So, what are your plans for the new year? Now, it wouldn’t be surprising if that question has created a few puzzled faces out there. Yes, we are well aware that we are still in the month of October and most people haven’t even begun to think of their plans for next year. But, of course, we’re speaking specifically to owners of small businesses in Canada.

As we’ve said many times in the past, all business owners need a plan to put their ideas into action. With the new year fast approaching, it is important to know what you’ll be doing to succeed in 2011. Today, freelance writer, editor and owner of The Write Angle, Sherry Hinman writes in a special to Sun Media about the steps to creating a proper business plan for anyone looking to grow their small businesses.

She outlines a traditional business plan as one that begins with a summary allowing the reader to get a quick idea about the plan without getting into intricate details. That is followed by an overview that outlines the mission statement, goals and objectives, corporate values or philosophy as well as a vision statement.

Hinman notes that next comes the description of the business environment, which takes a look at the market trends for your industry and your competitors. As well, an outline of the company and its strategy is necessary to determine the strategies about the industry, markets and the competition.

Finally, writes Hinman, is your financial plan. This covers the position of the start of the business and where the business plans to end up financially. This part of your business plan should entail an income statement, balance sheet and cash-flow statement. Don’t forget to include an action plan to show how your ideas will be carried out.

Following this outline should definitely put your company in a good position for tackling the marketplace in the new year. Being prepared before putting any plan into action is of key importance. Hinman notes, however, that not all business plans have to follow such a traditional model to be effective.

Mark Drager is the president of Phanta Media, which is a corporate video production company in Markham, Ontario. In Hinman’s article, he explains that he sometimes writes full business plans when looking for financing. However, he also creates what he refers to as an “annual vision statement” to keep his business on track.

Says Drager: “This concentrates mostly on what the company will be like in the future. Where will we be in one year? Three years? Five years? It’s a two-page document that outlines aspects like the company’s vision, mission, positioning in the market, objectives and corporate values.”

It is not uncommon for the Synergy Merchant Services Blog to discuss various ways in which business owners can put their money to good use. Naturally, there should be a good balance between spending money wisely and saving necessary funds. Spending frivolously on unnecessary expenditures, of course, doesn’t help one’s budget for more important things.

For just about everyone in modern society, a cell phone is not an unnecessary expense. In contrast, cell phones are practically mandatory tools for everyone to get by each and every day. However, as Stefania Morretti of QMI Agency reports today, cell phones are expenses that are costing Canadian citizens more money than anyone else in the world!

Revealing the findings of The New America Foundation’s Open Technology Initiative, Moretti reports that out of 11 countries studied, Canada is home to the most expensive price plans for cell phone users. Beating out such nations as the United States, Japan, India and Sweden, Canada’s hefty cell phone bills average approximately $67.50 US.

Writes Moretti: “The U.S. comes in a distant second at $59.99. In Sweden that same level of service will cost just $34.05 while residents of India pay only $12.90. In most countries, customers are only charged for outgoing calls but that’s not the case in Canada and the U.S. where users can be charged for both incoming and outgoing calls.”

Perhaps as a result, Canada is becoming the home to more cell phone service providers than ever before. Moretti notes that new companies such as Public Mobile, Mobilicity and Quebecor’s Videotron have popped up in the Canadian marketplace that is currently dominated by Bell, Rogers and Telus.

The competition, apparently, is getting fierce. Unfortunately, as independent technology analyst Carmi Levy points out, Canadians have yet to see any significant price drops. “We are trying to unwind a generation’s worth of legacy high pricing,” said Levy, noting that it will take more national carriers and not just regional competitors to create noticeable changes in pricing and service levels.

So there you have it Canada. Even though cell phones are used regularly and are items that most people will claim they cannot do without, Canadians are paying more for them than anyone else. As with all other expenditures, it is important to budget for your cell phone use.

Call your service provider to discover ways that you may be able to save money based on the type of usage you get out of the phone. For example, some people do a lot more texting than they do calling. Others require data plans for internet surfing. Some plans also offer free incoming calls. Hopefully, you’ll find a plan that will help you save money.

Back in April, we did quite a bit of blogging about the fact that the Canadian dollar was going to reach parity with its American counterpart. And sure enough, not only did our loonie match the greenback in value that month, but it ended up surpassing it. As expected, the stronger-than-the-U.S.-dollar loonie didn’t stay that way for too long.

However, just a short six months later, the Canadian dollar is back in the fight. According to John McCrank of Reuters, the loonie is set to hit parity once again. According to McCrank, a report was released earlier today indicating that private employers in the United States have cut upwards of nearly 40,000 jobs.

This is one of the reasons that the American dollar is hitting its lowest value against the euro in eight months and against Japanese yen in 15 years! In addition, the Canadian dollar is gaining strength thanks to the nation’s reputation as a “major commodity exporter”.

McCrank notes that Canadian “currency is often influenced by moves in prices for gold, oil, copper and natural gas. Most commodities are priced in U.S. dollars and a weaker greenback makes them cheaper in terms of other currencies.”

He also delivers the following numbers: “The Canadian dollar closed at $1.0107 to the U.S. dollar, or 98.94 U.S. cents, well above Tuesday’s finish of $1.0173 to the U.S. dollar, or 98.30 U.S. cents. The currency rose as high as $1.0063 to the U.S. dollar, or 99.37 U.S. cents, its highest level since April 30.”

The findings of the new Reuters poll estimates that the loonie will run a tight race with the greenback over the next year. About half of those surveyed for the poll believe that the neighboring currencies will be at par for a significant duration of time. Said Eric Lascelles, the chief Canada macro strategist at TD Securities: “The Canadian dollar is a whisker away from parity. Parity is very much in the sights right now.”

Apparently some banks haven’t received the memo yet. Upon hearing the news of the new parity battle today, one of our esteemed reps at Synergy mentioned that his bank has been “undercutting” the current value of the U.S. buck. “I’ve been trying to change an American twenty for weeks now,” he explained, “They keep telling me it’s less than a Canadian twenty!”

This Saturday marks, perhaps, the biggest day in the life of Synergy’s biggest staff member. Our Vice President of Marketing, office manager and tallest guy in the building, John Meloche is finally walking down that aisle to tie the knot with his lovely fiancé, Kathryn.

It was nearly one year ago when we originally blogged about John and Kathryn finally setting the date for their wedding as September 25th, 2010. However, it was on Valentine’s Day last year that John popped the big question at his favourite restaurant, The David Duncan House.

On John and Kathryn’s wedding website, John tells the story of how he prepared to propose to Kathryn on that fateful evening. Knowing that Valentine’s Day may not have been the most original date to choose to ask for one’s hand in marriage, John had some concerns about having his girlfriend clue in on his plans.

He explains: “The night before Valentine’s Day, I arranged 12 red and pink roses, a big teddy bear, chocolates, a card and a 32 inch widescreen television. Also, we had planned for the next evening to go to The David Duncan House for what tends to be a pretty amazing evening. I wanted to make her think it would be impossible for me to ALSO plan a proposal.”

Who knew John was such a romantic? Waiting until after dessert (of course), John got down on one knee and popped the big question in front of family and friends. Now, here we are – a good year and a half later – and the day of the wedding is nearly here. To John and Kathryn, it likely feels that time has seemingly passed in the blink of an eye.

This week has been a crazy one for John as his last minute preparations have been taking him in and out of the Synergy offices in something of a frenzy. One can’t help but notice that he is doing it all with a quite a big smile on his face, though. “Getting nervous?” a lot of his colleagues have been asking him. “No…excited!” is John’s quick reply.

Just under a month ago, John and Kathryn held an exciting Stag & Doe. The couple partied it up with family, friends and co-workers showing that they have been excited about their impending big day for some time now. We would like to take this final opportunity to wish John and Kathryn a very happy, healthy and long life together.

Your family here at Synergy is looking forward to celebrating the biggest day of your lives with you. In other words, we can’t wait for the biggest party of the year tomorrow night. We’ll see you there for the first time as husband and wife. Congratulations guys!

For obvious reasons, we speak often about utilizing your money to improve your business. Working regularly with entrepreneurs all over Canada, we are very interested in helping the nation’s small businesses grow and excel to higher levels. Naturally, our conversations with these owners centre on ways to use our merchant cash advance program to increase their company’s profits.

However, life can’t always be work, work, work, right? When thinking about the difference between your earnings and your expenses, it’s important to consider the various ways you can have fun with your money. After all, what’s the point of making money if you can’t enjoy yourself with it?

In yesterday’s edition of Metro Canada, Lesley Scorgie discusses the concept of having a “financial weak spot”. Scorgie, admits that her own weak spot is books. Apparently, she cannot help herself when passing by a book store. She insists, however, that this is a weakness that she can afford.

The point, of course, is that if you can afford your financial weak spot, there is no problem. However, if you are not making enough money to splurge on items that are not considered necessities, it may be time to seriously rethink your spending habits. Too often, people find themselves in debt by racking up unnecessary expenses.

As Scorgie writes: “Satisfying an impulse to buy something you don’t need can be dangerous; increased spending often leads to unnecessary bad debt.” She notes that a recent report by the Certified General Accountants Association of Canada found that household debt in Canada is on the rise.

Shockingly, Canadians owe a total of a whopping $1.4 trillion! This is two and a half times more debt than the nation had collectively accrued twenty years ago. Spread evenly among each Canadian, each person is in debt $41,740, points out Scorgie. Credit card and lines of credit are the main culprits for this debt, she says.

Scorgie offers a few tips on how to avoid bad debt – the kind that is expensive, restrictive and unable to work as an investment that may grow in value such as a mortgage or investment loan. Bad debt, she notes, is often “incurred through impulse buying”. Her first tip is simple: “remove the temptation to spend”.

Don’t go into stores selling items that you cannot afford and just as importantly, do not need. She advises that you take your name off of promotional lists and keep just one credit card with a manageable limit.

“Second,” writes Scorgie, “pay off bad debt fast. Don’t incur additional debt while tackling the existing. Negotiate and/or consolidate debt to get lower interest rates and a manageable payment plan. Focus on paying the highest interest debt first because it costs the most.”

In other words, you should cut costs where possible and pay off debt with the objective of never accumulating any more. Try to have fun without impulse buying and you’ll be well on your way to a debt-free life.

Now that the new school season is in full swing, many post-secondary education students are finding out the hard way that balancing the school curriculum with their jobs is quite difficult. Of course, many students have to work part-time jobs in order to pay for their school fees. With tuition and supplies being mandatory expenses, some students can’t do without a part-time job.

The problem with this situation, however, is that a student’s on-the-job time takes away from critical study time. Often, a student’s inability to designate enough time for studying while they also work a part-time job can negatively affect his or her grades. Earlier today, the QMI Agency released a report confirming that, unfortunately, this is generally the case with working students.

According to the report, a new poll of university faculty and librarians confirmed that students who work part-time while they are in school have a harder time managing strong academic achievements. Looking at Ontario students specifically, the study found that 64 per cent of those polled believe that part-time jobs do, in fact, hinder a student’s grades.

In addition, 33 per cent of those polled felt that more students are working outside of the classroom compared to a year ago. Evidently, there is an increasing number of Ontario students who are looking for ways to afford their school fees. Not all of them, apparently, can simply rely on student loans and help from their families to pay for school.

Carleton University professor and president of the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA), Mark Langer had this to say: “Many need to work during the school year to meet the rising costs of their education, but that paid work is often a barrier to their progress and achievement.”

QMI goes on to note that 41 per cent of the 1,400 poll respondents feel that universities should be offering remedial programs to their student bodies. In addition, 23 per cent of those polled feel that remedial programs should actually be mandatory for students in their first year of post-secondary schooling.

Added Langer: “We expect our students to pay for a larger share of their education, engage in more paid work, attend larger classes, have less interaction with faculty and pursue remedial courses on top of their regular studies to succeed in a demanding university curriculum. This is a recipe for disaster.”

It seems as if the most important lesson being learned by college and university students in Ontario is how to manage their time between part-time jobs and classes. Finding jobs to pay for these classes, in fact, may be an even harder task to complete. The most difficult part of the school year, however, may just be maintaining those good grades while meeting the requirements of their employers once those jobs are found.

It wasn’t too long ago that Canadians were complaining about the lack of job opportunities being presented in the workforce. Of course, due to the recession, the economy was hit so hard that people from all over the country were losing their jobs in droves. Times were, indeed, tough.

Since then, Canada has been making a notable recovery from the recession and reports continue to be released detailing the rate of job growth that the nation is experiencing. And while things are not exactly back to normal, they seem to be getting there much quicker than what was once expected.

Today, some more good news has come from a QMI Agency report that reveals that Canadians are now beginning to earn more money than they were at this time last year. In fact, “average weekly earnings for Canadians jumped 4% in June over 12 months ago, marking the fastest year-over-year increase in more than two years.”

Based on government data released by Statistics Canada earlier today, this information comes as welcome news to workers all over the nation. Still reeling from the effects of the global financial crisis, citizens are need of growing income more than ever before. Naturally, it is hopeful that increasing rates of income is a trend that will continue.

Actually, this trend has already lasted for most of this year, according to Statistics Canada. There has been a year-over-year increase of earnings of 2.3 per cent or more for seven consecutive months. As a result, non-farm payroll earnings increased to $853.50 a week.

QMI also reports that “the education, accommodation and food services sectors have seen pay spike 11.5% since June 2009. Even wages in Canada’s hard-hit manufacturing sector have rebounded 5.2% year-over-year, nearly recovering all lost ground from the recession. Average weekly earnings in manufacturing stood at $946.93 in June.”

The only downside to the report’s findings was that “four of the 10 biggest industries shed workers in June with the construction sector leading the declines.” There was a loss of 3,200 jobs in the month of June. Job losses also took place in the public administration, retail trade and educational services sectors.

Nevertheless, Canada continues to be a world leader in recession recovery. We continue to remain optimistic that both job growth and income increases will take place in the coming months.

Now, we here at Synergy, are not the type to perpetuate stereotypes. We believe firmly in not judging books by their covers. However, when a light-hearted conversation in our offices earlier today turned into a major disagreement, it was important for us to take a more serious look into the question that was being debated.

Are women worse at saving money than men? Of course, most of the men taking part in the discussion insisted that they are. “As soon as a woman sees a percent sign in a store, they think ‘sale’,” said one male staff member, “She thinks she’s actually saving money because she is getting a discount. A guy ignores it knowing that spending no money at all means that he’s really saving his money.”

The women, naturally, took issue with this insisting that they are members of the more “responsible” gender. Being natural caregivers, they argued, women are more keen on taking care of financial matters than men were. In case you were wondering what sparked what is probably an age-old debate, a QMI Agency report was released yesterday attempting to determine a winner of this financial battle of the sexes.

A recent Scotiabank poll determined that “Canadian women say they would feel better if they saved more but can’t afford to do so.” In other words, Canadian men have a better ability to save cash than their female counterparts. Hey, don’t shoot the messenger! We only just discovered the following statistics ourselves.

According to the study, “About 69% of women said they don’t have enough funds to put aside more cash, compared with 57% of men.” The QMI report also notes that men are more likely to have a savings plan to help them in achieving specific goals. Women, on the other hand, generally do not have plans to save.

Other findings of the survey include that “about 70% of men save money at least once a month, compared with 64% of women.” As well, men were found to be more likely to have enough money saved to cover more than three months of household expenses. While this statistic did not sit well with most women in our offices, the following may be of some solace.

The survey did find that women are more likely than men to change their saving habits if necessary. So hope is not all lost, ladies. Gerry Pettipas, a Scotiabank branch manager in Halifax believes that everyone has the ability to save money regardless of their gender. It very simply requires planning and dedication.

Said Pettipas: “We realize that there are a lot of demands on Canadians’ wallets and we believe that everyone has money that can be saved – sometimes they just need help to find it. The key to saving success is saving automatically.”

Back in mid-February, the Synergy Merchant Services Blog commented on an issue that has had the province of Ontario buzzing ever since. The sport of mixed martial arts, better known by its initials MMA or sometimes “ultimate fighting”, finally became legal in Ontario. When we first reported about the chances of this multi-million dollar industry getting a pass to be exhibited in Ontario, Premier Dalton McGuinty insisted that the issue was not a priority.

Today, Chris Doucette reports in The Toronto Sun that mixed martial arts will finally be featured in an event in Ontario as early as next year. To many MMA fans, this comes as no surprise as making the sport legal in Ontario was pretty much just a matter of time. Back in late-May, this blog also wrote about how the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) opened an office in Toronto.

Evidently, the writing was on the wall. The world’s largest mixed martial arts organization, the UFC anticipates having one of its largest events in the company’s history in Toronto in 2011. With the success of a number of events taking place in Montreal and Vancouver over the past few years, Ontario was the last major piece of the Canadian puzzle that needed to be put into place for the UFC.

Needless to day, the economic impact that these events have had for the cities in which they have been held was tremendous. Many expect that Ontario will now enjoy the same financial boost that comes with hosting a UFC event in the near future. Apparently, McGuinty has come to acknowledge the benefits that legalizing MMA can have for the provincial economy.

Not to mention, the decision to legalize MMA in Ontario has been met with vast approval from fans of all ages. A near-immediate sellout is predicted upon the announcement of the now-inevitable Toronto-held UFC event scheduled for next year. Doucette reports that Tom Wright, the UFC’s director of Canadian operations, intends to have this event set up very shortly.

Said Wright: “Canada has long been a mecca for MMA and the UFC, and Ontario is the epicentre of that mecca. It’s been a real team effort…We’re absolutely thrilled! The UFC is here to stay, for the benefit of the Canadian economy, aspiring athletes and the fight fans.”

Added UFC president Dana White: “This is a huge moment for the UFC in Canada. Premier Dalton McGuinty, Minister (of Consumer Services) Sophia Aggelonitis and Canadian fight fans, thank you for your support. You helped to make this happen and I can’t wait to bring big fights and the biggest names in the UFC to Ontario.”

Doucette notes that “the UFC is expected to generate upwards of $6 million annually for the local economy.” Generating the type of fan support that some consider “the second most popular in Canada next to hockey”, mixed martial arts is bound to be great for many businesses operating in Ontario.

Restaurants and bars that showcase live UFC events on the big screen have already been cashing in for years. It is widely believed that bringing the sport to the province will only make business bigger.

As often as we have discussed Canada’s job growth in the Synergy Merchant Services Blog, we have mentioned that we are continuing to do our part in offering career opportunities. Those seeking employment in the merchant cash advance field are invited to contact us about available positions, as we are always looking to add to our fantastic team.

That being said, when looking for work in any type of field, there are some important steps to follow if you are truly interested in securing employment for yourself. First things first, be on time! There’s nothing worse than making a bad first impression. If you are scheduled to show up for an interview, make sure to give yourself enough time to be there early!

In addition, if you have secured yourself a position and you show up to work late on your very first day, don’t be surprised if your tenure doesn’t last very long. Tardiness is not a trait you want to possess when starting a new job. Getting that job was hard enough already. You don’t want to mess it up by not even showing up for it on time.

For many would-be employees, even getting the opportunity for a first day of work is difficult. Tiny changes to your resume may just help for the process to become much easier. Sadly, many people looking for jobs overlook simple but glaring mistakes on their resumes.

Today, the QMI Agency reports on one of these errors that seems to be keeping a lot of job seekers out of the workplace. Bad references make for bad candidates, says the report. It reveals that “a new survey shows managers remove 26% of job applicants from consideration after talking to their references.”

That’s a fourth of all job applicants losing out on a job position simply because they listed a reference who did not provide a glowing report about their work. Evidently, it is imperative for all of you job seekers out there to make sure that your references are people that not only know you, but like you as well.

The survey, which was conducted by Office Team, a temporary placement agency, polled 300 Canadian senior managers at companies that have at least 20 employees. The survey found that “19% of interviewers call a reference to get a sense of an applicant’s strengths and weaknesses, 27% seek information about past job duties, 14% ask about past workplace accomplishments, 9% want confirmation about job titles and dates, and 7% want to know about an applicant’s preferred job culture.”

Said Robert Hosking, executive director of Office Team: “When hiring managers narrow the field to a few potential candidates, the reference check often becomes the deciding factor. To distinguish themselves from the competition, job seekers should assemble a solid list of contacts who can persuasively communicate their qualifications and professional attributes.”

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.

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.