
Browsing Articles
You are browsing the articles archive for Money Matters.

How To Cut Business Costs
If you run a business you are always faced with the issue of reducing operating costs. Just a few, regular savings can keep a business afloat.

How To Get Out of Personal Debt
Small businesses are generally in debt from day one. Small business owners have their share of personal debt. Managing your business is hard enough but having business and personal debt can work against everything you’re trying to build. They shouldn’t coexist.

How to Price Your Products and Services
Pricing should be based on the value of your product or service in the marketplace. You have to make a judgement and you have to research the market you’re in. Pricing strictly based on your costs may not be the best approach. You costs are never considered by your clients or customers. A customer is always looking for the best price, and customers shop around. They Google everything before making a purchase. You price should be a reflection of what the market is currently asking for your products or services. A realistic assessment of the market is critical to pricing appropriately.

Save more in your Tax Free Savings Account
The Canadian government has a little present for you to ring in the new year – some extra room for contributions to your Tax Free Savings Account! See what changes come into effect for TFSAs in 2013 and how you can make the most of your account.

High Prices are Often Better than Low Prices
Cheaper isn’t always better when it comes to consumer perceptions of products. We are conditioned to associating higher prices with premium items. We will pay more for a designer label. We will pay more for a Lexus. We know going in that the price is high, but we form a mental justification for the additional cost based on several factors.

Keep Your Books, Keep Your Money – BizTV Video Feature
With all that a small business owner has to deal with from day to day, the maintenance of immaculate records may not be high on the priority list. Updating your books, though, is an essential practice. In this video feature from BizTV, you’ll see out how monthly, and even quarterly updates to your books can help you save money and stay ahead of the taxman.

15 Tax-saving strategies
Before 2012 runs out, put these strategies to work and see the saving on your next tax return. From interest deductions to inventory tallies to charitable donations, we’ve complied a range of tips that you can use now to help you save cash down the road. Get them done before December 31 and you’ll have another reason to raise a glass of bubbly at midnight.

How to Build Profitability
Profitability depends on many factors – converting leads, adding additional sales to single sales events, offering products and services that matter to people, and controlling overhead all influence your margin. Margin is your gross profit per sale.

The 10 Most Common Pricing Mistakes
Setting the prices of your company’s products or services just right can keep the sales flowing. Too many small business owners, however, make pricing mistakes that can lead to lower revenues or disinterested customers. Avoid these ten common pricing mistakes to find the right mix between customer satisfaction and company profitability.

How to Raise Prices
Raising prices is a tough decision to make for any business. The fear of having higher prices than the competition is a real one. Fear of alienating good customers or clients is another. Nevertheless, there comes a time when reality bites, and prices have to go up to cover higher costs. It’s that simple. If expenses are hurting margins, prices have to cover you.

The Best Times to Look For Financing
Looking for additional financing is something to do only at the right time. If you are running a small business there may be other ways of generating income. A resourceful entrepreneur can often find new ways of bringing revenue into the business.

Find a Smaller Bank to Start a Small Business
Small businesses need to rely on banks to some degree to not only start-up but to continue to operate. Often large, big city branches are deaf to the needs of the smaller entrepreneur, and other banking solutions are required.

What Men and Women Investors Can Learn From Each Other
It has been said that a woman’s insecurities about investing often lead to smarter investments than the ones made by men. Women, it says, are less likely to make foolish mistakes. Most men say they don’t need help planning for retirement. Most women say they do.

Investment Properties
Some individuals have a specific property type in mind. It could be a small residential property, duplex, triplex etc., or a large multi-residential building. Alternately, it could be a mixed use commercial/residential situation, or possibly a plaza, industrial building or industrial multiple. Others may not have any focus, and just a sense that a real estate investment property may be a better long term in investment that financial based products.

Approaching Lenders
A prevailing belief is that there is virtually no money available for small business start-ups. Money is available but how you get that money depends on a set of strategies you have to employ.

Buying a Business
Buying a business may seem easier than starting one from the ground up, but there are things to be aware of if buying an existing business is on your agenda.

Should You Buy the Assets or a Business?
There are many important economic, legal and tax consequences which flow from how a business acquisition is structured. When purchasing a small to medium sized business, there two general ways to structure the acquisition. The first is a share purchase and the other is an asset purchase. Here are some of the more important differences between them.