How to Start a Business in Canada
Getting your business off the ground requires quite a few steps, but Smarter Loans is a resource for Canadians seeking any kind of loan or financing when starting up their new business.
Customers Crave Connection: How to Make Your Business More Personal
In the effort to make businesses more efficient and accessible, many lose the personal touch and human element that customers crave. But having an online presence does not mean you have to lose touch with your customers. In a world of numbers and efficiencies, there is a lot of talk in the small business world...
A Key to Entrepreneurial Success: Finding Your Third Place
How important could a barbershop be? John Merrick rose from slavery to found the North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company, one of the largest black-owned businesses in the United States. In the process, he helped to create a culture in early twentieth-century Durham so entrepreneurial that it became known as the “Black Wall Street.” Eight hundred...
Ruby Virtual Support: Making Connections That Grow Businesses
With social media and dynamic, interactive websites making connecting to people easier than ever, we pick up the phone less and less. However, a phone is still impactful. When you talk to people there is less miscommunication and misinformation, because hearing someone’s voice and tone say almost as much as their words. The same goes...
10 Ways to Increase Customer Loyalty
Gaining customers is the first step, and a big one at that! But the next step — keeping those customers coming back — is ongoing work. Your customer base can act as your cheering squad as long as you keep them feeling good about your brand. Sure, they might need your products, but there’s...
Hiring Your First Assistant
Let me let you in on a little secret—you don’t have to do it all. Business owners are often burdened with the (unrealistic) expectation of accomplishing everything. Your job is to run the business. You will inevitably come to a point in the growth of your business where you’ll need to hand off any...
The Business Phone Call is [Still] Important
Connecting to customers now happens primarily on social media and online, through email and chats. Many times a customer issue can be solved in one of these formats, but sometimes, a good old fashioned phone call is needed. Do your employees know how to talk to customers on the phone? It wouldn’t be shocking...
Then and Now: Lisa Price on What’s Changed Throughout Her 20+ Years in Business
To celebrate National Women’s Small Business Month, Mastercard continued its commitment to spotlighting women entrepreneurs by bringing together their Women’s Business Advisory Council for a retreat and kicking off the first ever Small Business Summit in partnership with Create & Cultivate in New York City. “Small Businesses are the heart of the nation. During a...
The Secret to a Successful Customer Experience: Empathy
Have you ever had an over-the-phone customer experience that just wowed you? You know, the kind where you’re smiling by the end of the call, you feel like the person on the other end of the line actually heard you, and the person taking the call was friendly, supportive, and understanding regardless of what...
Hiring Pain Points Small Businesses Encounter and How to Resolve Them
Picture this: your business is expanding and it’s time to hire your first round of employees. Congrats, that’s quite a milestone! All you need to do now is fill out the right business forms, draft role descriptions, create a job application, find great candidates, review resumes, have them fill out all the necessary paperwork,...