As is well known to our clients, Synergy Merchant Services is in the business of helping small to medium-sized companies in Canada grow and expand. For the past several years, we have happily assisted a number of business owners secure the working capital they needed to develop their businesses into industry leading organizations.

Of course, with the recession hitting the globe last year, many business owners became reluctant to spend the money necessary to take their ideas and turn them into realities. Even though many owners had aspirations of renovating, expanding and advertising through new promotional campaigns, they remained hesitant to invest into their businesses during the economic downturn.

Today, the QMI Agency reports that things are looking up for entrepreneurs throughout the nation. According to the report, a recent HSBC study determined that Canadian small and mid-sized business owners are currently more willing to spend money on improving their companies than they were six months ago.

In fact, small businesses all over the world are more optimistic about their plans to grow and expand in the coming months. Based on the findings of HSBC’s Small Business Confidence Monitor, it is evident that the fears brought on by the recent recession are slowly but surely subsiding.

The report notes that North American business owners are experiencing the biggest spike in confidence. Up by 12%, Canadian and American businesses are the most assured companies in the world that the time is now to grow. Canadians will likely not see this as too much of a surprise knowing that small businesses in the nation have been leading the country in economic recovery for many months now.

As a matter of fact, the QMI report refers to the nation’s small businesses as the “life blood” of the economy. Such companies, they say, represent the majority of the firms in Canada. 2.3 million Canadian small businesses, in fact, “have raised their capital expenditure plans from 27% to 32%.”

Says Miguel Barrieras, HSBC Canada’s senior vice-president and national head of business banking: “Earlier this year, Canadian small businesses expressed a fair deal of optimism, and we’re encouraged to see that feeling improve further. As emerging markets continue to drive a large portion of the globe’s economic recovery, Canadian SMEs are uniquely placed to explore new trading and investment opportunities beyond our traditional partner, the United States.”

We, here at Synergy, are optimistic as well. We look forward to speaking to many of you small business owners to see whether or not our unique merchant cash advance program is a good fit for your business plans. You are just one free, no-obligation quote away from getting the information you need to grow your business this year.

Well, it all can’t be good news, right? After facing a recession that saw hundreds of thousands of jobs lost throughout Canada, the Synergy Merchant Services Blog was all too happy to report about the numerous examples of how the nation was recovering over the past few months. Specifically taking a look at the job growth that was proving the country’s return to financial prosperity, we believed that only more good news was on the horizon.

Not the case, says QMI Agency’s Stefania Moretti in a report released this past weekend. Unfortunately, in the month of July, Canada experienced the loss of 9,000 jobs, with many of them being full-time positions. This occurrence has pushed the unemployment rate back up to 8 per cent.

Sadly, the job losses fell well short of the predictions economists made that Canada would expand by 13,000 full-time jobs last month. This shouldn’t be taken has overly horrific news, however. With the employment growth that the nation has enjoyed over the past several months, it was bound to hit a bump in the road sooner or later.

TD Economics senior economist Pascal Gauthier agrees: “This was slightly disappointing, albeit not entirely surprising, as this employment report came on the heels of a blistering 76,000 monthly pace of job creation set over the prior three month. Our assessment is that the lagging performance of full-time employment will not persist.”

Moretti notes that TD is predicting that Canada’s hiring policies should resume shortly with a predicted growth of 15,000 jobs per month over the next several quarters. In fact, some promising news did come out of the weekend report. She writes that “employment for students…improved 4.5% compared with 12 months earlier.”

The job loss spike in July was due in part to weak employment gains in a number of sectors. Moretti lists educational services, finance, insurance, real estate and leasing as industries that struggled last month. Manufacturing and public administration, on the other hand, were strong in their employment growth.

In fact, factory employment experienced its largest job increase in the past two years. With the addition of 29,000 new jobs last month, manufacturing employment is back at the levels it enjoyed a year ago. The strongest provinces in July were Alberta and British Columbia. These two provinces were the only ones in the country that saw job growth last month.

Moretti reminds us that the United States is still struggling to match Canada’s employment growth records. The U.S. jobless rate sits at 9.5% as 131,000 jobs were lost in July. We will continue to monitor Canada’s plight to restore its nations jobs in the post-recession era.

Generally speaking, pedestrians look both ways before crossing the street. Car drivers wear seatbelts when behind the steering wheel. Motorcyclists wear helmets when riding their bikes. In other words, we naturally take precautions to protect ourselves from peril. There is no need to take any unnecessary risk.

Ironically, owners of small and medium sized businesses all throughout Canada take risks on a regular basis. With nothing else in mind except for their local banks when thinking of securing extra money, many entrepreneurs put themselves in a position where they are vulnerable to losing something they own.

It begs the question, why would a business owner put himself at risk for the sake of his business? Of course, it makes sense to invest in one’s business. But is it worth potentially losing the company during the course of the investment? Banks often request that owners put up some form of collateral when requesting a business loan.

Our clients have told us that everything from their family cottages to their cars and homes have been requested as collateral from a bank that they attempted to borrow money from. Obviously, if these assets were put up for collateral and some financial catastrophe occurred that prevented the owner from making a timely payment, the assets could be lost forever.

Restaurant owners know about this all too well. Our reps have heard many stories about the numerous warehouses owned by banks that are home to large ovens, freezers and fridges. Put up as collateral from restaurant owners seeking loans to help grow their businesses, these items are often seized by banks looking to salvage their losses.

With Synergy Merchant Services cash advance program, no collateral is required. One thing is for certain, if a Canadian business owner decides to utilize a merchant cash advance to help grow his business, he is a lot less at risk than if he were to deal with the bank.

One of the greatest benefits of working with Synergy for an entrepreneur is the peace of mind in knowing that there is no risk in that regard. The most any owner has to lose is a few minutes out of his or her day talking to one of our licensed funding specialists. And by the way, considering how friendly and fun our specialists are, a conversation with one of them could never truly be considered a loss!

Speak to one of our esteemed reps today and you’ll find out for yourself just how risk-free our cash advance program is. A simple review of your monthly merchant statements will bring you one step closer to knowing how much money your company is eligible to receive. No collateral is necessary. So there is no risk of losing anything…except for the headache of dealing with a bank!

Hey, business owners. We are pretty sure that you didn’t decide one day to open a business just to see what it was like to own one. Any smart entrepreneur formulates an idea, does his or her market research and accumulates a budget to put the plan into action to run a successful company. Of course, investing time into your business is one thing…but are you investing enough money to make it all worth your time?

Dawud Miracle is a business growth advisor. His website, Dmiracle.com, serves as his online help desk to small and mid-sized business owners everywhere looking to grow their companies. Miracle insists that these owners properly invest money into their businesses to truly allow for them to flourish in the marketplace.

As always, Synergy Merchant Services strongly recommends that entrepreneurs invest money into their businesses for such things as renovations, inventory, equipment, advertising or even paying suppliers. Over the past few years, our merchant funding program has been very successful in helping small and mid-sized business owners take their companies to the next level.

Providing that much needed extra working capital has done wonders for those who truly know how to invest the money into their businesses. Miracle, too, has worked with hundreds of small business owners. Referring specifically to those businesses that generate less that $150,00 a year, Miracle notes how amazed he is to discover how many of them are not willing to invest in their own companies.

The problem, he says, lies in the fact that many of them do not have long term plans for growth. Rarely do the owners he works with consider ongoing marketing or promotional plans and the budgets required to make them work. To grow your business, he insists, planning with a budget to market and promote is essential.

Asks Miracle: “What gives? How can you grow a business if you’re unwilling to promote it? How can you increase your revenue if you don’t invest some dollars into marketing? I’m not talking about thousands upon thousands of dollars each month. I’m talking a few hundred or thousand or whatever fits your budget.”

Essentially, Miracle – just as we do, here at Synergy – believes that if a business owner is not willing to invest in his or her business, then customers will feel the same way. As he queries, if you are not willing to spend money promoting your products or services, why would anyone else spend money on them?

Of course, Miracle offers his services to those who may need to talk about affordable strategies to promoting their businesses. Investing in your business is basically mandatory if you want to be successful. Naturally, Synergy also offers our services to help businesses grow. We look forward to speaking to you soon about how we can help you get the money you need to invest in your business.

The Synergy Merchant Services Blog has often spoke proudly about Canada’s ability to recover from the recession. We have not been quiet about the fact that the nation’s small businesses are a primary reason for the economic growth that the country has seen since the financial crisis crippled the globe.

Thankfully, our licensed funding specialists have had the pleasure of speaking with numerous owners of small and mid-sized businesses in Canada to receive a first hand account of their perseverance. If we were to be polled here at Synergy, about the overall confidence of these business owners, we would estimate that it is sky-high.

Surprisingly however, this is not necessarily the case with owners all throughout the nation. Today, a QMI Agency report reveals that “confidence among small and medium-sized business owners is concentrated in the extreme east and extreme west of the country.” This, according to two separate polls released earlier today, is the case.

Of course, our funding specialists weren’t polled, but both the Canadian Federation of Independent Business and the Bank of Montreal found that employers on the east and west coasts of the country are the most confident. Entrepreneurs in Ontario and Quebec, on the other hand…not so much.

As the QMI article explains, “an index level above 50 means owners expect their businesses’ to perform better in the next year.” The CFIB study found that business owner confidence dropped from 66.4 in June to 65.7 in July. Meanwhile, owners in the east coast province of Newfoundland had a reading of 71.9. Over on the west coast province of British Columbia, confidence was at a 70.3 reading.

According to CFIB Vice-President and Chief Economist Ted Mallett: “The estimates for July have fallen in eight of 13 industry groupings and seven out of 10 provinces, suggesting the economy is settling into a phase of slower growth. Business owners are likely betting on higher interest rates and slower growth into the future.”

The BMO study found that 77% of Canadian business owners believe that economic recovery is well underway. And yet again, provinces in Western Canada ranked much higher than the national average with 90% of those being polled showing signs of confidence. The study found that “80% of respondents say they are actively investing in, and/or spending on, their company.”

Like the CFIB report, the BMO findings also concluded that business owners on both the west and east coasts of Canada are more likely to spend and invest in their businesses than those in Quebec. Nevertheless, as Gail Cocker, BMO’s senior vice-president of commercial banking stated, business spending in Canada has increased “which is a step in the right direction.”

Last week, we blogged about the potential for Canada to “double-dip”. And although the term brings about pleasant visions of french fries and ketchup or perhaps ice cream and chocolate syrup (depending on what you’re in the mood for), double-dipping actually refers to a quick return to a recession. Not so appetizing, huh?

Thankfully, reports indicate that Canada’s chances of experiencing the dreaded double-dip (defined as falling back into a recession within two years of one ending) are slim to none. According to QMI Agency’s Stefania Moretti, however, Europe may not be so lucky. In a report published earlier today, she notes that while the world economy is forecast to grow by 3.5% this year, Europe’s growth sits at 1.1%.

Based on the Conference Board of Canada’s latest World Outlook, it appears as if Europe’s debt problems remain among the worst in the world following the recession of yesteryear. According to the board’s principal research associate, Kip Beckman, “Europe’s a drag on the economy, there’s no question about it.”

The world, as a whole, however, shouldn’t be held back too badly, says Moretti. The Asia-Pacific region and Latin America are helping out by showing strong signs of economic growth. Similar to Canada, these regions avoided high-risk investments like mortgage-backed securities.

The Asia-Pacific region, specifically, is predicted to have its real gross domestic product spike by 6% this year. And although China’s growth is expected to taper off at some point, the government has taken steps to avoid another crash into financial turmoil. In Latin America, GDP is set to grow by 4.5%, according to the report.

Europe’s debt problem, on the other hand, remains a concern. Explains Moretti: “Inventory restocking and fiscal stimulus have been keeping the region afloat but with both of these supports fading, many countries in Europe have little choice but to further slash spending to reduce huge deficits. Investors have steered clear of European financials in recent months over concern of exposure to sovereign debt.”

In the United States, there are also been concern that a double-dip may occur. The Conference Board doesn’t see that happening though. Growth in the U.S. is slower – at about 2.5% – but strong capital investment and stimulus spending could keep the nation out of the red.

Canada is poised to have its economy grow by 3.6% in 2010, potentially slowing to about 2.9% next year. It is well documented, however, that Canada has been a world leader in rebounding from the global financial crisis. So unless you’re talking about a tasty treat, no double-dip is expected in the country.

Synergy Merchant Services provides merchant cash advances to small to mid-sized business owners in Canada. Now, we know you’ve heard us say that before. But the point must continue to be made. Today, Canada celebrates a civic holiday, giving business owners one extra day off work.

Well, for most business owners, there are no holidays. Even if their stores are not open for business, it is inevitable that they are thinking about how to continue increasing the success of their businesses. It is this frame of mind that we, here at Synergy, believe is integral to businesses thriving in today’s economy.

If you’re not thinking of how to take your company to the next level, then you will, sooner or later, be left behind. Some business owners get the wrong impression when they first hear about our merchant cash advance program. Somehow, they get themselves under the impression that it exists to “save” businesses from despair.

In fact, the opposite is true. Our unique program is best utilized by those types of business owners who are looking to grow and expand. The act of so-called “saving” a business would imply that we are giving companies money who may otherwise be on the verge of bankruptcy.

If Synergy were to make a habit of doing that, we may potentially go bankrupt ourselves! Realistically, it makes sense for both parties – the merchant and the merchant funder – if the merchant cash advance is put towards renovations, expansion, new inventory, new equipment, new staff and/or advertising.

Basically, anything that can help a business to grow is a good idea. Putting your extra working capital towards a growth-based venture not only helps the company to better succeed in the marketplace, but it also ensures that the merchant cash advance can be paid back.

The best thing about the program is that payments are only made when the merchant has been paid first through a credit or debit sale. There is no fixed repayment schedule. So, for example, on a day like today – a holiday in Canada – most businesses are closed. Therefore, no sales are made. As a result, no payment is made towards paying off the merchant cash advance.

Our clients never have to worry about missing a payment as there is no due date to miss. So even though today is a holiday, we think that it may best be put to use by thinking about what you can use extra money for. Taking your business to the next level with the help of a merchant cash advance may be the best way to celebrate.