PROVIDING A HEALTHY, HAPPY WORKPLACE

Providing a healthy, supportive workplace can be challenging around the holiday season with the added stress of year-end deadlines, financial pressures, an abundance of unhealthy holiday treats, and schedules overloaded with work, family and social commitments. 

Here are five tips to help you and your employees enjoy a happy, healthy holiday season:

 

1. Give the gift of health. Instead of the usual box of chocolates, give gifts that your employees or co-workers will not only enjoy but feel good about using. Potted plants or a healthy cookbook are a great alternative to calorie-laden treats. Or, for larger gifts, consider giving gift cards to a produce store, farmer’s market, sporting goods store or a spa. Setting spending limits on gifts or organizing a Secret Santa can help relieve some of the financial burden of gift-giving.

 

2. Combine physical activity with your traditional office holiday party. Instead of the typical holiday party at a restaurant or bar, why not come up with a fun physical activity that will provide employees with the opportunity to be active. Try a new winter activity such as snowshoeing, cross-country skiing or ice skating. Or, if it’s too cold (or too rainy!), play indoors. Bowling or skating at an indoor rink are great affordable options.

 

3. Provide healthy options.  Around this time of year, staff lunch rooms get filled with all sorts of unhealthy foods high in fat, sugar, and calories. Foods high in fat and sugar can make you feel like crawling under your desk for a mid-afternoon nap. Encourage employees to leave the unhealthy treats at home or provide some balance by offering healthier choices for employees such as a bowl of fruit, tray of veggies and low fat dip or dried fruit and nuts. 

TWO OPPORTUNITIES FOR BC SMALL BUSINESSES TO HIRE AND TRAIN YOUTH

Does your small business need to hire? If you're interested in hiring and training youth to work for your business in the near future, you may be eligible for funding through one of the following two programs.

Get Youth Working Program

BC's Get Youth Working program has just been extended for another year, to March 31, 2014.

The Get Youth Working program offers employers a $2,800 incentive to hire eligible youth between the ages of 15–29 to help offset hiring costs. Employers can apply for this funding for up to three new employees, and may receive an additional $1,000 to purchase training for newly hired youth.

To qualify for funding through the program, employers must be in business for a minimum of one year, be in good standing with WorkSafe BC and must employ the new hire for a minimum of three months and 30 hours per week. Employers must also apply and be approved for the funding before the new hire starts working.

How to Apply

Employer applications for the extended program are now available on the Get Youth Working website.

High Demand Youth Internship Program

The High Demand Youth Internship Program seeks to match up employers with post-secondary graduates 30 years old or younger. The goal is to help qualified interns develop transferable skills needed to be successful through a full-time paid internship in the private sector.

Employers are required to hire interns for a minimum of $16 per hour and in turn will be subsidized $8 per hour by the federal government. Employers will need to meet several other qualifications in order to eligible for the program.

This program is administered by the YMCA on behalf of the federal government, and currently has 35 internship/employer spots available for 40 week internships starting May 27, 2013, and 94 internship/employer spots available for the 26 week internship starting September 3, 2013.

5 TIPS FOR ENGAGING YOUR EMPLOYEES IN WORKPLACE WELLNESS

We know that workplace wellness programs are effective at reducing sick leave, improving employee health, boosting morale and increasing productivity in small businesses. However, finding ways to engage your employees in wellness activities and encourage participation can often be challenging.

Here are five tips for building engagement and participation in your business’s wellness activities.

1. Ask Your Employees What They Want

Workplace wellness activities should meet the needs of all employees, regardless of their current level of health. If you ask questions before you start organizing wellness activities, you will make employees feel involved and it will help you identify the right activities for your workplace – which will make your program more likely to be successful.

Provide different ways for employees to be engaged. For each event or activity provide options for people who want to participate. Some prefer to do things on their own while others prefer support or competition from peers.

2. Involve People in the Planning 

The success of any wellness program or activity depends on employee involvement, so it is essential to involve employees in the planning process. Very small businesses may not need a wellness committee, but will need someone to lead the activities.

3. Use Incentives

Some low-cost incentives or prizes will help encourage employees to participate and keep them engaged and motivated. Gift certificates, discount coupons, T-shirts, water bottles, plaques, coffee mugs, buttons, pens and pins are examples of extrinsic incentives items that encourage participation. 

3. Communicate and Celebrate Successes

Develop a communication plan to share information about the wellness activities. Emails, posters and the company intranet can all be used to promote activities. Encourage employees to take photos and share stories of their participation. Consider planning a staff lunch or afternoon break for participants to celebrate the end of an activity.

5. Walk the Talk

Owners or senior managers who participate in the events or activities encourage others by their example and let employees know that workplace wellness is a priority.

Want to Learn More?

If you'd like to learn more about how workplace wellness can benefit your small business register for the free Small Business BC Fit Wellness into Your Workplace seminar. The seminar will be presented by WellnessFits, which offers small businesses the resources and support they need to create healthy workplace programs when faced with limited resources.

Finding Qualified Buyers

Finding Qualified Buyers

Once you've identified the markets that you’re going to target, you’ll need to find the buyers for your product in that market. There are various strategies you might want to consider:

• Search online. Use Google, Kompass, or Alibaba.
• Attend trade shows. For a list of trade shows, refer tobiztradeshows.com. 
• Contact industry associations. When researching your targeted export market, look for any relevant industry associations as they will often publish a list of their member companies or be able to provide one to you. 
• Use the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) Trade Commissioners Service. For companies that are export-ready and have a commercialized product, the Trade Commissioners Service has offices in Canada, as well as over 150 offices internationally.

Taking Care of Logistics

Once you've made a sale, you’ll have to ship your product to your international customer. Because of the complexity of moving products out of the country, exporters will often get assistance from freight forwarders (companies that arrange the shipment of goods from one country to another). You can find a freight forwarder by visiting theCanadian International Freight Forwarders Association’s website.

Export Documentation: It’s All in the Details

Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), the customs agency in the foreign country to which you're exporting, and even the buyer, all might require you to complete documentation to comply with import regulations.

The CBSA offers free seminars on exporting commercial goods from Canada. We recommend that you attend one of these seminars to understand what your responsibilities are.

If you’re exporting for the first time, we also recommend that you work closely with your freight forwarder to make sure your documentation is all in order.

Pricing it Right

There are various methods for you to determine the pricing of your product. The most common include:

1. Cost based. In this method you calculate all of the costs associated with manufacturing your product and exporting your products. Using this method, you can determine if exporting is a financially viable option for your company. Some important costs to consider are:
   • Fees for market research
   • Production costs
   • Export documentation
   • Freight and insurance
   • Import duties 
   • Wholesaler mark-up
   • Importer/distributor mark-up
   • Retail mark-up 
   • Travel expenses
   • Translation costs 
   • Product adaptation costs 
   • Commissions or other costs associated with foreign representatives
2. Market demand. Here, you’ll research the market to find out what consumers are willing or able to pay. If you determine that your current selling price is too high for the new export market, there might be ways for you to modify your product to bring its cost down.
3. Competitor pricing. If there are a lot of competitors in the new market, you might be forced to match your competitors’ pricing to compete effectively.

Payment Terms

It’s important to clarify with your buyer the terms of sale that outline the obligations, risks, and costs of the buyer and the seller.

Incoterms are the most commonly agreed upon terms of sale in international business. Please visit the International Chamber of Commerce website for a full description of incoterms.

Methods of Payment

You’ll want to make sure that you get paid in full and on time. How you manage this will depend on how trustworthy your buyer is. The basic methods of payment, listed in order of least risky to most risky for the exporter, are:

• Cash in advance. Your company receives payment for the goods, usually by wire transfer or sometimes by cheque, or even credit card, in advance of the shipment. Once you receive the money, you arrange to ship the product to the buyer. 
• Documentary Letters of Credit (LCs). These are usually a good compromise for both the buyer and the seller, and are the most common payment method in international business. LCs work by relying on banks to receive and check shipping documents and guarantee payment. For more information on LCs, contact your business bank.
• Open account. If the buyer is well established, very trustworthy, and has been thoroughly checked for credit worthiness, you might consider simply billing the buyer who will pay you at a later date.

Export Financing

In Canada, there are programs and associations that support and promote exporting by offering financial assistance. For more information on the programs available read the How to Finance Your Growing Export Business article.

Do Your Homework to Find Your Markets

Do Your Homework to Find Your Markets

Market research is an essential step in the export process. With close to 200 countries in the world to export to, you want to make sure that you’re targeting the right ones.

Through market research, you can determine which countries hold potential for your product, who your competitors are in that marketplace, and what the trends are for your product in that market.

Screening Potential Markets

1. Obtain export statistics. Search the Statistics Canada website to see where Canadian exports are currently going.
2. Identify potential markets. Of the countries you have identified, which hold the most potential? Are the markets growing there? Remember to not just look at the largest markets; look at the smaller secondary markets that might have fewer competitors. 
3. Target the most promising ones. Of the markets you have identified, choose three to five that you feel hold the most promise, and begin further research.

Assessing Your Target Markets 

1. Examine product trends. Look for information on your product as well as related products. The Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) has free market research reports for various countries in different industry sectors. You can also look to Canadian industry associations that are related to your business. Even if you’re not a member, they might have research reports available to you.
2. Research the competition. You need to know who your competitors are. This includes both foreign competitors and domestic. Google is a great resource, as are the reports published by DFAIT.
3. Analyze the market. Research any factors that may affect the marketing and use of your product. For example, does your product name have a different meaning in the local language, or do you need to change your sizing to suit the local market? 
4. Identify barriers. You also need to know if there are any significant export barriers or import barriers. The most common export barriers are export controls for certain products. To check to see if there are any export controls for your products, check with the DFAIT's Export and Import Controls Division. Import barriers could include significant import duties or import regulations for your product. You will need to check with the foreign country’s customs agency to determine what these may be. You can also check with DFAIT's office abroad.
5. Choose a market. Once you have conducted market research, you should determine which market is most suitable. For a small business that is just starting exporting, we recommend that you target at most two markets at a time.

Cybersquatting

Why does .XXX Matter to Small Business?

Cybersquatting (is registering, trafficking in, or using a domain name with bad faith intent to profit from the goodwill of a trademark belonging to someone else) and Typosquatting (a variation of cybersquatting; the practice of registering domain names that are misspellings of website addresses) are big business. 

 

Each time a new domain extension launches, businesses around the world and their legal teams rush in to protect company brands and trademarks before cybersquatters do so. Now add in the component of .XXX and potentially pornographic content. While cybersquatters could put objectionable content on any domain extension, .XXX is geared specifically for this. Most companies would not want any association whatsoever with sexually explicit content, so protecting your brand is even more crucial this time around. 

 

Essentially it’s easier and cheaper to register a trademarked domain name with a new triple-x extension than to launch a legal battle over trademark infringement. .XXX is an especially important domain name to defensively secure, because most business owners will not wish to have their brand associated with adult content.

 

What Are the Steps Small Businesses Should Take to Protect Their Brands?

There are two options for business owners and individuals who are not part of the adult entertainment industry. For the first time in domain history, trademark owners have the ability to pay a one time fee of US $349 (rather than an annual registration/renewal fee) to block their trademarks under .XXX “forever” (or so long as the company owns the trademark and so long as ICM is running the registry and future rules don’t get changed…for now it’s a minimum of 10 years). This process is called Sunrise B: Launched on September 7, 2011, it requires all applications to be submitted by October 28, 2011. 

 

If you or your business do not own a trademark and you want to protect your own name, a brand name, taglines or misspellings of your trademarks or brands, you have the opportunity to pre-register these names under the General Registration process. XXX pre-registrations will be submitted on a first come, first serve basis when General Registration opens on December 6, therefore interested parties are encouraged to pre-register desired names early. Pre-registration costs $129 US and is entirely risk free; unlike some other registrars, Webnames.ca is not charging any additional pre-registration fees.

 

Find Out More

There are a lot of domain extensions out there and more launching each year.  If you want to know more about this topic, take a look at previous articles by Cybele Negris including: What Domain Names Do Canadian Small Businesses Actually Need? and Domain Name 101 – What Do the Various Domain Extensions Mean?

 

To learn more about .XXX, visit Webnames.ca's .XXX.

 

Please note that Webnames.ca will not be supporting live content such as hosted websites on .XXX registrations. Those who are part of the adult entertainment industry and wish to have an actual .XXX website will need to choose another registrar.