Category Archives: Business

5 Common Mistakes Made When Drafting a Business Plan

Posted on July 19, 2016 by Marijana Dabic

Business plans are key when it comes to putting a company together. They can help organizations review items like value propositions and marketing strategies, as well as operations, financial and staffing plans.

However, developing a strong business plan takes time, and it is likely that your organization will have to create several drafts before landing on a successful version. To aid in your drafting, avoid the following common business plan mistakes:

Grammatical errors. Spelling, punctuation and other errors can destroy any credibility you have in an instant. Prior to sharing your business plan with investors or bankers, it’s crucial that you have an editor take several passes at it.
Unrealistic projections. If your plan is too optimistic—or even dishonest—in terms of current and future value, it is likely that bankers and other investors will pass on your business. Do careful research when drafting the financial projection portion of your business plan. This will not only look good to those who read your plan, but it will also help you properly prepare for the future.
Unclear target audiences. Businesses will appeal to different customers and markets to varying degrees depending on the company’s value proposition. Inaccurately or vaguely defining these audiences and markets can spell disaster, as you will not know how to successfully connect with customers and prospects. To avoid this, use primary and secondary market research to understand your business climate and where you fit in.
Vague or complicated details. Your business plan should be thorough and contain enough detail that a person with a high school degree can understand it. At the same, your plan shouldn’t be overly focused on the details, and you should avoid sharing any proprietary information. A commonly expected business plan structure includes a three-page summary, a 10- to 20-page plan and an appendix.
Poor competition assessments. Regardless of the industry, all businesses have some form of competition. A good business plan should identify your competition and their value propositions. Understanding and planning for this competition can help you better position yourself in your respective marketplace.

Remember that good business planning can help save you time in the long run. It may take more hard work up front, but thinking critically about your business, researching your competitors and getting feedback along the way will set you up for long-term success.

How the CPP Will Impact Businesses

Posted on July 12, 2016 by Marijana Dabic

On June 20, 2016, the federal government and the majority of Canadian provinces reached an agreement in principle regarding changes to the Canada Pension Plan (CPP). The changes will be phased in over the course of seven years, beginning on Jan. 1, 2019, and will require workers and their employers to pay higher contributions.

This new deal will mark the first significant increase in CPP benefits since the program was first launched 50 years ago. In general, the CPP aims to help Canadians enjoy a financially safe retirement and ensures a strong public pension system.

The CPP deal includes, but is not limited to, three major changes that will impact businesses:

The annual payout target will increase from 25 per cent of preretirement earnings to 33 per cent.
Contributions to CPP from workers and companies will increase by 1 percentage point to 5.95 per cent of wages.
The maximum income that is subject to CPP contributions will increase from $54,900 to $82,700 by 2025.

Young Canadian workers are likely to be the ones benefiting most from CPP changes. This is because, to reap the full benefits of CPP, a worker would have to contribute for about 40 years. Other employees will benefit to varying degrees depending on their age.

There is some concern that the higher contributions will force small and medium-sized businesses to refrain from hiring new workers or making other important investments. However, experts have said that it is unlikely that the Canadian economy will suffer from CPP expansion.

Why You Need a Business Continuity Plan

Posted on May 5, 2016 by Marijana Dabic

For businesses, disaster can strike at any time and can be caused by a variety of sources. Each year, companies face the potential of natural disasters, accidents, sabotage, power failure, cyber attacks and a variety of other major disruptions—all of which can cost both time and money. That’s why business continuity planning is important for companies both large and small.

Business continuity planning is the process of creating a response plan so that you will be able to recover the most vulnerable parts of your company after a business interruption occurs. Businesses with strong continuity programs are more resilient in the face of emergencies and disasters.

Despite growing evidence that preparation is key to surviving a business emergency, only about 60 per cent of large businesses and 43 per cent of small business have a business continuity plan in place.

A business continuity plan, if implemented and maintained, can be the difference between successfully recovering from a business interruption and going out of business.

To create a plan, you must first assemble a team of leaders and senior management who can help lead the planning efforts. From there, it’s critical that you follow the four major steps below to create a continuity plan:

Identify threats or risks. To properly prepare for disruptions, it’s important that you first recognize the most common threats to your business. Most often, threats include natural disasters like tornadoes and earthquakes, malicious attacks and system failures.
Conduct an impact analysis. Following a disruption, knowing which people, vendors and programs are vital to your everyday operations is important for continuity planning. Your plan should identify these items and prioritize them. That way, following a disruption, you can quickly react and restore your most critical functions immediately.
Adopt mitigation controls. After you understand the major risks facing your business, you can put systems in place to protect yourself. Your continuity plan should account for this by including emergency response, public relations, resource management and employee communications planning.
Improve your plan. Continuity plans should evolve with the risk landscape. As your company grows and new threats emerge, you will need to consider tweaking your continuity plan to meet your needs. If possible, test your plan at least annually to ensure that there are no major gaps.

The Importance of PCI DSS Compliance

Posted on April 29, 2016 by Marijana Dabic

The 2015 Nilson Report, which provides statistics on the payment card industry, found that credit, debit and prepaid card fraud contributed to global losses exceeding USD $16 billion. To help protect customers and to remain compliant, it’s critical that any organization that accepts payment cards understands the PCI DSS.

The PCI DSS is a set of requirements designed to ensure that all entities that process, store or transmit credit card information maintain a secure environment. In essence, the PCI DSS establishes a minimum set of requirements for protecting the account information of cardholders.

Failure to comply with the PCI DSS can result in serious consequences for merchants. If a merchant experiences a data breach and is found to be non-compliant with the PCI DSS, it may be subject to hefty fines.

Other potential fallouts from failed PCI DSS compliance include:

Legal action
Federal audits
Remediation costs
Bank fines

To avoid financial penalties and business interruptions, you should make compliance with the PCI DSS a priority. There are three major steps to compliance, as outlined by the PCI Security Standards Council (SSC)—assess your risk, remediate any issues and report your compliance to the PCI SSC. If followed closely, these steps can help merchants of any size integrate PCI DSS standards into their businesses.

However, PCI DSS compliance is not something that can be easily addressed on your own—especially if you are a merchant with limited resources. Prior to launching a PCI DSS compliance program, businesses should seek the help of the PCI SSC. The PCI SSC, along with banks, enforce the PCI DSS and are invaluable resources for organizations that are new to compliance.

Terrorism Risk Management

Posted on April 14, 2016 by Marijana Dabic

While you may think that acts of terrorism will never strike your business, their occurrence can be completely random and their results catastrophic. And, as the frequency of terror-related incidents continues to increase worldwide, you need to be aware of how to protect your business and your employees from potentially devastating losses.

Just one terror attack at or near your business could result in substantial injuries, deaths, business interruptions or reputational damage. However, with a proper understanding of the common types and targets of attacks, and a terrorism management program, you can limit your exposures and protect your business and employees.

Common Types and Targets of Terrorism

Terrorist attacks can occur at any time, and are usually not directed at a single business or individual. Despite this, it’s important to be aware of the general characteristics of terror-related incidents and the most common targets.

According to the latest statistics, the following are the most prevalent types of terrorist attacks that occur worldwide:

Bombings and explosions: 57 per cent
Armed assaults: 23 per cent
Assassinations: 8 per cent

While Canada has a relatively low terrorist attack risk according to the Global Terrorism Index, there was an 80 per cent increase of deaths due to terrorism in 2014 compared to 2013.

And, because the most common types of terrorist attacks have the potential to devastate the infrastructure within a large area, it’s important to take structural vulnerability into consideration when you draft a terrorism management program. An effective program must take the safety of employees, customers and nearby pedestrians into consideration.

Step 1: General Assessment

The first step in creating a terrorism management program is to conduct a general assessment of your business’s facilities. While you may have a good idea of the risks that your business and employees face, you may not recognize how or in which areas they are exposed until you conduct a detailed assessment. And, even if you have a fundamental knowledge of your risks, you also need to recognize the exposures presented by the businesses and buildings around you. Remember, the most common types of terrorist attacks are bombings and armed assaults—incidents that almost always affect a large area.

During your initial assessment, you should determine the standoff distance around the entire perimeter of your facility. This is the distance at which you can prevent an unscreened person or vehicle from approaching your business, and it is determined by the effectiveness of your facilities, employees and security procedures. Knowledge of your business’s ability to respond to threats will help you to assess and respond to terrorism risk exposures.

Step 2: Risk Assessment

Once you have completed your general assessment, you can use the information you gathered to determine the potential impact of a terrorist attack on your business. Then, you can focus your resources on preventing or mitigating the damage from an attack.

You should keep the following topics in mind while performing a terrorism risk assessment:

Structural stability: Analyze how various locations around your facility could be damaged by an explosion or bomb. Remember to consider explosions that originate from both inside and outside the building.
Personnel vulnerability: Consider where your employees and customers are usually located in and around your business. If they are all centrally located, they will be much more vulnerable during a terrorist attack. Make sure that everyone in the building has easy access to multiple exits in the event of an attack.
Operational continuity: Consider the vulnerability of any key equipment or other vital materials. An attack could cripple your operations if important equipment or data is lost.

Risk Management

Your terrorism management program should cover the unique exposures found during your general and risk assessments. Common protective measures can include strengthened window films, employee evacuation procedures, and electronic and physical security systems.

In some ways, covering terrorism exposures is similar to preparing for a natural disaster, such as a severe storm or fire. In fact, you may be able to use an existing emergency plan as the basis for your terrorism management plan.

Terrorism Insurance

Another way to protect your business from a terrorist attack is with terrorism insurance. Please contact your broker for more information.

Category Archives: Business

5 Common Mistakes Made When Drafting a Business Plan

How the CPP Will Impact Businesses

Why You Need a Business Continuity Plan

The Importance of PCI DSS Compliance

Terrorism Risk Management

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