Guest Blog: How Can Being a "Jill of All Trades” Relate to Financing?

Do you know that women account for 40% of all tool sales? Well, a good number of us get tired of waiting for someone else to do the work for us, according to Ann-Marie Campbell, a Home Depot Executive. "As women become more empowered," she said, "they come into Home Depot and say, Hey, I can do this. I don't need my husband or partner to do it for me…"

While moderating the lunchtime panel at the AWE Learning Day on February 22nd, I brought my home toolkit onto the stage to impress upon the 150+ business owners in attendance that just like the toolkit a contractor brings to your home to do their job, a financial toolkit is similarly required when it’s time to scale up your business.

Just like the multi-head screwdriver, measuring tape, hammer, nails and cordless electric drill that you keep in your basement or garage, what are the most-often requested components of a financial toolkit?

The application is the starting point and creates an overview of your business. At this stage funders want to know what product or service you provide, who owns the business, who you bank with, current financing in place, the amount you are requesting to finance and why.

Next, depending on whether you are seeking funds from a traditional source such as the bank, or from alternatives including angel investors, venture capital groups, grant providers or asset based lending/factoring organizations; the required document list will vary. Financial Statements are key and provide a picture of past performance; some financiers will request a business plan, cash flow projections and maybe your bank statements for the last 4 months.

Your accounts receivable aging, list of customers, inventory and equipment summary, as well as GST and payroll deductions status are possible ‘asks’. Market size, competitors, exit strategy, management team resumes, website address, social media accounts and a personal financial statement round out the list of possible requirements.

Phew! Are you exhausted just reading the list?!

Applying for financing may seem daunting and never-ending but in most cases it’s not. If your documents are up to date and you supply everything requested at the time you complete the application, most financiers will provide you with an answer quickly – e.g. equipment lease financing may take as little as 24 hours, factoring line 3-5 days, simple bank loan 5-10 days …

Financing involving grants, more complex debt and equity partners will take longer – be sure to ask how long the process is expected to take so that you don’t panic. Also, begin the process sooner rather than later and lastly, ask for help!

You know, I was thrilled with the number of women who raised their hands to let me know that ‘YES’ they own power tools! Ladies, it’s not that big of a stretch from power tools to financials – follow the instructions and you’ll be well on your way!

About the Author

Judy Perdomo
President, Liquid Capital Rockyview Inc.

New Support for Alberta’s Women Entrepreneurs

The Alberta government is helping Alberta’s women entrepreneurs expand and grow their businesses through the Community and Regional Economic Support (CARES) program.

Alberta Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) will receive $101,863 in funding through the CARES program for PeerSpark – a program that brings together like-minded women entrepreneurs to explore opportunities for accelerated business growth in a peer group setting. With programs starting in April and November of this year, PeerSpark will encourage leadership and business skill development while introducing participants to key resources, networks, grant programs and trade experts.

AWE’s PeerSpark program has shown tremendous potential for business and community success with graduates reporting average year-over-year revenue growth of approximately 20 per cent and an average of one to two new jobs created, with some businesses doubling in size within two years.

Read the full press release here.

Learning Day Re-Cap

It's hard to believe Learning Day has already come and gone for another year. We had an amazing time hosting some new and familiar faces for a day of networking, education and fun. Being an entrepreneur can sometimes be lonely, but it doesn't have to be.

At AWE one of our mandates is to bring women together. Whether it is through events such as this, workshops throughout the year or business advising. We believe our communities and economies are stronger when women are full participants in entrepreneurship!

We would like to extend a special thank-you to our presenting sponsor, ATB Business. This event would have not been possible without you! We would also like to thank all of our partners, speakers, and experts for carving time out of their busy lives to share their knowledge with our event attendees. Last, but certainly not least we want to thank the entrepreneurs or aspiring entrepreneurs for taking time away from their business and spending it with us! 

While there were many highlights of the day, here are some takeaways that we want to share!

1. Know Your Customer Base! Wean Green CEO, Melissa Gunning did an amazing job explaining why customer relationship management tools (CRMs) are vital to relationship building with not only current, but prospective clients! Melissa emphasized the importance of finding the right buyers and utilizing LinkedIn to play a roll in your sales cycle.

2. Your Financial Toolkit Should Be Stocked With Resources! Judy Perdomo of Liquid Capital Corporation lead an amazing panel during the lunch hour that discussed the variety of resources available to entrepreneurs. Whether it is venture capital or a traditional bank loan, know your options to help grow your business to the next level. Cash flow is key!

3. Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail. Linda Hoang from Calder Bateman facilitated an amazing session on the basics of social media for business. Linda emphasized the importance of creating regular content calendars that tie into key business initiatives. Staying organized and on-top of your social media will breed success.

These are just some of the amazing takeaways from Learning Day. Did you attend the event? What was your favourite part? Let us know in the comment section below!

Stay tuned for upcoming AWE events and workshops by subscribing to our newsletter. You can do so by clicking here.

Community Roundup: Entrepreneurs We Love!

It's Valentines Day! What better way to celebrate than by featuring some exciting pieces from entrepreneurs we love. Many members of the AWE community share useful and interesting things online, and we like to draw your attention to these posts from time to time on the blog. Enjoy!

• Former PeerSpark™ participant and Co-Founder/CEO of Job Jar Naomi Pereira was announced as a finalist for the 2017 Immigrants of Distinction Awards in the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Category. 
• Owner of Flawless Interiors and PeerSpark™ participant Tracy Fortin launched a video blog. Check out her latest segment on bold back splashes! 
• Judy Perdomo, Principal at Liquid Capital shared helpful ways to save time and outsource administration for your business. A must read for any entrepreneur! 
• Stacy Nehring, PeerSpark™ participant and Operations Manager at UTV Canada hosted UTV Canada's first-ever Facebook live event. The company is sponsoring a variety of races this year. Check out their Facebook page for full-details and awesome videos! 

Watch this space for more news from friends of AWE in the coming months.

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Business Growth in Supply Chain

Supply Chains are important within every business and every person’s life.  A supply chain is the network of all the individuals, organizations, resources, activities and technologies involved in the creation and sale of a product, from the delivery of source materials from the supplier to the manufacturer, through to its eventual delivery to the end user.

Everything we do, everywhere we go, every business and person uses a supply chain at some point in their daily activity.  Eating, drinking, living, moving, commuting, these are all daily activities supported by supply chains.  When you consider business growth, volume, velocity, and distance are the three most important supply chain factors.

Volume is a primary driver of the type of supply chain you use.  When we first start out, our volume of service or product is usually low, and as we grow it begins to build.  A low volume supply chain has a higher cost than a high volume supply chain on a per unit basis.  As your volume increases, your supply chain should also shift.  The supply chain becomes less expensive per unit because your costs are spread out across more units.

The second key factor is velocity.  Are you in a hurry?  If yes, it will cost more (FedEx overnight is a lot more expensive than FedEx 2-day service).  The question to ask is – how long can someone wait for what they need?  If the answer is “a while” then pick the slowest delivery method – it will always be lower cost than faster.

Finally, the farther you go to deliver, the more it will cost.  If you are buying and selling product in your own city delivery costs are low.  If you are buying or selling product overseas, your costs will be higher. So if you are a small business that is just starting out, try to deliver and sell locally first and then to other cities, provinces, and countries after you have built up more volume.

As your business grows, the type of supply chain that you use and how much it costs shifts.   The important thing to know is that as your business grows the type of delivery system and supply chain that you need will change.  If you go from shipping a few cases to thousands of cases, but you are using the expensive courier model, then you will have a declining rate of return and your profitability could be negatively affected.  Understanding how your services and products are delivered and how much it costs is an important part of containing operating expenses to ensure maximum possible profit.

About the Author

Corrie Banks is a supply chain costing and solution design expert with 20 years of experience implementing technology and supply chain efficiency projects. Corrie has worked for Canadian Pacific Railway, Canadian Pacific Logistics Solutions and Parmalat Canada with a progressive career starting as administrative assistant progressing to Senior Management to President of Triskele Logistics.

Corrie has managed $25M transportation budget including fleet, warehouse, and 3 rd party freight carriers. While at Canadian Pacific Corrie created statistical analysis systems for Mechanical Services, managed IT projects for Customer Service, and managed many aspects of Canadian Pacific Logistics Solutions including 3rd party logistics for a large CPG company, a large alcohol producer and steel pipe manufacturer. Her technical, analytical and operations management experience has resulted in ~7% - 10% annual cost reductions year over year for the organizations that she has worked with.

Corrie has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Athabasca, a white belt in Lean Manufacturing and a green belt in Six Sigma. Corrie is the Chair of the Calgary Logistics Council, a member of the Van Horne Institute Women In Supply Chain steering committee, a past project advisor the Van Horne Youth In Supply Chain project, a working group member for the Canadian Supply Chain Sector Council - Supply Chain Links Part II: Connector project, and the Chair of the Supply Chain Management program advisory committee for SAIT. She is passionate about people, getting involved in helping others and supporting them in their career development.

Hear Corrie and many other great speakers at this year's Learning Day! Get your tickets today!

 

Building A Resilient Business

Now more than ever resilience is the key to surviving challenging and changing times in business.

Why?

Resilient businesses (and business owners) are better able to manage change, deal with crisis, collaborate and manage the challenges that get in the way of success.  Resilience is like a bank account, you have to keep depositing into the account for wealth to accumulate.  If you take withdrawals without making deposits, the account will run dry. The same is true for resilience.

Charmaine Hammond, expert in leadership, and business success will be sharing strategies for resilience in business at the upcoming AWE conference. 

When businesses are not resilient there are a number of difficulties that can (and likely will) occur, many that can be catastrophic for business success.  Businesses lacking resilience are likely to:

·       Experience high degrees of wasted time and energy, duplicated efforts and inefficiencies.

·       Jeopardize relationships and communication with clients, and customers.

·       Make costly mistakes.

·       Experience more conflict, turnover and personnel issues, and,

·       Make reactive or emotionally based decisions instead of well-planned decisions.

There’s good news!

These results are avoidable and resilience is teachable.

As a leader, these 3 consistent actions can boost the resilience in your life and business.

1.     Take at least 30 minutes each day to refill your resilience bank account. That could be simple activities like a walk outside, a hobby, reading a good (not work related) book.  This “ME” time goes a long way in re-energizing you.

2.     Bookend your day. Frame your day in the morning. Decide how you want to show up. Set one goal you must achieve.  End your day in a meaningful way (not checking email or doing work minutes before bed). 

3.     Watch your language. Are you saying things like “I am too busy”, “I can’t keep up”, “I’m exhausted.” The words we say and think frame how we show up and ultimately the results we experience. Instead consider statements like “I have energy to get my most important priorities done”, “I can ask for help when the list gets too big” and “the pace I am choosing allows me maximum efficiency.”

At the Conference Charmaine will share what it takes to supercharge your results and business success without stress. 

Learning Day is less than a month away. Have you got your tickets yet?

Holiday Greetings from Marcela Mandeville

What a year! 2016 was certainly filled with change, challenge, and opportunity. As winter solstice arrives and we prepare to bring 2016 to a close, it seems like the perfect time to look back on our year and to look forward to the longer days and adventure that awaits in 2017. 

As you will see, we already have great things planned to kick off the new year.

Of course, I could not look back on 2016 without mentioning taking on the CEO role, which has been a great opportunity to lead a dedicated team who model purpose every day in our efforts to help women entrepreneurs build successful businesses. 

Trying to determine highlights for the year has been quite a challenge - there were so many moments, stories and experiences. When I pulled together these pieces, what emerged was a picture of why we proudly saw Alberta lead Canada in exceeding parity in participation rates of women as early stage business owners and why we are so committed to helping women in our province reach their entrepreneurial dreams.

As we move into 2017, we aim to connect more entrepreneurs into our ever-growing, amazing community of women business owners who contribute so much to Alberta by taking risks, building strong local businesses, innovating new products and processes, role modeling business savviness, supporting other entrepreneurs, moving into new markets, and overall making the world a better place.

We are so thankful to our clients, funders, sponsors, partners, families (pets included, of course), and friends for your valuable support. From our AWE family to yours, we wish you a happy and safe holiday season. 

We are excited to continue our journey with you in 2017!

Community Roundup

Many members of the AWE community share useful and interesting things online, and we like to draw your attention to these posts from time to time on the blog. Enjoy!

• Boreal Services Group, founded by Deidra Helmig shares the five products that saved their business. From Quickbooks to Basecamp, we're sure many entrepreneurs can agree that these tools are more than helpful to any small business.
• Knowing yourself is an important part of being an entrepreneur. In her latest blog post, Ashley Janssen (Principal at Agile Style) shares tips on how to manage your time, your relationship and your work.
• Michelle Hordal, Founder and Executive Director of Adaptabilities recently hosted their third annual Respite N' Rejuvenate event. This organization is doing amazing things for so many families in our city. 
• Making Calgary and area homes beautiful is what Shannon Lenstra, President of Kon-strux Developments specializes in. Shannon and her army of interior designers made the 30 Best Interior Designer Companies in Calgary list with Point 2 Homes. 
• Michelle Cotton, President of Solstice Canada has the perfect place for business owners to rent a small office or desk (and we hear it's close to Duchess Bakery..)

Do you have exciting things happening in your business that you would like us to feature? Be sure to share them with us on social media or send us a note to external.relations@awebusiness.com.