search engines CAN index Flash sites, the majority of Flash programmers don’t program
with search engines in mind. In addition, many SEO basics aren’t possible to program into Flash sites. If ranking
well in the search engines is important to you, I suggest avoiding entirely Flash-based websites.
5. Design is Queen. On the internet, content is king, and design and content are married. Your carefully crafted
words can be completely ignored if your design doesn’t support them. Sometimes a creative design you love is
something your prospects don’t relate to at all. Successful design stems from understanding the psychographical
proﬁle of your customers and prospects. This is one of those examples where getting it right the ﬁrst time is key.
There is more to website development than buying a pre-made template and ﬁlling in the blanks. Your
site is a representation of your company and its values. How well your site performs will be determined by
how well you understand your prospects and how you communicate to them through your site’s design
and content. Value your visitor and your website will generate value in return.
Mark Kawabe is a Niagara internet marketing specialist at The Web For Business.com. For more tips and
advice visit TheWebForBusiness.com.
OCTOBER 2010
www.BusinessLinkNewspaper.com
THE BUSINESS LINK NIAGARA NIAGARA’S BUSINESS NEWSPAPER
37
CHECKING OFF YOUR
BUCKET LIST
“Don’t wait forever to live your life; decide to check something off
of your bucket list every year.”
BY CJ CALVERT
E
very year, I set out a list of goals for every area
of my life, including adventure. This summer, I
had the grand pleasure of checking a lifetime goal off
of my “life list”. As a certiﬁed adrenaline junkie, I’ve
climbed mountains and gone white-water rafting, but
I had not yet enjoyed the ultimate rush: skydiving!
My friends and I went to the Parachute School
of Toronto, opted to jump tandem (where you are
strapped to an experienced skydiver) and suited up.
By lunchtime, we were airborne and heading up to
13,500 feet. We were far above the clouds, over 4
kilometers up, and we could see the large square
outlines of the farmers ﬁelds far below. When it
came my turn to jump, I’ll have to admit that I’m
glad I was strapped to someone experienced…
there was no time for hesitation!
Just imagine yourself stepping off of the edge
of an airplane into open air with the Earth four
kilometers below. If you’ve ever been nervous
jumping off of a diving tower into a pool, imagine magnifying the experience a thousand-fold.
The ﬁrst 5 seconds are terrifying: your heart jumps
into your throat as you begin freefall. But once you
reach full speed, you have no sensation of falling,
except for the rushing wind. You plummet towards
the Earth at 200km/hr for almost a full minute! It
was like being in a convertible with the top down
going full speed. We passed right through a cloud,
with grey mist surrounding us in all directions.
My guide yanked the ripcord, and ﬂoated gently
to Earth a few minutes later. When we landed, I
couldn’t wait to go again! It was like the ultimate
roller coaster.
I share this experience because it was at the top
of my “life list”. The idea of creating a list of lifetime
goals has recently been popularized in a wonderful movie called “The Bucket List”, starring Jack
Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. In the movie, two
old retirees decide to write a list of everything they
want to do in life before they “kick the bucket”. It is
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THE BUSINESS LINK NIAGARA NIAGARA’S BUSINESS NEWSPAPER
a wonderful story, and they conclude their remaining years with deep adventure and reconciliation
of relationships.
I share these examples because I believe that
each of us has a list inside of us waiting to be accomplished. What is on YOUR list? Is it to travel to
Australia? To ﬂy a ﬁghter jet? To climb Mt Kilimanjaro? To write a book? To build a summer camp
for disadvantaged kids? I believe that if we allow
ourselves to dream, we would admit that we want
many great things from our lives.
The movie “The Bucket List” highlights the one
grave mistake that most people make: the majority
“As the ancient Roman
philosopher Horace said,
‘Carpe diem! Rejoice while
you are alive; enjoy the day;
live life to the fullest; make
the most of what you have.
It is later than you think.’”
of people believe that the greatest accomplishments
in life should be left for “someday”. Personally, I
don’t want to leave everything I want to do in life
till old age, because I have NO IDEA when I’m going
to pass away. I might have a car accident on the way
home tonight. Our time is precious and uncertain. As
the ancient Roman philosopher Horace said, “Carpe
diem! Rejoice while you are alive; enjoy the day;
live life to the fullest; make the most of what you
have. It is later than you think.” Don’t wait forever
to live your life; decide to check something off of
your bucket list every year.
CJ Calvert is the author of “Living an Exceptional
Life” and President of CalvertTraining, the motivational arm of Shepell-fgi.
www.BusinessLinkNewspaper.com
OCTOBER 2010
ONLINE SHOPPING: WHAT WE SHOULD KNOW
There are a few simple rules that if followed will make you’re online shopping experience safer and enjoyable.
bar turns green and has both https and the closed
padlock
BY LOUISE FOSTER
W
ith a busy schedule Online shopping is a
convenient way of saving time. It allows
us to shop 24/7(holidays included), comparison
shopping is simpliﬁed, you can go from store to
store with just a few clicks, no waiting in line up’s to
pay for your items, purchase gifts and send them to
friends and relatives regardless of where they live.
There are also disadvantages to online shopping
which you should consider. Although you can see
a photo of the item you are going to purchase you
can’t try it on or touch it so until you actual receive the item you really don’t know what you’re
getting. Online stores have been closing over the
past few years so unless you are purchasing from
a well known store you risk running into warranty
issues, if the store is no longer open in some cases
your warranty will no longer exist. Always keep in
mind shipping and handling costs can add a lot of
additional money to your purchase.
Security
There are a few simple rules that if followed will
make you’re online shopping experience safer and
enjoyable.
1. Find out what other shoppers say. Sites like Epinions.com or BizRate have customer evaluations which
can help you determine a company’s legitimacy.
OCTOBER 2010
www.BusinessLinkNewspaper.com
Other ways to tell whether a web site uses
security software:
a. Your browser displays the icon of a locked padlock at the bottom of the screen
b. You see the icon of a lock on the status bar (Microsoft Internet Explorer®).
2. Look for third-party seals of approval. Companies
can put these seals on their sites if they abide by
a set of rigorous standards such as how personal
information can be used. Better Business Bureau
Online and Truste. Keep in mind that some people
might put these on their sites without permission.
3. Signs that your data is protected. On the Web
page where you enter your credit card or other per-
sonal information, look for an “s” after http in the
Web address of that page (as shown below, encryption is a security measure that scrambles data as it
traverses the Internet.)
4. Keep your web browser updated. Internet Explorer 7 and 8 provide another layer of protection
with Web sites that use Extended Validation (EV)
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) Certiﬁcates. The address
The Safest Way to Pay
The biggest fear about shopping online is having
your credit card information stolen. In truth, credit
cards are by far the safest way to pay online. That’s
because your liability is limited under the Fair Credit
Billing Act. Services like PayPal allow you to fund
an online account and make payments from that
account without exposing your real credit card or
bank account information.
Online shopping can be a great way to simplify
your shopping experience however if you don’t feel
comfortable buying online then trust your instincts
and maybe go directly to the store.
Louise Foster (LFComputersolutions.com) is the
Owner and Operator of LF Computer
Solutions, we are dedicated to helping you ﬁnd
computer solutions. (905) 577-5555 email:
[email protected]
THE BUSINESS LINK NIAGARA NIAGARA’S BUSINESS NEWSPAPER
39
CORPORATE GIFT GIVING AND EVENT PLANNING
PART II
Corporate Gifts That Say Thank You
Giving corporate gifts of any kind is a great idea and a great way to say “thank you” to those who help your business succeed.
by gareth parkin
T
here are a lot of reasons to give out
corporate gifts—most of which are designed to foster loyalty in the recipient and
perhaps to the audience that is present for
the presentation of the gift. Another great
reason to give corporate gifts is to give a sincere thank you to employees or customers for
their time, money, and hard work.
There are many reasons that you might
wish to give a hearty thank you to the people
who make your company what it is, and many
things that you can give based on how thankful you are for their services to you and how
personal you want to make things. If you are
planning to reward an entire department for
the completion of a goal, project, or other accomplishment done as a team, then the ideal
gift for a couple of team members might not
be the right thing for others. You want to
keep things even in a case like this, so a gift
of something like a gift card or certiﬁcate or
the gift of something that can be used in the
oﬃce like matching desk sets for the entire
crew or other small and generic gifts.
When it comes to more personal thank
40
yous, though, the gifts can become more personal as well. For the client who is spending
lots of money every month at your business,
it is a good idea to say thank you occasionally
and to give them a little something back for
their work with you. This might be done in
the form of discounts or other special incentives, but it can also be done with corporate
gifts that are personalized to the contact
within that company. The gift of a bottle of
wine or another alcohol might go over well,
but should not be given unless the contact
is very likely to appreciate it. Other gifts
that might prove more universal, such as
nice pens, watches, or other ﬁne gifts, further personalized with engraved initials or
a thank you message.
For individual members of your company
who have performed in an outstanding manner and deserve a special thank you, corporate
gifts can be great ways to say just that. Employees who have worked hard on a project or
put in a lot of overtime might merit a private
thank you and a corporate gift to recognize
their hard work, and would likely appreciate a
paid day or two oﬀ to catch up on their home
life as well.
THE BUSINESS LINK NIAGARA NIAGARA’S BUSINESS NEWSPAPER
For accomplishments that are a bit more
public within your company, such as a promotion that an employee has been given, a
suitable reward might be a corporate gift given
during a public celebration in honor of that
employee. Throw them a little party during
lunch hour or in the afternoon, thank them
and congratulate them, and add a small corporate gift to show them how appreciated they
are by you and the company.
Giving corporate gifts of any kind is a great
idea and a great way to say “thank you” to
those who help your business succeed.
Gareth Parkin is
the co-founder of
Ideasbynet,
a leading online
corporate gifts
and business
gifts company.
Courtesy of
EzineArticles.com
www.BusinessLinkNewspaper.com
OCTOBER 2010
CORPORATE GIFT GIVING AND EVENT PLANNING
OCTOBER 2010
www.BusinessLinkNewspaper.com
PART II
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41
CORPORATE GIFT GIVING AND EVENT PLANNING
PAR T I I
Are your dreams
in motion?
Photo by Grenadine Photography
“Inspire to the point of Proﬁtability with eﬀective ground
Transportation Solutions.”
Matthew Mole (left) and David Mole of Niagara Classic Transport Group
by david mole
T
here is an old adage out there that the
only two certainties in life are death
and taxes. I know the past few years have
been economically tough, but really, come
on now folks—is it that bleak? In my experience helping run my family business,
there is one more element of life which I
think aﬀects all people, especially business
people. MOTION, MOVEMENT, MOMENTUM—call it what you want! It’s simply
undeniable that we’re all moving in some
fashion, toward some destination, with
goals in mind. Maybe you need to get some
milk out of the fridge, or maybe you’re really pushing to make your quarterly sales
target; be it mundane or profound, there
is meaning in each step we take! We all
know however that our daily movements
can easily become dull, hypnotic, or even
at a point, painfully regressive. We all have
friends who spend three to four hours a
day imprisoned in their cars heading to and
from work. We all have other friends who
seem to walk into the oﬃce each day that
much ‘lighter,’ or ‘ready to work,’ because
they’ve made a conscious decision to leave
the car at home, travel a little lighter, and
maybe even walk to work.
The point I’m trying to make is pretty
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simple: that in life as in business it is very
easy to get stuck in a rut, to suﬀer from
highway hypnosis of the board room by forgetting that ‘how’ we get somewhere can
truly aﬀect our ‘destination.’ If we want to
get the best out of our employees, partners,
or even clients, it’s important to see things
from diﬀerent perspectives, to not be afraid
to freshen things up! This can be achieved
by a simple and conscious eﬀort to rethink
‘how’ we are getting to our destinations!
At Niagara Classic Transport we’ve
been lucky to have served some of North
America’s top corporations. Last year alone,
we were honoured to have ‘moved’ 57 of
the top 100 fortune 500 companies of the
world. Many of these groups were coming
to the beautiful Niagara Region to ‘renew
and refresh their staﬀ’s perspectives!’ Be it
long hikes up the Bruce Trail, or an exciting ‘murder mystery wine tour’ in Niagara
on the Lake using 10 London Cabs—there
have been an endless list of innovative
event planners ready and willing to ‘reignite those dreams,’ to the point of new
passion, new corporate determination, and
thus new proﬁtability.
For more ideas, concepts, and transport
needs please contact David J. Mole at
[email protected]
www.BusinessLinkNewspaper.com
OCTOBER 2010
CORPORATE GIFT GIVING AND EVENT PLANNING
PAR T II
Why Hiring a Corporate Event Planner Can Make Your
Event Spectacular
“Regardless of the size or budget, the right corporate event planner and related event production services will make your event a dazzling success.”
by christine o’kelly
P
lanning any event can be tedious,
stressful, and diﬃcult. Corporate
events are even more overwhelming than
your average event because of the large scale,
number of tiny details, amount of time they
take to plan, and the many things that could
possibly go wrong that may ruin the event.
You can avoid the headaches of planning
your own corporate event by hiring a planner. Choose a company that specializes in
planning corporate events and who is experienced, trained, and oﬀers a long list of
event production services that can make
your event the event of a lifetime.
Why You Should Consider Hiring A
Corporate Event Planner
Many people can throw together a birthday
party or a small luncheon in a snap. But,
with so many unique factors involved in
putting together a corporate event, including coordinating entertainment, seating,
OCTOBER 2010
www.BusinessLinkNewspaper.com
table arrangements, catering, food service,
facility rental, arranging event production
services, and more, the help of an expert
can go a long way in creating the event you
desire. Don’t hesitate to contact a planner at
the ﬁrst hint of becoming overwhelmed.
A corporate event planning company will
know exactly what to do to take your event
How Event Production Services Can
Make Your Event Sparkle
By utilizing event production services, you
can turn your corporate event into a Hollywood spectacle. Event production services
include set design, lighting design, show
production, theme generation, video editing, creative writing, speech writing, stag-
“A corporate event planning company will know exactly what to do
to take your event from overwhelming to fabulous success. Although
planners specialize in large, extravagant events, they can also eﬀectively plan small meetings and everything else that ﬁts in between.”
from overwhelming to fabulous success. Although planners specialize in large, extravagant events, they can also eﬀectively plan small
meetings and everything else that ﬁts in between. After an initial brainstorming session,
you and your corporate event planning company will make a plan to bring your vision to
life and will take your event from plan to a fully
executed, stress free, and enjoyable event.
ing, presentation design, talent booking,
show direction, speaker scheduling, special
eﬀects, decor design, sound, emceeing, and
much more. By hiring a corporate event
planning company that provides numerous
event productions services, your event can
have bold designs, dynamic audio, superior
acoustics, dramatic lighting, and a stage
show of professional quality.
The best corporate event planners have
years of experience and a solid background
in planning all types of events, with a focus on corporate events. If you have been
put in charge of your company’s corporate
event, consider saving yourself the hassle
of planning it by recommending that your
company hire a planner. It will be most cost
eﬀective in the end because an event planning company will have the resources to
plan and execute your event quickly, generating the event you desire.
Regardless of the size or budget, the right
corporate event planner and related event
production services will make your event
a dazzling success. Let an expert plan your
next corporate event and get ready to reap
the beneﬁts of an event well-planned.
Christine O’Kelly is the founder and lead
copywriter of SEO Content Solutions.
Courtesy of EzineArticles.com
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CORPORATE GIFT GIVING AND EVENT PLANNING
PART II
The Happy Holid-EH! Revue
Always musical, always fun—that is the winning recipe served up at Oh Canada Eh? again this year!
by anne robinson
C
elebrate the holidays at one of Niagara’s most
recognizable attractions—the 250 seat logcabin-style home of the award-winning Oh Canada
Eh? Dinner Show. For over 17 years, guests from
around the world have enjoyed an evening of music,
entertainment and good food. If you haven’t been
there yet, what are you waiting for? The theatre is
open year ‘round oﬀering their unique brand of entertainment—always musical, always fun!
From November 11 to December 18, the Oh Canada Eh? cast is presenting the Happy Holid-EH! Revue,
a hilarious and heart-warming musical show packed
with the best loved Christmas carols and classics as
well as zany comedy routines and a few surprises.
Loaded with laughs, this high-energy show will leave
audiences of all ages with the magical spirit only music, laughter and the holid-ehs can bring.
The dinner is all part of the experience as Oh
Canada Eh? provides generous portions of their traditional home-cooked meals served family-style by
members of the cast. Soup, salad, homemade bread,
choice of three entrees, potatoes, vegetables and dessert round out the fare which is always served fresh
and with a smile.
The theatre set-up is perfect for groups looking to
44
spend an entertaining and social night out together.
With tables set for either 8 or 10 depending on your
seating selection, the dinner and show lend themselves well to enjoying a night out with friends, coworkers or family members. How nice it is to sip your
glass of wine throughout the performance rather
than slurp it down quickly during intermissions at
other theatres?
“This show features our talented cast celebrating
the season with songs audiences love to hear—the
show is loaded with energy,” says Jim Cooper, Coowner and Producer of the show, “but we’ve created
some beautiful spiritual moments as well, all interspersed with laughs and giggles”
With both evening and matinee performances, kid’s
free at select dinner shows, as well as a show-only option, everyone will have an opportunity to get into the
holid-eh spirit at the various price levels. Ticket prices
for dinner and show start as low as $48.50 (individual)
and just $25.00 for general seating show-only, there
are also discounts for seniors and groups, so call their
box oﬃce for more information.
“We know we have the best holiday party option
for the price”, says Anne Robinson, Vice-President.
“Some nights are already sold out, so party planners need to call soon for best seats for the holiday
dinner show.”
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• It’s all music, all fun at the HAPPY HOLID-EH! REVUE at Oh Canada Eh?
Dinner Show in Niagara Falls this November and December!
www.BusinessLinkNewspaper.com
OCTOBER 2010
CORPORATE GIFT GIVING AND EVENT PLANNING
PART II
Dairy Queen
St. Catharines ice cream eatery oﬀers patrons great eats and tasty treats.
by scott leslie
F
or the past two decades, Dairy Queen
on 415 Merritt Street in St. Catharines
has been famous for their combination of
tasty ice cream treats, friendly service and
delightful fun-ﬁlled atmosphere.
Over the years, Dairy Queen has become
a welcome refuge for those looking to “beat
the heat” during those long hot summers.
But the refreshing DQ experience is also
available all year-round. The moment you
walk through the door, you’ll be impressed
by this colourful, inviting restaurant with its
clean and immaculate surroundings. More
importantly, you’ll enjoy the sweet aromas of
Dairy Queen’s world-famous taste treats.
Whether you’re in the mood for something
to warm you up or cool you down, you’ll ﬁnd
it all at Dairy Queen. There’s delicious soft
serve ice cream, sundaes, parfaits, blizzards,
ice cream sandwiches—even delectable wafﬂe cones. Their staﬀ can create fabulous ice
cream cakes that can include deco packs or
scans like photos and logos. There are also
many great meals and hot selections to
choose from like premium salads, burgers,
OCTOBER 2010
www.BusinessLinkNewspaper.com
Dairy Queen located at 415 Merritt Street in St. Catharines
grilled sandwiches and chicken wraps.
Since 2005, Dairy Queen has been owned
and operated by the Ladas brothers—Louis
and Dimitrios. They’re also helped out behind the scenes by Momma (Connie) and
Poppa (Nick) Ladas who are incredibly
dedicated to their sons’ business and have
a strong work ethic.
At Dairy Queen, the Ladas family and
their friendly staﬀ are well-known for their
patience and professional customer service.
They’re never too busy to talk. But they’re
also never too busy to get make everything
just right. As you approach the counter, one
of the Ladas brothers will be happy to take
your order at one of their tills. During the
summer, lineups may be longer—but you’ll
never have to wait more than a few minutes
at Dairy Queen. The Ladas brothers pride
themselves on their ability to keep things
moving like clockwork and always serve
their patrons with a smile.
Over the winter of 2009, the Ladas brothers renovated their location in order to serve
their patrons even better. Located on a half
acre property, their newly remodeled facility
now features a beautiful stucco Dairy Queen
concept and an outdoor patio with 70 seats
where patrons can enjoy their delightful
treats and the beautiful sunshine. At Dairy
Queen, there’s always plenty of free parking. There’s even a covered drive-thru where
patrons can take their treats “to-go.”
From cakes to shakes, Dairy Queen has a
little something for the entire family. And the
Ladas brothers look forward to serving their
patrons again and again. Their great eats and
tasty treats are just minutes away.
Louis and Dimitrios Ladas are the owners of
Dairy Queen located at 415 Merritt Street in
St. Catharines, ON. For more information call
them at 905.684.3763
THE BUSINESS LINK NIAGARA NIAGARA’S BUSINESS NEWSPAPER
45
CORPORATE GIFT GIVING AND EVENT PLANNING
PART II
The Corporate Gift Basket is a Great Seasonal Gift
“Sending a small gift like a corporate gift basket can help to keep your biggest customers motivated to continue to do business with you and your company.”
by paul sung
S
ending a corporate gift basket to your
existing customers is one of the favourite ways to say “thank you” without saying
anything at all. It never hurts to send a basket
to the companies and customers that have
helped to get your company oﬀ the ground
and who continue to make your establish-
ment proﬁtable year after year. With a little
gift in their hands they will be more likely to
continue to buy from you in the future, even
when other companies similar to yours try
to get their foot in the door and steal your
customer right out from under you.
The contents of a corporate gift basket can
be anything at all. Most companies oﬀer a
variety of items that you can choose from, or
you can order one of their speciality baskets
that is already prepared. You can ﬁnd already
prepared baskets that include food items like
coﬀee, cheese, fruit, chocolate and other candies, speciality teas and crackers or biscuits.
Food baskets are a great idea for the companies that you are familiar with but it is best
to avoid anything that includes peanuts or
shell ﬁsh or any other common allergy items
as to not make too lasting an impression by
making someone ill unintentionally.
Any corporate gift basket that you send
should include at least some of your corporate
promotional items like pens, hats, shirts or
any desk accessories like lamps, clocks, paperweights or the like. Including items personalized to your company will help the staﬀ
at the receiving company to know where the
gift came from as well as it gives them the opportunity to use your promotional items and
advertise for your company by extension. The
more items you can get in with your company
information the better oﬀ you will be since
the more advertising the more money your
company is likely to make in the future.
A corporate gift basket can often be purchased from a manufacturer who is also able
46
THE BUSINESS LINK NIAGARA NIAGARA’S BUSINESS NEWSPAPER
to customize promotional items for you so you
can order a basket with say, coﬀee and cheese
in it and order 250 pens with your company
insignia on it at the same time to be included
with customized mugs in the basket. Buying
all the items including the food stuﬀs as well
as the promotional items in one place saves
tons of time and money and can cut down on
shipping costs too because the manufacturer
can often ship directly to the recipient without
needing to make a stop at your oﬃce.
Sending a small gift like a corporate gift
basket can help to keep your biggest customers motivated to continue to do business with
you and your company. A little token of your
appreciation goes a long way when it comes
to business gifting. Small and medium sized
businesses can gain a larger customer base by
practising the gifting each year, even a small
basket can often be enough to keep a customer coming back. Gifting today can improve
your company’s bottom line tomorrow.
Paul Sung is Online Sales Director for the
Tarsus Group.
Courtesy of EzineArticles.com
www.BusinessLinkNewspaper.com
OCTOBER 2010
THE SECOND MOST IMPORTANT PERSON IN THE BUSINESS
“If you’re on the hunt for the second most important person in your biz, here’s what you need to include in the job description…”
person could organize your company better than you, you’ve found
the right person.
BY MARK WARDELL
B
ehind every successful leader is a great Executive Assistant. That’s
no surprise; after all, most successful business owners try to stay
focused on strategy, rather than get tied up in the detail of their business.
And the perfect EA helps the business owner do just that.
Essentially, an Executive Assistant has four main roles: gatekeeper, organizer, documenter, and conﬁdential advisor. If you’re on the hunt for
the second most important person in your biz, here’s what you need to
include in the job description:
Looking for an exceptional gatekeeper: Can you spot a time-wasting
phone call or meeting from a mile away? Have you worked with enough
business owners to be able to assess their top priorities and shield them
from low priorities? Are you tough and tactful enough to make people feel
their time is valuable even while declining their requests?
One of the four essential characteristics of the ideal EA is the ability to
act as “Gatekeeper”. They shield the owner against time wasters (internal
and external), and free that person to focus on the most critical tasks of
running the company.
Must be obsessively compulsively organized: You’re someone who always has the big picture company goals in mind. At the same time, you have
a natural afﬁnity to take on the daily legwork required to bring those big
picture goals into reality. You have the psychic gift of anticipating a business owner’s needs (travel, meetings, materials). You’re tireless to the point
of obsession on following up on details (travel plans, important contacts,
numbers) and making sure that the quality goes into the document (letters,
meeting minutes, reports) before the owner’s name goes on it.
Yes, the perfect EA really does have it all: Uber organized, diplomatic,
detail-obsessed yet big picture minded. If you secretly might think this
OCTOBER 2010
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Needs to be a natural born Documenter: Do you sometimes think of your
brain as a systematic ﬁling machine? Do you live to oversee policies, processes,
and procedures? Are you 10 steps ahead of everyone else when it comes to
following up post-meetings, on everything from documenting meeting minutes,
to sending a reminder to the web designer to ﬁx that broken link?
The ideal EA doesn’t need reminding. No, they store and document like
they live and breath, so ‘following up’ is simply effortless, second nature.
Must be a trustworthy Conﬁdant: Are you a completely trustworthy
professional who is comfortable being privy to private company and ﬁnancial information (even sometimes, personal information)?
Lets face it: you need to be able to trust your Executive Assistant with
the deepest of conﬁdences. A big part of the role of an EA is “Conﬁdential
Advisor”, as this person is privy to ﬁnancial and business information that
you may not yet have even discussed with your spouse! To this end, a good
EA will know the business in a way that is different from other staff and
thus have much more of an overview to be able to anticipate potential
bottlenecks or people problems—maybe even before you do.
As you begin searching for the EA of your dreams, just a warning that when
you’ve found all of these qualities in one person, your next challenge will be
to keep your EA happy and ward off advances from your competitors.
P.S. In case you weren’t sure, the owner is the ﬁrst most important person
in the biz…just barely!
Mark Wardell is the President of Wardell Professional Development Inc.
For more information on business growth please call Mark at
(604)-733-4489 or visit www.wardell.biz
“As you begin searching for
the EA of your dreams, just
a warning that when you’ve
found all of these qualities in
one person, your next challenge will be to keep your EA
happy and ward off advances
from your competitors.”
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47
NIAGARA SUCCESS STORY
BEATTIES BASICS OFFICE
PRODUCTS
Ofﬁce product leader celebrates 150 years of traditional values and
innovative business practices.
BY SCOTT LESLIE
The Business Link
T
his year, Beatties Basics Ofﬁce Products is celebrating their 150th anniversary of providing ofﬁce products
and services to the Niagara Region and beyond. According to Ted Hoxie, the president of Beatties Basics
and a member of the Beatties family, it’s been a time of great success for their team—and their clients.
“We have a long tradition of satisfying our customers, and that’s never going to change,” he says. “We take
a great deal of pride in being a one-stop source for all their business needs.”
The company originally started back in 1860 when Izzard and Bixby Booksellers & Stationers opened at
St. Paul and Ontario streets in St. Catharines. The book and stationery store was later purchased by Lawrence
Beattie—and “Beattie Stationery Limited” was born. Lawrence retired in 1968 and his nephew Rodger took
over the operation.
Over the years, the Beatties family would take the company from strength to strength. In 1976 for instance,
the ﬁrm helped launch Basics Ofﬁce Products—a network of Canadian owned and operated dealers that offers
ofﬁce supplies to corporations and consumers nationwide. In 2006, Beatties expanded to a new 55,000 square
foot warehouse, ofﬁce and retail facility on 399 Vansickle Road in St. Catharines.
“We took a great deal of pride at being a downtown institution since 1860,” Ted says. “But the limitations
of our location meant that something had to be done if we wanted to remain competitive.”
Today, Beatties Basics is one of Niagara’s leading ofﬁce product providers with retail locations in Niagara Falls,
Fort Erie and St. Catharines. In terms of selection, Beatties carries more than 8,000 ofﬁce products with thousands
more available by special order. They provide everything from ofﬁce furnishings and arts supplies to promotional
products and business machine sales & repair to network installation and computer upgrades.
One of Beatties’ highest priorities in recent years has been their commitment to going green. Beatties recycles
tons of paper, plastic, metal, glass and cardboard each year—and sells more than 800 environmentally friendly
ofﬁce products. They’ve also introduced several green initiatives such as accepting ink and toner cartridges for
recycling and using GPS systems with their delivery trucks to make sure they take direct routes and reduce fuel
consumption.
“We’re one hundred percent committed to keeping the environment safe for generations to come,” Ted says.
“We’re continually upgrading our environmental practices and encouraging our clients to do the same.”
Community is also of paramount importance to a strong corporate citizen like Beatties.
As a company, they’ve been involved with a number of charitable and service organizations such as the Rotary
Club, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and Family and Children’s Services.
“Our founders all did their part to make social responsibility a priority at Beatties—and that continues to
this day,” Ted explains.
Beatties may have changed dramatically since their early formative days. But their team is still committed to
the same principles of quality products and unbeatable service.
“Change is constant in today’s business world,” he says. “But at Beatties, we have a strong tradition of
consistency. We have relationships with many of our customers going back decades. Many of our people have
been with us for ten, twenty—even thirty years. That means a lot to us.”
For more information call Beatties Basics Ofﬁce Products at
905.688.4040 ext. 4557 or toll free at 1.800.263.4977.
Locations throughout Niagara and Hamilton.
Email: [email protected] | www.beatties.com
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OCTOBER 2010
NIAGARA SUCCESS STORY
OCTOBER 2010
www.BusinessLinkNewspaper.com
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OCTOBER 2010
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