OPERATING A SMALL BUSINESS IN CANADA 

Take the bullshit in all the other topics. Multiply it by ten. You now have the amount of bullshit present trying to operate a small business in Canada.  Its a simple concept. Start a small business in Canada and come back in five years. 80% of the start ups will have failed. And the rest might not be that healthy either. Get a government job in Canada and come back in five years and 100% of the people will still be there earning an even bigger pay cheque all 450,000 of them!. (And that's just the Federal civil service!) The odds suck for small business.

Its difficult to understand how a sane human being would wish to put themselves into the positions small business people are in here. I suspect it takes a few years before they realize the trap they have fallen into. Then in most cases it is too late. And their investments are gone.

First of all you get NO support from the Federal, Provincial or Municipal government and ALL look at you as a potential source of income. None of them care that you turn a profit. They will all lie to you and pretend to help or say they will help but when you line up for the help it is not there. Lets show a few examples.

I asked the federal government of Canada how many of the two million listed businesses in Canada make a profit each year and what that profit was in the ranges of 0-$1000, $1000 to $10000, $10,000 to $100,000 and above. THEY WROTE BACK TO ME AND SAID THAT THEY DIDN'T KNOW!!! Think about it. If they don't even know how much small business is making in profits what on earth are they doing? I would rather not mention the department I asked because they are the ones tasked with managing small business. And they are not being funded nor do they have the staff or resources to do their jobs. 

In the case of the federal government they collect taxes, sales taxes and information from small business. Any profits made no matter how many hours it takes you- are taxable. Lets consider this for a moment. You are running a small pizza stand that isn't doing very well and need to work at it ten hours a day. This is not unusual. You make $100 profit after all expenses or in other words $10 an hour on average. Revenue Canada charges you income taxes on the entire $100 because they don't regard your wage as a business expense!. Some people will say this is entirely fair. I say its bullshit! The small business person takes the risk, works the extra hours, puts in the extra effort, invests their capital and then the government trots in and skims the profits.  Some of you will still disagree. Clearly there is no incentive -in this example the pizza man would be better off working as a minimum wage employee for a big company. Ok -next is sales taxes. 

The Federal govt. will insist that you collect 5% GST. And the Provincial boys and girls will insist that you collect 7 or 8% for them. In other words you are working as their agents and every dollar of your sales are subject to the additional levies which you must account for and remit to them. It doesn't matter if you make a profit or not. So now you get into the situation where the ONLY people actually making money on many small business transactions are the governments. This is bullshit! 

It gets worse. You absolutely MUST have an Accountant do your income tax returns if you operate a small business. There are many reasons why and this adds several hundreds or thousands of dollars a year to your costs. You also need a Bookkeeper to look after all the transaction documentation and again this costs money -several thousand dollars a year. Then you need to store the documents for seven years and this costs hundreds or even thousands of dollars.

It gets worse. You will then be subject to audit by the government and they have the legal right to come into your operation and seize your documents and your hard drive right out of your computer! They are out to generate more revenue and invariably they do even when it isn't justified. Again -more bullshit. And they waste countless hours of your time which for an entrepreneur is the most precious resource they have.

These are not theories. I have operated small businesses in Canada for many years and have gone through all of the above! I have many friends in business who have gone through all of the above. Some have just given up and some have been financially ruined.

Lets get down to the municipal level. I think an ideal size for a small business is a 1000-1500 square foot small warehouse-office setup with 16 foot ceilings a big access door and 200 amp or more wiring for equipment and parking for five or more cars. You can do something with that sized operation. It would be nice to have a bigger space but that would get you started nicely. Here is the problem.

I have spoken with knowledgeable real estate brokers who specialize in commercial real estate and they point out that building such a structure to code and finding land with the correct commercial zoning is so difficult and expensive that the resulting properties are few and far between and over priced. When I operated out of Victoria BC on Vancouver Island I was told that warehouse space there was the highest in North America!  Obviously there is a huge problem here and the bullshit is that nobody is doing anything about it. 

I was discussing the problems of small business with a fellow small business person and friend and he commented that all government should do is be sure that the infrastructure was there and business could look after things from that point on. He is right. All small business needs is an affordable location to operate, a building that is properly equipped with basics like power and access and parking etc.  We can take it from there and operate successful businesses and create wealth and generate jobs and build the country. But we need a starting point.

Instead, we have the folks at the phone and power company charging business double the private rate for phones, all levels of government using business as revenue sources, no support and roadblocks in the way all up and down the line. 

So small business adapts. They cheat. Income is not declared. Expenses are padded. The customer is sold poorer quality items with higher margins (stuff made in China). Homes are constructed and sub trades are not paid. Sales tax is not collected. Government workers have lost all credibility with small business and they are now considered as the enemy. These things are happening all over Canada on a regular basis. . I know lots of small business people who are very very fed up. Many have just dropped out and many are no operating under the radar. 

I have some suggestions for fixing the problem. Here we go!

1. Free business licenses (governments are now using them as net revenue generators) and free incorporations and again now government is generating millions of dollars of net revenue from business name reservations and company branch incorporation and maintenance fees.

2. No income or provincial taxes on the first $50,000 of net income from a small business. 

3. Establishment of industrial zoned land in cities and construction of 1000 and 2000 square foot warehouse office facilities with sufficient parking

4. Research the number of businesses put out of business due to Revenue Canada action and change it! (rev can regularly puts small businesses out of business in order to collect recoveries). This will require that Stats Can actually keep records of this -something they do not do now.

5. Change the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to give protection to small business people as they conduct business. 

7. Govt departments must cost all information requests to business and allow a tax credit for them filling out various forms and surveys. ( I have invested hundreds of hours filling out information requests for govt workers and have gotten paid nothing for it while they receive full pay and benefits). (the USA has the paperwork reduction act -we should look at it!)

Will it ever happen? Absolutely not! I would like to see the day when government taxes business on profits not on pre profit money that then gets removed from working capital and contributes to business failure. Look at our lumber industry. The government charges a stumpage fee when the tree is cut down. At that point in time the tree has not been converted to lumber and not a penny of profit has been made. There are only expenses and one of them is the government with its hands out.   

Canadians often wonder why they don't receive the same value as Americans when we shop. The situation above contains several reasons why. All these additional expenses end up being hidden costs but included in the price you pay. Its really quite the load of bullshit don't you know! 

 

Out of total frustration I asked one of my best staff to write a book on how to operate a profitable business in Canada. She did and we published it. Its excellent reading and will give you the basic information that you need to know especially the information that the Man doesn't want you to know. You can find it here The title is YOUR VERY FIRST BILLION. 420 pages. I think it will be the best book on business in Canada in 2008!

In summary small business in Canada is a meat grinder. Despite all the hard work and effort of an intelligent group of hard working people most of them fail. We think we have some of the answers to fix the situation. But by our very nature Canadians prefer to adapt rather than to fix things. So why would we want to fix it? 

Why indeed!  

There is a way out. Don't have a small business. We decided to go from small business to a Huge freaking business. Works for us! (Read Marcie's book!)

 

The nice thing about being retired -other that the fact you are older, is that nobody bugs you anymore. So you can pretty much do what you want to. I decided to experiment with websites and the internet as it has been an interest of mine for the last 14 years. To date we have approximately 30 websites. All are interesting and some are more interesting than others. All offer good deals on merchandise and services and most offer free information that will save you money and grief and help increase your enjoyment of life. I hope you enjoy them! 

We have a map on our home page of recent visitors. If you look you will find yourself there. The world is a global village thanks to the magic of the internet. Thanks for visiting, keep your spirits up and have fun!    -Ron your  webmaster.

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JewelryShackInc.com -thousands of well priced jewellery items. For once in your life buy before that special occasion so you get the best price and are ready for it. You will be repaid. And you will not be forgiven if you forget. Bracelets, rings, pendants, children's, men's and women's jewellery right to your door no driving around town required no huge gas bills just shiny nice stuff that will make you and your spousal unit very happy And you know what happens when the spousal unit is happy! Happy wife happy life. 

GiftsDesire.com A nice little website where we offer you a great selection of affordable gift items. The smart thing to do is buy your gifts BEFORE the events. Hide them someplace. Its much better than forgetting about the event and then experiencing the wrath and retribution of the person wronged as a result. Everyone likes getting a gift. And when you give something invariably you receive something back so its like a good Karma thing. And every time they look at the trinket they think kindly of you...

BigCanuck.com Web Hosting -the Host with the Most. We started this company up because we were paying a lot of money for hosting our three dozen websites. This is good for you because we wouldn't use this service unless it worked well. We have spaces for approximately 200 more websites and after that I think we will cap it. We use a very well established supplier with a huge 24 hour data center and we can offer full website hosting for an amazing $5 and up per month -no long term contracts either. I think that the smaller and medium sized website owners would be particularly interested in this service. High volume websites would probably be happier with dedicated servers. We don't host scammer sites -the basic rule is be honest or find another host. 

SuperiorWebs.com -high end snooty web design-hold onto your wallets but we have links to quite affordable alternatives too! I hesitate to use the word "cheap" but the fact is our custom build rates are so freaking high that we had to do something to help with the sticker shock. We can now offer automated  template built websites that will get you up and running with minimum fuss and time for a less than $50. You can find those on our subsidiary website elitewebsitelayouts.com When you strike it rich and can afford more we will be lurking in the weeds waiting for you!

BattistonPublishing.com -our Publishing Company- we enlighten and entertain and perhaps occasionally annoy. We published the best book every written on Business in Canada YOUR VERY FIRST BILLION Not that we usually brag but son of a gun this is an excellent book and we published it! Ha! 420 pages.

 

ThanksForExplainingThat.com -read free published articles explaining popular topics. The articles are concise and readable and cover nearly all the subjects you are interested in. The idea is just in time knowledge. It makes sense. Want to learn how GPS works, how to grow hair, how to diet or cook or write or whatever? Its all here. Try it out! Soon you will be so smart nobody will be able to put up with you!  Maybe your Mom... 

YourTimeHere.info Discount name brand watches -why pay more? Why run all over town wasting gas when you can order here and get what you want at the price you want. Its a no brainer (to visit the site!) Your local retailer can afford to stock a couple of dozen watches we have a few thousand. Hello! 

NorthTreasure.com -our unique collectable website with one of a kind items! Cool site and we designed it ourselves. You will find things here that you never thought existed. 

Attorney-guide.info -our excellent guide to lawyers-your best friend when you need one! Your worst enemy when somebody else has one against you. Good information on how to pick one with excellent links! Are you in trouble? Will you be in trouble? Got a spouse you would like to dump? Have an accident and have the insurance company offer you a hundred bucks to settle. You need "your people" working for you.

Velvet Deer Antler We try our best to have a selection of very interesting products for you and here is a good example! Some may ask why on earth would I want to ingest powdered deer antler from New Zealand? Why indeed and you can find out here!

PervertGallery.com  Adults only. This is a very hot porn site with tons of free stuff and even a store where you can buy adult toys. We bought this site out of curiosity and it sure has been interesting and entertaining too. This is not just any porn it's the high quality adult entertainment type. Great deals here and you won't get ripped off. Our affiliates are the best in the business. Check it out!

VerySpecialPerfumes.com A huge source of name brand perfumes that you can order right now. Excellent idea for a gift or special day. The prices are really good too. Every time this gift is used they will think of you. If you buy it for yourself you will think of the wonderful website where you bought it at without loosing your shirt doing it. How happy is that!.

GENERALDUCK.COM our massive army surplus site that changes minute by minute with jeeps, humvees, army gear, military collectables and interesting stuff available now at a fraction of what the govt paid for it! There is some nice stuff here! You can have a lot of fun just looking at it but even more fun playing with it.  And remember military stuff is built to last not like the cheap junk you buy at wal-mart from China. 

ParisThingsToDo.co.uk   Paris is one of the greatest cities on the Planet. Everyone should go there at least once in their lives. Lots of useful information on what to do and where to stay. Start your research today! Art treasures expand your mind and the food is fabulous even from the street vendors. You can enjoy yourself just sitting back and sipping a coffee as the world walks by. A fresh croissant and coffee is hard to beat with fresh jam, butter and a whole day ahead of you to explore and enjoy. 

AlienUFO.Info Some people believe in them some don't. Are we being watched? Now?? Are we the only life forms in the entire Universe? Like that would happen eh? Another one of our fun sites to enlighten and entertain! You need to take a break from the serious stuff every once in a while and here is your chance. 

Cash-Overflow.info Hmmmm this one is a bit of a strange beast that frankly we are still trying to figure out. It chugs away getting thousands of hits every day. Its a mystery. When we figure it out will let you know. If you can figure it out please let us know! It appears that you can make money from it and it looks like fun if that helps. Especially the making money part...

GreatCanadianStamps.com I have enjoyed collecting stamps for many years. So it seemed natural to start a stamp business as the first rule of business is to do something you enjoy. We offer good sized lots of quality Canadian stamps so that you save money on shipping and receive a better value. We also include links to some of the largest suppliers of Canadian stamps and online auctions happening now were you set the price. What a great way of investing some time and energy. Your collection will grow and traditionally stamp values have increased over time. Stamps make great gifts and are wonderful legacies for the next generation. They don't take up much room and you can collect a few or a lot. Stamp collecting is a very enjoyable hobby for young and old alike. 

Addiction-Tips.com  After completing our pages on alcoholism, drug use and obesity  we were very interested in helping out people with addiction problems be it drugs, alcohol, shopping, food, gambling, sex or even internet addiction. So we purchased an entire website with great information and links to provide you with greater detail than we can provide here. Good Luck! You can do it! I did it with food and alcohol and if I can you can too!

YourPhoneNow.info We got so ticked off with cell phones that we bought a cell phone website that offers great prices and deals. Shop around and save some money. Or go to the mall and get ripped off by a merchant who must cover his outrageous mall square footage rental rates. This is an industry where everyone seems to be screwing the customer. Not us. Ha! We provide a website where the suppliers really need to work for your business. Check them out!

JogaDogDay.com! Do you love dogs? So do we so we bought a dog website with free information and tons of stuff for dogs at great prices. Fido will love you for it and possibly not pee on your rug or chew on your new cell phone. Your doggie may save your life some day so its wise to treat the beast well. They are always glad to see you when nobody else is. Now why is that? Don't waste gas running all over town - all the doggie stuff you will ever need is here. Just add a dog -hold the fleas. (we have stuff for that!)

EliteWebSearch.com We decided to give google and yahoo a run for their money. Why not. I didn't get to where I am today by not trying new things. You will be absolutely surprised at how well this search engine works. It's much better than you know who...

ElectronicsPlus.info We are surrounded by electronics so we purchased a huge electronics website that offers you just about everything you want or need at excellent prices. Its silly to pay more that you need to and depend on your local retailer to stock everything you might want. We offer a larger selection of electronics goods than Wal-mart and some people are wondering why. Check us out and save gas driving all over town just to find out they are out! We are in!

ForexAdvice101.info Currencies are bouncing around like a yo yo these days and people are making a fist full of money off them. Here we show you the basics. The banks do it every day. You can do it too with just a couple of hundred dollars. We purchased this website to even the score and help the little guy out. And to save the planet. 

SelfDebtHelp.info  Are you totally screwed with so much debt that there is no way you will ever get out of it. Did the nice banks give you so much credit that now they get all your pay check? Did the credit card companies give you a low intro rate and then boost your rate when you missed a payment? Sound familiar? So we purchased this website to help you become financially happy again. It could happen! It sure won't happen if you do nothing...All problems are really opportunities just waiting for your solution and we give you several.

EarthSolarDesign.com check out our new site on solar power. We intend to help save the planet and found out a way of doing it cheap. Not only will you save money you could very well make money. How cool would that be! We even have plans to build a wind turbine and solar panel for under $200 that could get you off the grid! You need to ask yourself "Why am I waiting?" Reduce your monthly power bill right now!

Your Very First Billion How would you like to make a billion dollars? The facts are that you won't need to work any harder than making a million or a hundred thousand dollars. It's much easier than you might think. We show you the basics of business and what works and what doesn't . All in a reader friendly 420 page book we published in 2008. This is the most unique book ever published on business in Canada and applies just as well to anywhere else. 

CanadaGooseTravel.com  A Canada Goose is a big smart bird.  They are smart enough to fly south for the winter rather than freeze in the snow with the rest of us. They do it without maps or a GPS and they don't get lost.  We thought like a goose when we built this honking good site. The main idea is to save you money and help you have more fun when you travel. How smart is that! Check it out and start packing!