Explore Small Business Finance Topics
Discover our most popular topics for Canadian solopreneurs and small business owners. From income tax and GST/HST to QuickBooks tutorials and managing your business finances, these guides are designed to help you move from financial uncertainty to financial confidence.
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📑Canadian Income Tax
Guidance on filing and planning your Canadian taxes, from T1 and T2 returns to instalments
📊Managing Business Finances
From cash flow to pricing and metrics — learn to manage your business finances with confidence.
🏢 Canadian Business Structure
Should you incorporate? Stay informed on sole proprietorships, corporations, and registrations.
💰 GST/HST & QST
Understand how to register, file, and maximize input tax credits while avoiding common mistakes.
🧾 Guides and Tutorials
Practical accounting processes like reconciliations, journal entries, and reporting.
📝 Deductions & Expenses
Learn which expenses are deductible and how to track them for maximum tax savings.
Quebec Taxes & Business
QST, Revenu Québec filings, Quebec payroll, and provincial rules every entrepreneur should know.
👤 Paying Yourself
Salary vs dividends, management fees, and how to pay yourself from your corporation or small business.
💻 QuickBooks Online & Tools
Tutorials, guides and time-saving tips for using QuickBooks Online effectively.
🏦 Money & Personal Finance
Personal finance strategies for entrepreneurs, from RRSPs to saving for taxes.
8 Inexpensive Ways to Market Your Services
One of the most daunting aspects of starting a new small service based business is building a client base (and nothing is quite so exciting as getting those first few clients). When trying to generate new business, it is important to cast a wide net as you never know where potential clients may be lurking. Once you have established your business, you will discover the methods that work best for you and you can finesse your marketing strategy. You can also choose to be more selective as you determine which type of client is the best fit for your business.
There are many ways to build a client base, even with limited resources, some of which are discussed below:
24 Cost Effective Ways to Promote Your Small Business
After thinking long and hard you have decided that is time to launch your own business. You have a great product or service, you’ve come up with a compelling business name, all the paperwork has been filed and you have picked out the perfect location (or setup a snazzy new home office). All pieces are in place for your new independent life as a business owner. And then you realize that nobody except your spouse, family members and possibly your cat knows about your new venture. So, how do you bring your fabulous new product or service to your target market's attention? One way is to use the “build it and they will come” approach. This is usually not particularly effective (even Google, who historically launches products with little fanfare, could benefit from a little more marketing). The other, more effective approach is to get out there and promote your business. Of course in the initial stages, marketing budgets tend to be minuscule. On the other hand, many new business owners have time on their hands, while they wait to be deluged by orders. Below is a list of 24 cost effective ways to promote your small business:
The William Shatner Guide to Business Diversification
I recently spent “an evening with William Shatner” in Montreal , courtesy of a Groupon deal which offered tickets at less than half of the face price. Not being a trekkie or a rabid fan, I was not intimately familiar with his body of work. I had however seen enough of him to know that he was a funny and charismatic man, so I was interested to see what an “evening” with him would entail.
The show, which was 3 hours long (far exceeding my expectations) had the 80 year old Shatner recounting carefully selected stories about his past, while an interviewer occasionally prodded and guided him. Mr. Shatner did not disappoint – he was self-deprecating, eloquent and entertaining. And, while the stories were meant to reflect positively on his life, his career and choices were also indicative of an extremely ambitious individual who had spent a lifetime seizing opportunities. The results of his attitude of saying “Yes”, which he is trying to inspire in others through his show and latest book "Shatner Rules", have contributed to a fascinating, multi-faceted career and, perhaps unexpectedly, have led to a very diverse set of properties and holdings, some of which include: