Tag: profit

How to Buy a Business in Canada

Posted by WFG – July 6, 2011

Buying a business is never an easy task. There are a hundred different things to think about and it’s only just the start of your new venture. So where is the best place to start? If you want to know how to buy a business in Canada follow these steps.

  • Finding a business. You’ll need to look through various locations to find the perfect business. But with a little research in newspapers and the internet it shouldn’t take too long. There are several websites on a simple Google search. But also try trade publications and even ask your contacts.
  • Evaluate the business. When you find what you’re after you’ll need to take a closer look to see if it fits your requirements. Is their building operational, does the business have a good reputation? These are both good things to think about, but more importantly, is the company making money? If they are in a bad financial state it may be more hassle than it’s worth.
  • If you find something that fits, now is the time to determine a price. You’ll need to know what you can afford before you start. Despite this, you should also be flexible with your negotiations. Valuate the company assets and take into consideration the standard of the company.
  • Financing. The next step is getting money to help you run the business. You already know how to buy a business in Canada, now you need to know how to run a business. What type of financing will you need?

Remember to buy a business in an industry you know well, it will help you out with ideas and contacts. Don’t use all your cash with the venture and purchase a company based on a return. For more information on buying a business in Canada contact the Winflow Financial Group.

Boosting Small Business Sales

Posted by Winflow – June 22, 2011

The aim of every small business owner is to make a profit off of his business venture. To do this, you may need to think about boosting your sales. This can be difficult especially during an economic downturn. To boost your company’s sales, consider the following:

  • When marketing your product/service be specific about its features. Don’t just say your product is efficient, explain how it is efficient and why buying it would save a person time.
  • Be genuine with your customers. They can’t tell when you aren’t.
  • Base sales tactics on target markets. Become familiar with your target market and customize your sales technique to suit each market. Customers will appreciate that you have taken the time to understand their needs.
  • Use emotion to sell products. Most customers buy on impulse so market your products based on how your customers feel. Get them excited about your product and your sales will increase.
  • Develop promotions for products. Don’t go overboard though, you should only have promos on one product at a time. You don’t want to overwhelm your customers with product choice or feature fatigue.

If you need help determining a sales strategy, contact the Winflow Financial Group. They can provide strategy consulting for start-up businesses.

Writing a Sales Letter for your Small Business

Posted by Winflow – June 14, 2011

Whether you are using direct mail or e-mail, writing an effective sales letter can make your business a substantial profit. Some tips for writing a good sale letter include:

  • Focus on who you are writing to. Don’t talk about how making the product has affected you, talk about how the product will affect the customers. Don’t use technical jargon that customers won’t understand either.
  • Don’t beat around the bush. By the second paragraph of your sales letter you should be talking about who you are, why your product is awesome and why customers should invest.
  • Write an appealing headline. If your headline doesn’t spark an interest in your customers, why would they continue to read? Make sure your headline outlines the benefits to the customers.
  • Develop an appealing design for your sales letter. Incorporate graphics and endorsements from other businesses or customers. If you send your sales letters online you can also include media and links to pertinent information or your business website.
  • Don’t worry too much about length. A sales letter should be as long as it needs to be to get your points across and convince consumers to become customers.
  • Tell the reader what you want. Include a phone number to your business and the best times to call for information or product sales.

For an example of a sales letter, follow this link.

For your small business needs, contact the Winflow Financial Group at 1.800.956.6897.

Ensuring your Business is Profitable

Posted by Winflow – June 10, 2011

The purpose of opening any small business is to make a profit. Your profit is what is left over after you subtract your total expenses from your total revenue. Some tips for analyzing your profits include:

  • To determine your revenue, follow this formula:
    How to Calculate Revenue infographic: Miranda Newman, formula provide by: Canada Business
  • Make a comprehensive list of your expenses.
  • Profit is more than just what the boss takes home.
  • Profit can be used for funding business growth, covering economic downturns and debt repayment.
  • To determine the financial ratio/liquidity of your business, follow this formula:

    Formula for Current Financial Ratio, infographic: by Miranda Newman, formula provided by: Canada Business

    The higher the ratio is, the higher the credibility of your business.

  • Compare your profits with other firms in the industry, personal profit goals and past profits to determine if changes need to be made within your company.
  • Keep detailed financial records to foster a direction for your business to take.
  • If you have a buying and inventory system be sure to analyze the costs associated with it to determine if there are any ways to optimize the system.

For more information on how to analyze your profits, read this Canada Business article.

If you need help making your business profitable, contact the Winflow Financial Group. We can be reached at 1.800.956.6897 or at info@winflowfinancial.com.

Investment Return: Choosing Good Investments

Posted by Winflow – June 9, 2011

Choosing investments that will make you a profit isn’t always easy. There are a lot of factors to take into consideration like market trends and the economic climate. Talking about investment, there are usually two major categories that comes into mind, namely financial investments and capital investments.

 

Where are the good financial investments

Since you are reading this article, you probably are not willing to dedicate all your time into financial investment. Most advices and strategies in stock markets will only work if you are an active trader. As an average investor who are just looking for consistent growth and safety, trading stocks is hardly the best choice. Nonetheless, if you do plan to trade stocks by yourself, check out the daily updated market discussions for tips and opinions.

Alternatively, fixed income securities such as bonds provides more safety, but the return is far less than sufficient to make it a good investment. With a US 10-year bond yield below 2% today, there are really nothing one can get out of it.

Other than that, investments in real estate and commodities such as gold can all be seen as part of financial investment, and these are largely affected by the fluctuations in the financial markets.

 

What are the good capital investments

Capital investment refers to Even the financial market is underperformed, some companies could be still very profitable in today’s environment. Therefore, if made the right choice, investment in these companies will provide better returns with lower risks.

However, it is in general more difficult investing in a smaller non-listed company. And there is a lot more to consider before making the move. We have previously pointed out some guidelines that an investor who wants to put money into small businesses should consider. If you are able to find the growth company to invest, that will make it a good investment.

 

 

Some basic tips to remember when investing include:

  • Good investments make you more money than you came in with.
  • A good investment shouldn’t take up more time than you’re willing to put into it.
  • Do your research. When choosing to invest make sure you have all relevant information.
  • Start small. As long as you have made a profit, even a small one, your investment was a wise one.
  • Talk to brokers and investor friends. Find out their tips and tricks for investing.

Calculating your Return on Investment (ROI)

Though there is no one right calculation, many investors use a simple formula to calculate their investment return before proceeding to invest. The formula is as follows:

ROI formula

  •  ”Gain from Investment” means the money you would make selling the investment.
  • If the calculation results in a negative ROI or there are other investments with greater ROIs than you should not undertake the investment in question.

For more information on investment return, read this article.

If you need consulting advice, call the Winflow Financial Group at 1.800.956.6897 or email us at info@winflowfinancial.com.

Starting a Wholesale Business

Posted by Winflow – June 9, 2011

Running a wholesale business can make you a substantial amount of profit compared to running a retail store. This is because you are not making sales a dollar at a time, instead you are supplying inventory to retailers who typically need orders that costs thousands. If you’re considering opening a wholesale business, keep the following in mind:

  • You don’t need a lot of capital to start a wholesale business.
  • You can stock inventory or drop ship it directly to the customers. Drop shipping is when you send the inventory from the vendor to the customer. You avoid paying overhead fees for storing merchandise.
  • Understanding consumer trends is an important aspect of running a wholesale business.

Once you have decided to open a wholesale business, there are a few things you need to get in order. Be sure to set up the following before opening your business:

  • Find manufacturers. Vendors can largely be found online.
  • Find retailers through ads and direct contact. Participate in social media and consider contacting E-Bay or other online stores.
  • Figure out payment terms. Take a look at the competition’s payment terms and see if you can provide stock for less.

If you need help launching your wholesale business contact the Winflow Financial Group today. We can assist you in financing, investment

Growing your Small Business

Posted by Winflow – June 8, 2011

After you have started turning a profit and your start-up problems are behind you, its time to start thinking about growth. The growth of the company is an important aspect of reaching business goals, expanding markets and increasing sales. Some ways to grow your small business include:

  • Implement new business processes. Find ways to take advantage of your leftover resources, find new suppliers or optimize your distribution to grow your business. It is also important to improve productivity and the efficiency of your administration team.
  • Expand into foreign markets. Start by researching out potential customers and exporting costs. Find countries that have markets that need your products. A great resource for market research is the Country Insights page provided by the government of Canada. It tells you about the history, economy, culture and politics of any given country.
  • You may want to consider buying another business or forming a partnership with someone who can bring new resources to the business. To learn more about buying the right business for you, read “Buying a Business: Choosing the Right Business Type.“ 

For more ideas on how to grow your business visit this Canada Business page.

Choosing the Right Business Idea

Posted by Winflow – June 8, 2011

If you’re an eager but novice entrepreneur, chances are you have some really great ideas. Choosing just one or choosing one that will be likely to turn a profit can be the difficult part. Some ideas may seem sensible but you may never see any money from the business whereas others seem off-the-wall but you could end up making some serious cash. Here are some questions to ask yourself if you’re considering putting a business idea into motion:

  • Don’t be dependent. If your business idea requires relying on orders from one company you will face difficulties when they do. Go for business ideas where you will receive orders from multiple sources so if one company goes out of business you will still make a profit.
  • If it sounds too good to be true it probably is. Ads for making thousands a week working from home with no experience probably require you to pay the company for materials. They also won’t tell you the operating costs so you won’t really know what you’re getting into. Be smart and avoid business scams.
  • Choose an idea that requires low overhead. Unless you have some serious start-up cash avoid ideas that require purchasing and running costly equipment or buying distribution rights.
  • Choose a business that won’t be difficult to manage. If your business expands will you be able to fill orders and handle the increased demand?
  • A business that is simple to start will save you grief in the long run. If you have to take expensive training courses or spend all your time building trade connections you won’t turn a profit very quickly.

Contact the Winflow Financial Group if you need help evaluating your business ideas. Request a free consultation or call us at 1.800.956.6897.

Buying a Business vs. Starting your Own

Posted by Winflow – June 7, 2011

For those who want to make the transition into entrepreneurship, you have two options; you can buy a pre-existing business or start a new one from scratch. To determine which plan is better for you, identify what you want to achieve with your business. If you want to get involved right away and avoid the problems that go along with a start-up, buy an existing business. Some things to consider when owning an existing business include:

  • You can start making money right away. Since the business is already established, its existing market is already in place to make a profit.
  • If you need financing to expand the existing business, getting a loan will be much easier since you already have a working business model.
  • The business model in place may not be cohesive with your ideas.
  • The initial investment may cost more than starting your own business.

If owning someone else’s business really isn’t for you, consider starting your own business. Keep this information in mind while you are planning:

  • You will be able to do things your way and not have to abide by old practices and protocols.
  • There is no way to guarantee your business will be a success.
  • You will have the chance to make a niche for your business in the market.
  • It can take awhile to see any money since you have to make back the start-up costs.

If you are interested in becoming an entrepreneur but not sure which direction to go in, contact the Winflow Financial Group. Our consultants will determine what the best course of action is based on your needs.

Making Your Small Business Tax Efficient

Posted by Winflow – June 6, 2011

While running a business you want to ensure you are making the most profit possible. Ensuring your small business is tax efficient can save you money come tax season. There is no one way to make your business tax efficient because of the complex nature of taxes and the tax laws that vary based on location. There are some things you can do to improve your chances of being tax efficient.

  • Develop an open relationship with your accountant. If they are aware of everything that is going on in your business they can look up the appropriate tax laws for your circumstances.
  • Timing is critical when it comes to taking advantage of tax breaks so be sure your information is up-to-date for your accountant.
  • Realize you’re part of a larger operation. Getting the tax breaks you want will require working closely with wealth managers, accountants and other business professionals.

If you are uncertain as to whether or not you’re receiving the correct tax breaks for your small business , call the Winflow Financial Group. They will work with you and your accountant to ensure you are making the most profit possible.

For more money-saving techniques and other forms of financing, read the following articles.