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Barb 0:00Today’s guest comes from a very long way away. But we’re excited to have him on the show today, because we’re gonna have a great conversation about what in the heck is Seo? It’s something you hear me talk about on a regular basis. So today, john Vong from Local SEO search is going to join us to talk about how his business is focused on those well established family run businesses, that small business market that needs more help than many of the other business sectors out there. So today, john and I are going to have a little bit of a conversation around SEO, what is it, how they approach it. And you know, hopefully, if you’re a local business owner, you can take a few of the tidbits from today’s podcast, and implement them in your business. So let’s start it off. JOHN, welcome. And thank you for being here. John 0:56Well, I’m excited. Thanks a lot for having me, Barb. And hopefully, I can share some valuable insights and takeaways for your audience members today. Barb 1:04That sounds awesome. So let’s start off by just telling us a little bit about what you do explain SEO, in your own words, from your business’s perspective. John 1:15So what we do here at local SEO search is to help the business owners the SMBs, the more smaller revenue type clients dominate their locale marketplace, as well as positioned themselves as leaders in their domain. So they have a specialty or an expertise. And we make that the centerpiece to attract ready to buy customers looking and seeking out for their products and services. And positioning them on the top of search engine results page when someone is actively in pursuit of discovery of their product and service so that we can help them match, ready to buy customers with them as a service provider or product provider. Yeah. And they are now the leaders in the marketplace. Barb 2:07So you’re absolutely talking my language because I talk about ready to buy customers all the time. And I think, you know, we’re making a really important differentiate a differentiation here. There’s the customer who’s still in the research phase. And obviously, we want businesses to get found in that research phase. But we also and even more importantly, want them to be able to get found when the customer is now ready to buy. I’m on my mobile, I’m going to buy those shoes, I’m on my mobile, we’re going to a coffee shop. And I think that’s maybe a differentiator that lots of people have a hard time understanding. So tell me, you know, kind of kind of your own opinion on that customer journey. What do you think it looks like nowadays? John 2:53Yeah. So people, you have to hit people at different stages of the buying journey, informational navigational transaction, and loyalty. And people will search different terms at different stages based on what they’re looking to purchase products, more item, big item, competitive analysis. There’s a lot of factors, so many different sources. But most importantly, they want to be in control their own research. And when I actually prior to starting this agency, I worked at Yellow Pages Group here in Canada, and five years, and they did a great job monopolizing that entire journey by compressing the most comprehensive business directory in one format, for free with huge retention and usage. And the mindset of the consumer user when it picked up that book, and went out and seek that personal. Now with this whole advent of digital, there’s so many different platforms, so many different mediums and choices. However, Google still gives you control of where to find the information of your liking as a user standpoint. Exactly. And now you can optimize it for your own purpose. Barb 4:12That’s right. Google absolutely dominates the marketplace in Canada. And I often talk to our students and get found digital marketing about, you know, it doesn’t matter your personal opinion, if you like Yahoo, great, use it. If you like Bing, absolutely go use it, I’m not going to knock them. But if you want to find the majority of the traffic, you gotta play with Google’s rules. And I’ve even heard a number of professionals say I, you know, Google, and I’m not following this rule, and I’m like, go to town, but it’s at your own detriment. So do I like everything Google does? Absolutely not. But am I gonna play their game because I want my own business found? Absolutely. I’m going to play the game with them. Right. Um, so when you think about, you know, the customer journey, and so we’re here in Saskatchewan, you’re in Ontario. The population difference makes a pretty significant difference in terms of, you know, even how many ready to buy customers we can attract. So when you look, you know, what some of those businesses that you’re working in, let’s say, downtown, you know, the real Toronto, you know, how are they finding their competitive edge? How are they? How are they communicating their expertise on whatever the subject matter is? John 5:27Yeah. And when it becomes hyper competitive, like a dentist or lawyer, a personal injury lawyer, and we work with all service providers b2b, localized. And when it comes to hyper competitive, that means you have to set yourself apart, you need to have that unique selling proposition, understand the competitive landscape, and have all the tools and software to detect what’s going on. And understand benchmarks, understand what comparative, where you’re at, and where you want to be realistic, and authentic and transparent throughout the entire journey. And so when I work with clients, we always look at what’s your story? And what do you want to be known for? And what is your goals? Because that must be completely in alignment. And without that clearly at

The latest updates on Google My Business. This post is part of a continuing series of monthly updates on the #1 search tool used by ready-to-buy customers. For all the updates, or to see additional information, read Attract More Customers with Google My Business. Connect GMB to E-commerce After announcing a new Shopify integration to streamline its Google Shopping connection earlier this month, Google is now expanding its third-party shopping partners, with WooCommerce, GoDaddy and Square all soon set to join the platform’s eCommerce integrations. In addition to this, Google is looking to stay in touch with the next phase of digital product discovery, through the expanded use of AR (augmented reality) for item listings and promotions. Given the popularity of video content more broadly, the integration makes sense, and it’ll be interesting to see how Google incorporates these new options into search and maps – which could make Google My Business listings a much more significant consideration for eCommerce in the near future. Say Goodbye to Shortnames Google created shortnames, or shortlinks, to make it easier for businesses to provide a direct link to Maps (directions) and the Listing (Review requests, Offers, etc). After a brief existence, shortlinks are being retired. If your business created a shortlink, it will continue to work. If you did not create a shortlink, the option will not be visible and you will be unable to create a new link. Find a Recycling Location Google is launching an initiative which will help people find places where they can drop off their junk or materials they no longer need so that it can be processed and recycled. Google Maps is introducing new tools which will help people to find out where they can dispose of their used materials so they can be recycled properly. Verified businesses which will be accepting recycling material can use Google My Business to let people know the type of materials like clothing, electronics, batteries, hazardous waste, glass, plastics which they will be accepting for recycling. Easier Editing of GMB Business owners can now add their local service offerings (e.g., eyelash extensions, leak repairs, ground wire installations, etc.) to their GMB profiles directly from Search. And, beginning next week, local businesses will be able to schedule Google Posts from directly within Search. In order to update your GMB profile from Search or Maps, you must be logged into a Google account associated with your business. To update your profile from Search, type in your business name or “my business.” To update it from Maps, tap on your profile picture followed by “Your Business Profile.” *For restaurants.* Restaurant owners can now add menu items to their GMB profile from Search and Maps. Google is also rolling out the ability to add and update ordering options (i.e., pick-up or delivery) from Search — that feature will be arriving in the coming weeks. In addition, restaurant and service business owners can now enable online bookings through their GMB profiles from Search. To take advantage of this feature, business owners must sign up with a Reserve with Google partner. Local Opportunity Finder Google launched a new tool called Local Opportunity Finder. The tool is designed to provide local business owners with tailored recommendations to improve their visibility on Search and Maps. Business owners can simply enter the name of their business into the tool and Google will provide a list of resources, such as how to respond to reviews or tips for uploading photos. Local GMB Search vs an Informational Search In the split second it takes for Google to produce a search result, one of the most important, and sometimes frustrating aspects of the result, is intent. Google interprets the searchers intent into four moments – Know, Go, Do and Buy. Searchers early in their buying journey want to ‘know” how to do something while later in the journey, right before purchase, is a “buy” moment. Customers searching for a local business (plumber, restaurant, retail) are more likely wanting to buy, thus Google provides local results via GMB listings. From an SEO perspective, the rules are the same. *Google affirms that the SEO for content is the same:* “It’s essentially the same. We don’t do anything different with regard to these different kinds of pages. But rather we try to find the content on the page, understand how it’s relevant and treat that appropriately.” Site Manager User Role to be Retired After October 24, 2021, the Site manager role will no longer be available in Google My Business. Anyone who manages your business as a Site manager will be converted to Manager. Managers are able to make additional changes to your Business Profiles on Search, Maps, and other Google services. If you would like to remove any Site managers from your Business Profile before his change occurs, you can manage who has access to your profiles by heading to business.google.com. Til next month!

Barb 0:00Have you ever thought about adopting a pet? Maybe you’ve had to make that difficult decision to surrender your beloved four legged friend? Well, whatever the case, our guest today can help answer some of the toughest feline and canine questions. Barb 0:18Welcome, Bill. Bill Thorn is the director of marketing and public relations for the Regina Humane Society. And he’s here with us today to navigate those murky waters of pet adoption and surrender. Barb 0:32Now bill, I’m going to welcome you so please say hi to everyone. Bill Thorn 0:36Hello. Barb 0:38And then I’m going to give you a little bit of information on CJTRs 20th annual radiothon, which is on now and runs until October 7. So radiothon is that week-long festival of special programming, and a fundraiser for the community radio station. And this year, we’re hoping to raise $20,000 in celebration of our 20th anniversary. Barb 1:01So if you’d like to donate, you can also receive a limited edition gift. Donations of $100 we’ll get a limited edition t-shirt that’s only available to radiothon donors. And I have one of last year’s t-shirts from when I donated and it is a fantastic shirt. So I’d really encourage you to do that. Barb 1:23If you’re donating $25 you’ll also be entered into a draw for some special prize packages that feature some pretty amazing products from local businesses. So just for example, some of the prizes in the package include The Cure kitchen and bar, Vintage Vinyl Hemp Emporium, The Optical Shoppe, Bushwakker Brew Pub, Pacific Fresh Fish, Cathedral Pet Shop, Keepaway Gourmet, Above the Fold Digital Marketing (that’s us), Neutral Ground, Regina Folk Festival, Cathedral Social Hall and JDs Sausage Supplies. Barb 2:03So celebrate local voices and culture by streaming tuning in and pledging your support to 91.3 FM CJTR for Regina community radio during radioTHON 2021. You’d like to make a donation, you can call 306525727 for extension 102. Thank you. Barb 2:27And Bill back to you. Please introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about the Humane Society. Bill Thorn 2:33First off I want to say people should support CJ tr they are wonderful Humane Society supporters as well. And we work with them a couple of times a year. So hopefully things go well. Barb 2:40I appreciate that. Yeah. Bill Thorn 2:42So as I said, my name is Bill Thorn, I’m the director marketing and Public Relations at that you’re joining me in Saudi and and I’ve been there for about six and a half years, and basically responsible for making sure that everybody knows about what’s going on at the Humane Society in all our different areas, including our dog training program and our education outreach programs. And it’s been a wonderful experience to work there. And lots of really wonderful people are there. Our volunteers, the people that adopt our supporters have been fantastic to get to know and it’s been quite an experience over the last number of years. Barb 3:15And I think the Humane Society is responsible for a heck of a lot more than just adoption. So tell me a little bit about your role in the community because I think you’re actually a pillar in the community in terms of the role that you serve. Bill Thorn 3:28Well you know, you’re quite correct in that we’re very much a part of the community and like many others when I first went there even you know, what people know the Humane Society for is our adoption program primarily where people can adopt cats and kittens and, and other some small critters as well, rabbits and, and so on and so forth. Bill Thorn 3:49But we also play a number of other roles. And one of them is, you know, we provide impound and bylaw enforcement for the city of Regina, we also enforce the Animal Protection Act of Saskatchewan, which is the act of provincial legislation that protects animals from neglect and abuse. Bill Thorn 4:07I mentioned our education and outreach programs. were part of the safety community in Regina, where, you know we have a mandate to work with children, adults, people that are new to the community to help them understand responsible pet ownership, safe pet ownership. We work with the Saskatchewan health authority on a program called the dog smart, which is a bite prevention program every year and in Regina there’s the last statistic I had was over 600 dog bites per year in Regina, and those are just the ones that are reported. Bill Thorn 4:42That would not so it is a bit of a problem and most of those bites actually are to children. One of the things we teach kids at a very basic level is how to interact with a dog that you don’t know in particular, but even when you do I mean they’ll want to go give it a big hug around their neck. Right at the most level, and you see a lot of kids get bit, get bit on the face. Barb 5:04So from there sorry, Bill, you actually just touched on a Really? I don’t know, personal things for me. But is it usually the family pet? Or is it a stranger dog, Bill Thorn 5:16I don’t have any hard statistics on that. The SHA would, okay, they’re the ones that track that stuff. But often it is a known pet. Bill Thorn 5:27You know, one of the basic things we do, and we, we go into schools, and we have resources available for teachers that they can take out. And we’re also developing an entire curriculum right now that we hope to launch in early 2022. for teachers that can help teach not only how to interact with animals, but also some of the basic human, what’s the word I’m looking for things we want people to do to feel empathy, respect for other people and things. Bill Thorn 5:52Understanding

Barb 0:00Good afternoon. I am super excited today to introduce Daria Mallon. She is the founder and principal with boost coaching. She’s not about the fluff. So there’s so much, you know, fun and nice to do stuff in marketing. But what I really enjoyed with her is like she’s down to business. What do I need to do to sell more stuff? Barb 0:24Daria, welcome. And you know what, even as I say that, am I pronouncing that correctly? Daria Malin 0:29You are Yeah. Barb 0:30Okay. Perfect. So welcome. And please just give us a bit of a brief introduction. Daria Malin 0:36I’m Daria Malin, my company is Boost Strategic Coaching. And I work with entrepreneurs to help them gain clarity and confidence in your business development and marketing strategy. Daria Malin 0:47Often as entrepreneurs, we feel like we’re the best kept secret. And it’s often just because we don’t know how to effectively connect and make an impact with the people who really should be buying from us. Daria Malin 1:00And so I work with entrepreneurs as well as professional service providers who want a copilot and some actionable steps and tools to take your business sort of from crickets to conversions is sometimes what I say if you don’t know how to connect with your with your best prospects, meaning the ones who really should be buying from you the niche markets that are the best fit for what problem you solve, then that’s who that’s who comes my way. Daria Malin 1:27And I spent 16-17 years in advertising and sales. So I bring to the table, a bunch of restarts where I built my business from zero to full capacity, and an understanding of how advertising works and how to sell. Barb 1:44So you and I talked a little bit, just an email before we were making arrangements for our session today. And you know that that how, how does a local business? How do you make a dent in the noise that’s out there? What’s your take on something like that? Daria Malin 2:02I want to start by, I guess asking people if they can answer the question, what is a brand? Because when we’re talking about making a dent in business, really what we mean is be branded so people buy from us, right? Barb 2:15Yes, I know, when I think about a brand, it’s the feeling that the customer receives when they interact with my business. And ideally, they would receive that same feeling, whether they interact with me on social media, in person, through a video, whatever it might be. Daria Malin 2:39I always suggest that your brand is simply what people are saying about you when you’re not in the room. Or the story people are telling about you when you’re not in the room. Daria Malin 2:50Ultimately, your brand is what you’re known for. Yeah. And I’ll often use the example of Coca Cola, if you just saw the Coca Cola logo by itself, and they’ve never done any marketing. It would mean nothing, just a red and white words and background. Daria Malin 3:06But coke decided that their story is coke brings joy, right? That’s their brand. And so for generations now they have told that story over and over again through Santa Claus, polar bears, singing on a hill, you know, being at the Olympics, all the things that they’ve done, to reinforce coke brings joy, and even the red and white Santa Claus that we know and love became popular because of marketing by Coca Cola before that there were tall, skinny sandwiches in green, and all sorts of different sizes. Daria Malin 3:43But they brought all of this to their brand to reinforce that one story coke brings joy. So to come back to the question, how do you build your business? Or Yeah, how do you? How do you build your your brand? You have to figure out what you want that story to be first, what do you want to be known for? Daria Malin 4:03Yep. And I usually suggest people figure out first, who do you want to serve? And what main problem do you solve for that group of people or for those groups? And so that’s where you start is Who do you want to serve? Daria Malin 4:18If you haven’t figured out first who your target audiences are, then you’re trying to be everything to everybody, you won’t end up being anything to anybody because your messaging will miss the mark. And also, if I told you tomorrow, start targeting everybody with your marketing, like how would you do that? Right, and nobody has the budget to do that. Barb 4:37Okay, so let me challenge, I agree with you. But I want to challenge that thinking a little bit because one of the one of the toughest things I find in local is there’s lots of bars, there’s lots of coffee shops, there’s lots of dog trainers. So how do I who lts say I train dogs, okay, I trained dogs. I now need to differentiate myself. How do I find that story? Barb 5:02Who do I want to serve? I want to primarily serve families who get a new puppy. And families who are experiencing separation anxiety, how how do we kind of go that next level? And say, Yep, you are my potential client, but you’re not. And how do I start to get the message that message through? Daria Malin 5:26Well, that’s so I think, and you already mentioned two different target audiences there, right? One that is just families with a new puppy. They don’t want the puppy to ruin their furniture and their lives and keep them up at night. Daria Malin 5:40Kay, but a separate group, you’re saying that people bring in dogs, because of separation anxiety in their life, and a dog helps to feel like to? Barb 5:49Oh, no. What do

Barb 0:03And it’s time for Episode 87 of The Secret Life of Entrepreneurs with a very special guest, Craig Reed from Virtus group. Barb 0:12Craig is a partner with Virtus group. And they provide advice in terms of accounting, tax, business advisory services for small and medium sized businesses, entrepreneurs across a number of different industries. So today, we’re gonna answer all those burning accounting questions and come on. I know that’s the stuff that keeps you up at night. So let’s go, let’s take a deep dive into the world of a chartered professional accountant, and find out what that world looks like. Craig, welcome. Craig 0:46Thanks very much for having me. Barb 0:49It’s a pleasure to have you here. So just quickly, tell us a little bit about, you know, Virtus group in your role with the company. Craig 0:58Okay, well, Virtus group is an independent accounting firm, but that I just mean that we’re more of a regional firm. So we’ve got offices in Regina, Saskatoon, and a satellite office in St. Vance or Saskatchewan based and that’s where we do most of our work. Our clients of course range from doing business in Canada to across the world. So we have resources we tap into from that, but an independence means we’re not like a national or international firm, that’s part of those things, but we are part of an alliance that helps us access those resources. Craig 1:22So we’re at about 125 people between our two main offices are Regina and Saskatoon and and so as you said, at the top, our clients range from a gas station to an egg employment dealer to nonprofit organizations of significant size. So we’re just like the Saskatchewan economy in terms of the client base we represent because it’s everything that we do we egg oil, and gas, all the rest of it. Craig 1:44So personally, I deal a lot with I focus on owner managed business, like entrepreneurs, and I deal a lot with restaurants, real estate construction, and professional sort of intellectual sort of doctors, lawyers, marketing advisors, all that sort of stuff. Yeah. Barb 2:00So you must see quite a bit of elasticity in that industry. Then when one goes up, the other is going down. You know, is that or do they go kind of up and down at the same time. Craig 2:09It’s interesting, like in 2020 egg and pumpkin dealers and egg producers had a really strong year. And so they were a little bit immune from some of the COVID impacts. And so, real estate has its cyclical, it’s always up and down. And particularly Home Builders had a bit of a lull in 19. And then 20, it was like nothing’s happening, and now they’re going good guns again. But then the supply chain issues and construction businesses are also causing its own issues there. So it’s, it’s, as you say, like this Saskatchewan economy is largely driven by oil and gas and agriculture. And so a lot of stuff does trickle out of that. But it can be a little bit counter or a little bit operating in different sorts of sequences and cycles, for sure. Yeah, Barb 2:49Yeah. And so just as a firm, do you find that because you’re in a wide variety of industries, that you’re able to level out that client intake and outtake or churn. Craig 2:59Yeah, we’re, we’re always healthy things grow. We’re always trying to grow and, and we generally do achieve that through sort of organic growth for the most part. But it is interesting, because through 19, and 20, there was a lot of sort of a slowdown. So our specialty work was slowing down, like advisory, tax planning, that sort of stuff. Craig 3:18But the ongoing engagements like that, that you need to come to your account every year to get your financial names textured done that was growing into sort of a pace, so but in 2019, we did sort of have a little bit of a stagnant year like we’re we’re mostly flat just because of the economy a little bit slow. But yeah, we were lucky in that way that we’re sort of diversified. Where we’re not as concentrated are risks. So we don’t have the same ups and downs that other businesses might have in terms of how their business flows. Barb 3:42Exactly. So talk to me a little bit about why a small business owner would hire an accountant, and what are the benefits that they would receive? Craig 3:52How much time do I have? Barb 3:5425 minute clock. Craig 3:57Okay. But I would just say that no matter what question you ask an accountant, the answer is generally going to be It depends, right? We always say it depends. We want to get more of the background for it. And that’s what they’re doing a tax question. Can I deduct this, that sort of stuff. But there’s sort of a priority period, I would say, with accounting. So at the base level is sort of are my financial statements correct, and accurate and timely, because they tell us a story about what happened. I love financial games, because they tell me what happened last year. Barb 4:25Exactly. It’s history right? Where most business owners are very focused on the future. Craig 4:30Exactly. And this is why annual financial statements like you’ll engage an accounting firm to do your tax return and maybe get to the bank at the end of the year. It’s somewhat less useful because we’re always in the rearview mirror. And sometimes it takes, say, three months to get the records in and I’ll get the work done. So with accounting information, it’s always sort of this, this, this healthy tension between the timeliness the more timely it is, the more useful it is. Craig 4:52But the less accurate it is when you’re sort of like you can think

Barb 0:01Coming up on our episode today, we’re live with Tyler Clark from Prairie Benefit Solutions. Barb 0:08In today’s episode of The Secret Life of Entrepreneurs, we’re going to talk about employee benefit plans. And I know you’re gonna need a fresh cup of coffee for this conversation. But if you’re a local business owner, this is a very important conversation, new employees are looking to understand the benefits that they will receive. And if you’ve got employees who are younger, then these are super important issues to them. So benefit plans come in all shapes and sizes, and Taylor’s going to tell us the ins and outs and how to understand what we might want to consider as a business. But here’s the part that’s particularly important to me. It’s tailored to your business. So before I, you know, steal all of his thunder Tyler, welcome. Thank you for being here. Tyler 1:01Thanks, Barb. It’s good to be here. Barb 1:03It’s an absolute pleasure. So start off, just tell us a little bit about yourself and pre benefits solutions. Tyler 1:09But yeah, I worked for pre benefits where basically We help business owners set up employee benefit programs, we are a group benefit consultants that work with a variety of different insurance companies. But something that makes us a bit unique, is we have the exclusive advisors for the chambers of commerce group insurance plan here in your Regina and surrounding area. And maybe we’ll talk about that program later. And then we also do life and Disability Insurance planning. So we’re just, you know, great big hits at parties, right? We love insurance, you know, and specialize in insurance, so hopefully your audience doesn’t fall asleep on me. Barb 1:52Exactly. And you know, if nothing else, there’s probably a couple of tips they can get for their next game, a Trivial Pursuit in here. If Google’s on hand, okay, so let’s start there. So an Employee Benefit Plan versus a personal or private plan. So I could go to you and say, Hey, we want a business Employee Benefit Plan. And I can also buy private insurance from you. Did I understand correctly? Tyler 2:17Sorry, the personal insurance would be life insurance and disability insurance. Okay. Um, yeah, so, not not quite, we don’t we don’t sell personal plans, like Blue Cross, GMS. That’s something you could get as an individual. Okay, but we just focus on that business market for the health and dental side of things. Barb 2:36Okay. And are all of the group plans that you do through that chamber plan? Or are there a variety of different plans that you support? Tyler 2:44Yeah, the majority of our clients are through the chambers plan, but we do work with other carriers when it makes sense. So this the small and midsize Bart market, it really makes sense that that chambers program, it just has cost stability, and it provides a lot of value for what you get. Barb 3:03Okay, so let’s start there. Why as a local business owner, why would I want an employee benefit plan? Why can’t my employees just go get private plans? Or you know, why? Why do I want one? Tyler 3:16That’s that’s really good question Barb. So there are a few answers to that. Let’s just stick to the kind of three that come to mind number one is you care about your employees right , they’re part of your family and you want to provide protection for them if something happens and not only protection for them, but their family as well. Tyler 3:36So that’s what a benefit program provides is, you know, catastrophic coverage and ability to go for the just preventative maintenance type of things like your massage or dental that people probably wouldn’t go to until they had pain in their mouth or a significant back issue or, or that kind of thing. Right? So that just helps their Yeah, their health and well being. Tyler 3:59Number two, it’s smart spending. So if you’re a business owner, and you’re looking to compensate your employees a little bit more than last year, well, your options are you could give them an additional salary bump in their salary. But when you do that, you’re paying into all the government benefits. You have your workers comp, your UI, your CPP, and then the employee is also getting taxed on their additional salary. Right. So that is an option. That’s fine. But Your other option is you could set up a Benefits Program. Tyler 4:30You’re as an employer as a business owner, your component or your portion that you’re paying into it is a business, taxable business expense or tax deductible business expense. Okay, and then you don’t have to pay into the government programs like the CPP II, W CB, and then, yeah, the employee isn’t getting taxed as well. Barb 4:52Okay, so let’s take a step back. When we talk about an employee benefit plan, what do we most commonly see In a benefit plan. Tyler 5:02Yeah, and you address it on the front end, Barb, you said there’s lots of different plans out there. So some of the common ones, especially for someone who’s maybe just setting up a plan to start just getting into it, you’d see, there’d be a life insurance benefit. And then health and dental. Tyler 5:19So in the health component, you’d have prescription drugs, and then paramedical services. So what that means is your massage Cairo acupuncture, there’s a list of different specialties there. And then medical emergency travel insurance, when you’re out of the country, you’re traveling, you’re covered for any medical emergency. So those are kind of the main pieces of a health plan. And then obviously, dental is fairly self explanatory. Barb 5:43Exactly. So then how does it get customized by business by employer by employee, whatever it is, how does it actually end up getting customized?

Barb 00:02Welcome to today’s episode of The Secret Life of entrepreneurs. Today’s guest is going to talk dollars and cents. And as my 14 year old said to me probably a couple of years ago now, isn’t money, really what makes the world go round mum? And I thought, wow, at 12, she already had that insight. So Brendan McGuire from Affinity Credit Union joins us today to talk dollars and cents as a local business. Brendon. Welcome! Brendan 00:32Barb, thanks for having me. It’s a pleasure to have you here. Barb 00:35So start off by, you know, tell us a little bit about yourself and your role at Affinity credit union. Brendan 00:40Well, I came over to the financial world, I’m going to say 14 years ago now prior to that I was a broadcaster, which is one of my first loves. And I just love talking to people and communicating with people. And then I wanted to learn a little bit more about personal finance. And I moved over and worked for a charter bank for 11 years and realized, you know what, this isn’t so complicated if you just take the time to sit down and learn it and talk these things out. And I’ve always loved communicating with people and customer service. And in 2018, pretty well, exactly three years ago to this episode, I decided I wanted a new challenge. And I took on my current role with affinity Credit Union, as they call this a small and medium enterprise specialist. And now my title is business advisor. But it’s effectively the same thing we deal with small businesses, you name it, farmers, restaurant owners, any kind of retail owner, property owners, anything commercial, we do it and it’s been a fantastic learning experience and a great challenge. Barb 01:44So okay, let’s talk a little bit about the difference between that bank and credit union, because having been in the banking environment, was it a culture shock for you? Or what was some of the very first things that you noticed? When you like, from an employee standpoint? Like, what’s the difference between the two? Really? Brendan 02:02You know, I don’t have anything bad to say about charter banks. I mean, I have a lot of friends who still work there, I enjoyed my time working there. But I personally prefer the credit union approach. When you think about the flowchart of who matters with the charter bank, number one, it’s the shareholders. Number two, it’s the profit margin or the bottom line there, sorry, the shareholders and then it’s, the customers come in second. And then number three, you know, the employees at the bank. With the credit union, it’s all about the members, there’s no shareholders, there’s no dividends that have to be paid out. And everything is very local. So for example, decisions are made out of head office, when I worked for the charter bank, all of the decisions would be made out of Toronto, and Toronto doesn’t exist in their mind it sometimes when you watch them do a newscast, you’ll watch their weatherman go over the weather map, and he’ll talk about BC, he’ll talk about Alberta, he’ll scroll right over Saskatchewan, talk about Manitoba, etc, etc. So sometimes when you’re talking about, let’s say, for example, you know, a small farm or an oilfield company or something out in a small town, they’re not really all that sympathetic toward what the lending needs are of this business or the viability of that business. Whereas if you’re accountable, locally, which our head office is based in Saskatoon, it’s a whole different ball of wax. So I found a big, big difference. One thing that I kind of had fun with early on was, I’ve always done podcasting for the Regina Red Sox, their webcasts? Yeah. And I’ve always loved their organization. And I approached the team President Gary Brotzle about, hey, is there a way maybe you could partner with affinity credit union, and he said, we would love to partner with affinity credit union, I took it to our head office or marketing team, they loved the idea. And we were able to strike a partnership. Yeah. I don’t know that that ever would have happened when I was working for the charter bank. So that was certainly a bit of an eye opener for me as well. Barb 04:06You know, and, without knocking the banks, I think you give them too much credit, because I don’t think they would have even heard that proposal, the Regina Red Sox would mean nothing to them. And I think that’s the biggest difference between a bank and a credit union, having the decisions made here. There’s been numerous times in my own corporate career and then even as a small business owner, if a decision has to be made in Toronto, our numbers don’t make sense to them. The fact that we have a population just over a million, like them, that’s nowhere near a viable market for a business. And so they crunch those numbers and they say, oh, there’s no way this business is going to make it. So I think you know, the good old Saskatchewan mentality that we’re pretty hardy here and you know, we do whatever we need to do to survive definitely. Brendan 04:53Especially the industries here like agriculture, I think especially because agriculture is a very specific industry very different from pretty well all other industries. And I’m not sure in southern Ontario, they have the same grasp of that as the people making those decisions locally do. Barb 05:08No, absolutely not, I actually went to university out in southern Ontario. And yeah, it was, it was different, totally different than what I had grown up with here in Saskatchewan. And not better, not worse, just different. And if you’re going to stay there, if you’re going to work there, you just

Barb 0:18Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for being here. The first thing we’re going to do this afternoon, it’s just after lunch. I’m going to do a really quick introduction for Mark. And He is here so then we will be ready to go. Good. Mark. You’re there. All right. Well, welcome to everyone. Mark nice is our guest today. And Mark is a president of Rebellion Brewing. Rebellion Brewing is a local craft brewer here in Regina, Saskatchewan. And, you know, I think their tagline says it all. Be a rebel and drink great beer. And on that note, Mark, I’m gonna have you open up your mic and introduce yourself. Tell us a little bit about rebellion and your history because you do have quite the rebellious history. Mark 2:05Oh, yeah, sure. Yeah. Lots, lots, lots. Um, thanks for having me. I hope folks buy this fun and enjoyable. And I hope I can talk about all sorts of things. And so I hope I talk about things you want me to talk about? So if not, just ask the questions, and I will try and just go down that rabbit hole instead. Um, yeah, I already get off the beaten path when you want to know that history or this or that. I can ultimately tell you, I’m from Regina born and raised. I went to school at the U of R. I took business school. And I worked as an accountant, and then I transitioned into IT. After a few years of being an accountant, I worked in IT for 17 years. Okay, and those were all great. I learned a ton of skills focused on a ton of different things. But I really enjoyed brewing beer. I enjoyed beer just as an enthusiast as a teenager. I thought it was pretty cool. And I always like your different stuff. I love weird, different music. I will like weird different foods. I just always want something a little bit different, I guess. Yeah, I guess that’s kind of how I see it as destiny to end up running Rebellion Brewing, I guess. But yeah, so I started home brewing just over 15 years ago. And I really love that I love spending all my free time doing that, like anything. If it’s a passion, that doesn’t feel like work, so do I. And you know, I know a lot of folks that enjoy hobbies as hobbies, and they don’t ever want to turn that into a business. I was pretty worried about that when we decided to open a brewery. Okay, but I enjoy every single day of it. I get up. I’m excited. I get up way too early. I don’t know about you, folks. But yeah, if you wanna, if you do want to chat with me, tech messaged me at five in the morning, I’ll probably it’s probably the best time to catch me. Because then I end up doing this stuff all day. Barb 3:56Exactly. So let’s just back up there. Okay, so teenagers like beer, no surprises there. I don’t think we know too many teenage boys that don’t like beer. But like, what made you sit on your couch one night and go? You know what? I bet it could make a living off making beer. What made you and your partners come to that conclusion because I know, a ton of people brew in their basement, but they don’t pop up as a brewery and especially when it gets to be pretty well known. Mark 4:23Yes. So I wouldn’t say our story’s a whole lot different than a lot of other breweries. There’s now over 1200 craft breweries in Canada. But for us at the time, we seemed like we were pretty good at making beer at home. So we figured we do everything. So we should open a brewery. And you know, at that point, we oh, we only officially opened just over seven years ago. So we started thinking about it about eight or nine years ago. There’s very few other breweries here. And as someone that travels, you know, around North America, you can see that crappier exploding everywhere else. So it seemed like there was definitely a good opportunity and a good time. And we didn’t we certainly didn’t know anyone else here in the province that knew more about beer than us other than folks that already were running breweries. Okay. So that seemed to make sense. And, yes, I was reasonably successful in IT, but it wasn’t super rewarding. Honestly, I still make way less money doing this. So my wife absolutely encouraged and supported me on this. But some days, it’s kind of hard when you kind of look at what I used to make versus what I make now. Barb 5:25Mm hmm. Yep. But there’s something to be said for life satisfaction. Mark 5:31Yeah, again, I have zero. I do have zero regrets. And we’re gonna be okay. So yeah, Barb 5:37Exactly. Okay, so tell us a little bit about your journey. So you guys sat on the couch tonight? You said, Yeah, we’re gonna do this. Now. I agree with you wholeheartedly. There was a pretty significant trend until you were caught in that wave. What happens though, with all say, the big dawgs, those national players, you know, how do they take to a craft brewery? Do they really even pay any attention? What does that look like? Mark 6:04Well, I can tell you right now. I mean, we were talking about it yesterday in the office. I know. I know. It’s a fact that some of the big brewers offer deals to bars and restaurants and event centers, some of them do. And the stipulation is that if they’re going to give that, that offer to someone that they cannot carry Rebellion beer. So clearly, we’re viewed as a threat. And I know about it, because some

Barb 0:00So our guest today is Scott love. And he is the owner of store to door, a new business here in Saskatchewan that many of you may have heard about. But Scott’s a bit of a serial entrepreneur with a passion for local and a real knack for business. So he started his first business when he was 18 years old and spent the next number of years in the franchise and food space. Barb 0:24His franchise includes everything from Subway, Panago pizza, Starbucks, lots of names that we all know and probably frequent on a regular basis. Barb 0:35But no task is too small for Scott, he decided that his next gig and the gig we’re going to talk about today is taking on the likes of Amazon when it comes to local delivery. So without further ado, Scott, please speak and you will pop up onto my screen and let’s chat. Let’s hear all about it. Scott 0:56Cool. Well, thanks, Barb. Thanks, everybody, for having me. And I look forward to discussing some of these local challenges that are going on in our local economy. Like Barb said, I’ve been in business for about 25 years now. Scott 1:10But like, mostly in the food business, and, you know, learn most of my ups and downs in that business. And, you know, when COVID hits back, you know, early 2020, I saw this big opportunity for brick and mortar retail and local retailers, you know, in our local economy, specifically, that they’re going to run into a ton of challenges, getting their product out of their doors, and into people’s hands. Scott 1:40And I could see the rise of companies like Amazon just you know, doing a, you know, an okay job at it. But everybody’s skirting around our local, our local retailers. And that was super concerning to me. Scott 1:53And that’s where, you know, this idea started. And, you know, we knew we had to move quickly, we knew we had to get it off the ground. I had tons of time on my hand because all my other businesses were closed. Okay. So I, you know, hunkered down and launched Store to Door late 2020. And, you know, we’re 11 months later, or 12 months later. We’re seeing some really great things coming from it. And we’ve helped a lot of businesses in those last year. Barb 2:20Yeah, I bet. And in fact, you’re in northern Saskatchewan. You’re actually in Alberta right now as well, aren’t you? Scott 2:27Yet we’re in Regina, Saskatoon, Calgary, Edmonton, and Winnipeg. Barb 2:32So let’s just talk about the logistics for a second is it local delivery city limits city product, or is also is there also some, you know, Regina, Saskatoon, intra delivery, Scott 2:44We do stay within our local area around the local retailers. Majority, you know, we do deliver to Emerald Park, Balgonie, Pilot Butte those types of areas. And in Saskatoon and kind of bedroom communities, we don’t enter delivery between city to city that would be hours away. What we really focus on is getting our product from the retailer’s door to the clients that were in one direct route, versus going through distribution channels and that sort of thing. Barb 3:15So I have to think that there’s some pretty sophisticated technology behind where the drivers go, how they get where they need to go in an efficient manner, things like that. Did you have access to that technology already? Or was that part of your development? Scott 3:30So a little bit of both. When we first started, we needed to prove the concepts, we used a third party product to be able to do that. And since then, we’ve built our own products in house. Here in Regina, we have a group of engineers that work on our team that have built this platform. And we continue to build the product out and perfected as we continue to go. Barb 3:55Take. So yeah, you’ve got a lot of technical pieces. And then how many drivers do you have, if you looked at your fleet size, right now? Scott 4:02I’m currently, we’d be over a hundred and in our fleets, we really rely on the gig economy to be able to backfill that, you know, flexibility. This is a driving gig that you can make quick, easy money. It’s not really there for you know, the eight hour worker, because it’s a very grueling job, to be delivering, driving, picking up and all those sorts of pieces. But it’s a good way for people to supplement your income. And we’ve seen a lot of success from that. Barb 4:34So I think gig economy so a lot of university students, part time workers, things like that, I presume, Scott 4:40Yeah, retirees are a big market for us. You know, and just yet anybody that’s looking to make some extra money that can fill it in around their current career. That’s where we see a lot of success from it. Barb 4:53Yeah, yeah, I can totally see how that would work then. So tell me a little bit about the process. So why buy something online? I really have no idea how it’s getting to me as a consumer, but somewhere you get involved. So how does that handoff happen? Scott 5:09Yep. So there’s two ways that we do it. The simplest way is through integration. Scott 5:15So for example, if you’re using Shopify as an E commerce platform, potentially as your local business, which is, you know, doing the whole transaction, we integrate on the back end of Shopify, and when they select Local same day delivery, it would shoot that information across to us. Scott 5:33So that we have all the important information like their phone number, their address, the name, that sort of thing. And as soon as that product is ready and fulfilled, it will be tagged in the back of Shopify,

Barb 0:00Today’s guest is the head honcho of the South Saskatchewan Community Foundation. What the heck is a community foundation? You know, honestly, until I started talking to Donna and her team, I had no clue. But boy, has it been a steep learning curve for me. Barb 0:16Donna has been with the foundation for about three years. But she spent the majority of her career in either the charity or the nonprofit sector. This is a busy lady folks, the fact that we pinned her down for 25 minutes to talk to her, like, Wow, I feel so important right now. So first off, Donna, thank you so much for being here. Donna 0:37Thank you so much for having me. I’m glad to be here. Barb 0:41Absolutely. I can’t wait to learn more about you and the foundation. Now of course it is you’re such a busy lady, you are a so actively involved in the community, the coaching Federation, the Association of Fundraising Professionals, tell me a little bit about what drives you what keeps Donna going on a daily basis. Donna 1:03So really interesting, thank you for asking, I am a lifelong learner. So I like to keep up to date on what’s happening in community, what’s happening in these organizations, the ones that, you know, I find, for me personally, to be interesting along with my career. And so I’m always looking for opportunities to learn and to understand from others, and then to help others as well, if I know something that I can share with them. So I like being involved. And I, you know, I think that it’s helped me throughout my entire life. But I’ve always been like that. And I hope to pass some of that to my kids too. They become capes. Barb 1:46That is fantastic. When I read through your bio, when I was getting ready for our show today, the word that jumped out at me or the word that came to mind to describe you, you are a contributor, you look to give back to your community, I suspect your friends, your family. It’s how you’re driven, isn’t it, Donna? Donna 2:06Yes, that’s very interesting. I haven’t thought of it that way. But I do like to not just myself, but I like to offer it I have something to offer. I like to help others and help them understand help me community. It’s just the way you’re built. Sometimes I think and perhaps the way you’re brought up, or you know, so you just kind of have that innately that desire continue to pay forward. Barb 2:33Yes, absolutely. So let me ask you this question, then. How do you balance your time, because I know for people, other other friends and family than I know that direct giver by nature, you also have to find that balance so that you can recharge. So how do you do that? How do you balance? Donna 2:52Really good question Barb. And lots of times, we don’t even like to think about that. Because it actually puts you into a zone that you have to slow down and think about how you’re recharging. But what I do know is that if you do not recharge yourself, you’re not good for others. Donna 3:10And you don’t you know, you’re showing others that it’s important to take care of yourself so that you can be that person for other whether it’s community or people or family. So I really like to look at I’ve always looked at work life balance to I, you know, I like to I like work, I’ve always liked work. Donna 3:37But I know that family life is also important. And so I really try to balance those pieces. I don’t think my children would say that things are done by because it wasn’t for my husband, we’ve always made sure that we were present. Yes, one for sure. And, you know, because I have a good support system, and was able to engage in community. And that really matters as well. Donna 4:06My husband helps children all the time. And he’s coached and you know, and I was able to follow a few of my dreams, which was going back to school and work and different things. So you learn how to balance I love enacting mindfulness into my day, being grateful, you know, using a journal to to learn about yourself and the things that you’re grateful for. It completely slows down your day, especially in the morning. And it yes, it makes you more mindful of what you’re doing. Barb 4:44Yes, absolutely. I actually took a mindfulness class from from a local business here. And when I started the class, I was kind of thinking yeah, I don’t know like, but by the end, I loved Oh, Joanne did such a wonderful job in that class. And we actually did a retreat at the end at the university. And I remember walking around, and being able to enjoy kicking water in puddles. Like I hadn’t since I was a kid, like, how cool is kicking water, and I had no kids with me. So I like got tic tic. And it was awesome. Right? Donna 5:28So, you know, we don’t take enough time. We’re busy, right? That is that word. I don’t even like that word easy. But if you can press in the things that you’re doing, yes, that’s most important. And I remember once I was with somebody, and they said, I was talking to my inner function, and I said, Oh, they asked me how my week was going. And I said, this is about 10 years ago. Donna 5:54And I said, you know, I just can’t wait for the week to be done. It’s been a long week, he looked at me. And they said, Not Ever wish a moment away? Yes. Take the time you need present with it.