Benj Gallander - The Canadian Small Business Survival Guide: How to Start and Operate Your Own Successful Business

If anyone is running a small business, or in fact wants to find out about running a business in a theoretical sense, its a must buy full of tremendous information.

Michel Trottier

CBC Radio

a wealth of information about a variety of topics well written and easy to understand.

Canadian Banker

like attending a condensed summer course on small business looks at advanced subject matter such as taxation, marketing, inventory control, financing, balance sheet analysis and case studies

Financial Post

Another strength is the books Canadian content; information on government programs, tax law, and financing zeros in on precisely what the Canadian entrepreneur needs to know.

Canadian Small Business Magazine
(Profit)

How to Start and Operate Your Own
Successful Business

REVISED AND EXPANDED EDITION

Benj Gallander, MBA

Copyright Benjamin Gallander, 1988 and 2002

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise (except for brief passages for purposes of review) without the prior permission of Dundurn Press. Permission to photocopy should be requested from the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency..

Publisher: Anthony Hawke

Designer: Jennifer Scott

Printer: AGMV Marquis

National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication Data

Gallander, Benjamin, 1957

The Canadian small business survival guide: how to start and operate your own successful business

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 1-55002-377-2

1. New business enterprises Canada. 2. Small business Canada. 3. Self-employment Canada. I. Title.

HD62.7.G35 2002 658.1141 C2002-901075-6

1 2 3 4 5 06 05 04 03 02

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council for our publishing program. We also acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program and The Association for the Export of Canadian Books, and the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Book Publishers Tax Credit program.

Care has been taken to trace the ownership of copyright material used in this book. The author and the publisher welcome any information enabling them to rectify any references or credit in subsequent editions.

J. Kirk Howard, President

Printed and bound in Canada.

Printed on recycled paper.

www.dundurn.com

A number of people have been wonderful in helping me put this book together, and to them I express my deep appreciation for their aid and their friendship. Some of these people include:

Carol Pauker, who has spent many hours turning my English into a real, comprehensive language. Carols knack of criticizing constructively and initiating improvements is an art;

David Ossea, who also has spent numerous hours editing this work. I would be remiss if I did not mention that David turns a great pivot on the double play;

Ben Stadelmann, who contributed the case Barbs Blues and is my business partner at Contra the Heard Investment Letter;

Max Abramowitz, who contributed the chapter on Computers for Small Business and the Internet for Small Business and is my guide when in New York;

Ellen Pauker, Mike Speyer, Ellissa Gallander, Tony Hawke, Nancy Turk, Todd Vercoe, and Candy Pauker, who have lent their skills in various aspects of this guide.

Thanks.

The intended audience for this guide is any individual who is interested in starting, or has recently started, a business in Canada. It is designed to satisfy the needs of people whose business knowledge is limited, and also those people who are prepared to move on to more sophisticated operational techniques.

Approximately 50 percent of businesses fail within two years of start-up. Within five years, over 80 percent of the ventures no longer exist. One of the reasons for this dismal performance, I feel, has been the lack of a good book on how to start and operate a business in Canada. I became acutely aware of this void in the book market when I began teaching at the college level. Though I used the best text I could, find, neither my students nor I were satisfied with it.

For this reason, I decided to write the definitive Canadian book on starting and operating a successful small business, and I believe I have succeeded. To do this, I relied on my experiences in personal business, consulting, teaching, and writing. By blending these areas, I have written an easy-to-read, easy-to-understand, small business guide.

The guide consists of text, exhibits, checklists, and cases covering all facets of starting a business. It is designed so that the reader has the option, not only to read the book, but to participate. Through various exercises, many real life business situations are experienced; options are pondered before the problems are solved.

This book also includes a numerical section. I have structured this part to be accessible even to those with limited mathematical experience. It is vital to have a good grasp of the numbers behind business. Some books neglect this numerical section, but that is akin to teaching someone to build a house without a strong foundation. The structure may stand for a short time, but collapse is inevitable.

This guide is designed to help the reader decide first, if a business venture is worthwhile; and, second, to provide the materials to help it thrive. If properly used, I believe the book will be an invaluable tool for the entrepreneur.

The purpose of the second edition is to update and revise the first edition. As the world of business is ever changing, it is important that a book of this sort evolves with the times. Since the first printing of The Canadian Small Business Survival Guide three years ago, I have kept closely abreast of any changes that should be incorporated into this second edition. At the same time, an eye has been kept towards the future so that this edition will remain current.