We live in a world where unexpected things can happen. Prices of goods may change on a dime. Regulatory policies may be introduced or modified in a certain industry that will change the way your business interacts with its target market. And occasionally, instances of injury, professional liability, negligence, wear or damage to equipment may rear their heads in the path of any small business plan.

Would your business be prepared in the event of just such a setback? Having sufficient cash on hand to deal with an interruption or complication (lest one arise) is a critical component of any business strategy. In addition to having a trustworthy and consistent source of access to capital, business insurance is a valuable form of protection against the unexpected. Today's blog looks at some of the different options and applications of insurance for small businesses.
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Today is a special day for huge nerds such as your blogger: May the fourth! Because of a delicious homophonic similarity to the iconic utterance "may the Force be with you", fans of Star Wars the world over have made May 4 an unofficial celebration of the films and the wide fictional universe that has sprung up around them. With the announcement of a seventh film, directed by JJ Abrams, for this coming December, the classic science fiction story is very much back in vogue, poised to captivate a new generation of film-goers. Today, the blog looks at the iconic series and the valuable ideas it may hold for small businesses in our own galaxy.
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Welcome to the May edition of the Merchant Advisor!
It’s already well into spring and the conclusion of the first fiscal quarter, and we can barely believe how quickly time seems to have passed since our last newsletter. Time is an interesting topic when it comes to the alternative lending and financial industry: as new service providers emerge in the market, the conversation often turns to the speed and efficiency with which they can process funding requests for clients. Algorithmic systems and automation are often brought up as examples of progress in this regard. (more…)

The latest in our series of Merchant Advance Loans 101 videos is live, featuring CEO David Gens addressing some of the most important questions our customers have raised about the Merchant Advance model. This week, we choose to address a common concern among business owners that contact us: the strength of their personal credit score. Numerous small businesses may have been looked over by larger financial institutions on grounds that include the status of their credit score or recent changes to their credit status. At Merchant, we've made a point of considering credit score in concert with an array of other practical factors in order to determine a funding solution that works best for a wider range of small business applicants. But don't let me tell you: find out more by clicking the video below!

The recently announced 2015 budget plan includes some promising clauses that will help small businesses in Canada and likely help pave the way for a new generation of entrepreneurial development. 
Ottawa will gradually reduce the small business tax rate to nine per cent from 11 per cent, beginning in 2016. This is the most significant such reduction in 25 years according to Finance Minister Joe Oliver. The announcement, combined with similar governmental efforts to regulate credit card processing fees and changes to employment insurance premiums, looks to change the financial outlook for small business owners across the country. Find further details at the Canadian Ministry of Finance by clicking here.
Other notes include support for specific programs offering targeted incentives for women entrepreneurs and Futurpreneur Canada: the latter specifically of importance given the fact that over 50 percent of small businesses in Canada are operated by people between the ages of 50 and 64. A new generation of small business owners is preparing to make their own contribution to the Canadian economy. As larger and foreign-owned businesses experience challenges in Canadian markets, the importance of small business growth should be a focus for continued economic stability.
 
 
 
 

Today, the 22nd of April 2015, marks the observance of Earth Day. The annual event places special importance on the preservation of natural resources for future generations. Earth Day's message increasingly focuses on the ways that businesses the world over can improve their efficiency and decrease environmentally related operating costs through simple revisions to policy and practice while also doing something good for our planet.
The marketing appeal of a "green business" has arguably never been more significant or appealing to many consumers, but looking beyond the spin, what can your small business really do to make a positive impact on the environment today and throughout the year?
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This week in Merchant Advance's hometown of Vancouver, many independent retailers in the Gastown neighbourhood participated in a co-ordinated event: the Gastown Shop Hop. Businesses kept their doors open late into the warm spring evening, offering sales and other incentives along a three-block stretch of the city's most pedestrian-friendly environs. For a small business, creating a promotional event and pulling it off successfully can be a great driver of foot traffic, sales and discussion. But can your business collect more abstract data that improves the return on investment in such events? (more…)

We all had ways of managing our money before we signed up for a bank account. A ceramic pig or a stash in a shoebox under a bed somewhere...
As the world adapts to evolving payment technologies that are removing cash from the transactional process, a new report by the World Bank examined the phenomenon of "unbanked" individuals the world over. This "unbanked" group is made up of those who are not connected to a financial institution. On a worldwide average, 62 percent of adults have bank accounts - only a few countries such as Norway, Sweden, Denmark and New Zealand boast 100 percent banking adoption rates.

Studies show that when people participate in the financial system, they are better able to start and expand businesses, invest in education, manage risk, and absorb financial shocks. Access to accounts and to savings and payment mechanisms increases savings, empowers women, and boosts productive investment and consumption. Access to credit also has positive effects on consumption—as well as on employment status and income and on some aspects of mental health and outlook. 

Mobile and alternative payment systems have contributed to a tremendous reduction in the numbers of unbanked citizens worldwide. Access to financial services also allows businesses to flourish without interrupting their productivity or cash flow in order to pay employees or settle accounts in cash.
 

Some readers of the blog may recall our post detailing changes to the fee structure for credit cards in Canada, designed to make processing of payments more affordable and give incentives to consumers. As of yesterday, Finance Minister Joe Oliver announced a new set of  credit card regulations that address merchant- and consumer-side concerns about payment processing, including rules for the rapidly expanding mobile payment sector. Despite the relatively high cost of payment processing in Canada relative to the rest of the world, Canadian small businesses stand to be able to take advantage of many of these regulations.
The Ministry of Finance reports that the new regulations include:

• A new requirement that the interchange rate reductions announced by Visa Canada and MasterCard Canada in November 2014 will be fully passed-through to merchants, or merchants can cancel their contract without penalty;
• A new complaints handling process available to merchants with Code-related complaints;
• Enhanced disclosure requirements that will require plain language disclosure in information summary boxes in merchant contracts of key contract terms and conditions and merchant fees;
• Greater flexibility for merchants to exit their contracts without penalty, including a right to provide notice of non-renewal at any point up to 90 days prior to contract expiry, and limiting automatic renewal of contracts to six-month increments;
• A new disclosure requirement for credit card issuers, to inform consumers that apply for premium credit cards that the use of these cards can impose higher merchant fees;
• New branding requirements for premium cards, to make these cards more easily identifiable to merchants at the point of sale;
• New consumer protections for mobile payment users, to ensure that consumers will have full and unrestricted control of the default settings on their mobile wallets and devices;
• New protections for merchants who choose to stop accepting mobile payments.