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The Praxis Perspective is a Bi-Monthly Publication. If you have any inquiries or wish to make a contribution, please contact the Editor:
Joan Goodman at: [email protected]
Inside This Issue: Praxis Profile - What’s New?............6 Humour Corner…...7 Important Dates…...7
Sincerely, Monica Kreuger President, Global Infobrokers Inc. Chair, Praxis International Institute Co-Founder, Venture Forward $100K Business Plan Competition
The Praxis Perspective
Welcome
Global Infobrokers Inc.
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER /NOVEMBER 2010 VOLUME 6 ISSUE 1
Inside This Issue:
Praxis School of Entrepreneurship Graduates………..….2 Stealth Web Designs…….….…….3 Praxis Profile - What’s New?
Sliced Decadence ……….……….......4/5 Wiegers Benefits...….6 Simple Sales Tips for Success……………...7
Upcoming Events …………………...….8 Humour Corner.......11
The Praxis Perspective is a Bi-Monthly Publication. If you have any inquiries or wish to make a contribution, please contact the Editor:
Joan Goodman at: [email protected]
The Praxis Perspective
Healthy Workplaces...
Only You can create them…. Today I sat spellbound as a wonderful woman told her story to StarPhoenix reporter Cassandra Kyle, about being bullied in the workplace and the 10 years of humiliation,
doubt, loss of confidence and hope that followed. This is a highly intelligent motivated person who had been a star employee but at some point got on the radar of someone in power who wanted the power she naturally had, and used their position to create a hell on earth until such time as she said, she couldn’t even boil water without being criticized. I met several other powerful women with similar stories so we decided to create a forum for people to talk about their experiences and develop solutions to prevent or eliminate workplace bullying. We approached BPW (Business and Professional Women) to work with us so after a successful workshop 2 years ago, they decided to host a one day conference, Powerless to Powerful, on Oct 23 at the Travelodge, bringing in experts in the field an dedicating our time to building a toolkit. And by the way, men and women suffer although men do not talk about it as much. In fact, 1 in 3 people experience bullying in the workplace—if we had a physical disease of this proportion, we would be investing significant research dollars to find a cure. I was also struck with her resilience—as I have all the people I have seen who have done this. She has done a lot of work to heal and is soon going to launch a business to help organizations and employees eliminate this phenomena. As entrepreneurs we need to craft our workplaces to be healthy, happy spaces where creativity and innovation is the norm and where each person is a vital part of the venture and eliminate toxic behaviour quickly should it creep in. After all, we are here to make a positive difference in the world for our customers but also for those that work with us. Hope to see you Saturday! Monica Kreuger, President, Global Infobrokers Inc. Home of the Praxis Group of Schools Praxis School of Entrepreneurship; Praxis International Institute
VOLUME 6, ISSUE 1 PAGE 2
Christiaan Bezuidenhout - Access Lock Inc. Christina Breker - Fit on the Fly Personal Training Inc. Cheri Brochu
- Soul to Sole Consulting Inc. Rick Clarke - Clarke Graphix Cheryl Coleman - The Planner Michael Lander - Sound Home Solutions Simon Lewis - Saskatoon Sound Services Sandy Monteith - The Flame HVAC & Electrical Melissa Nygren - Prairie Songstress Music Mark Stokalko - TNA Wire Connections Inc. Ben Thurmeier - Coolbeans Creative Kris Watson - TekSmarts Networking Ltd. Tanya Wagner Hearth Stone Therapies Rodney Carter - Suncap Energy
Nicolette Curtis - EasyLearn Tutoring Inc. Manoj Goswami - GGB Jeff Ironside - K & J Services and Agri Systems Glen King - Little England Shop Inc. Greg Kolysher - Saskatoon Spray Foam Inc. Michael Moroz - New Hat Recruiting Jennifer Bork - Farewells Celebrant Services James Isaac - Symetra Audio & Assembly Works Jeff Johannson - Dirty Bird Custom Bike & Hot Rods Inc. Hollie Ockey - Evelet Home Improvements Inc. Stefany Putnam - Brash Pictures Inc. Daniel Rubiolo - Rubiolo Geological Consultant Ltd. Kim Sears - Planning Opportunities Kisiskatchewan
IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THE FOLLOWING GRADUATES FROM THE 2009—2010
StartSMART ™ PROGRAM CONGRATULATIONS!
Now you have the opportunity to be one of their first customers!
Thanks to CanSask Career and Employment Services for their support of these graduates through the Self Employment Program!
VOLUME 6 ISSUE 1
PAGE 3
What Every Entrepreneur Needs To Know! Not only do businesses today need websites, they need websites that are well designed, professionally programmed and have the right marketing strategy to back them up. To further illustrate this point, stories have been coming out lately describing Saskatoon’s recent domination in web usage compared to any other province! What happened? I thought we were supposed to be a bunch of farmers in Saskatchewan? Well according to recent polls it looks like Saskatoon is the most Internet Savvy city in Canada! In fact, News Talk 650’s website says it best, “You will be hard pressed to find someone who doesn’t use the Internet in Saskatoon. According to Statistics Canada the city (Saskatoon) has the highest web-usage in the country with 89% compared to the national average of 80%”!
So, that’s right, even though we are known as farmers in Saskatchewan we have the highest percentage of Internet users in the country! This essentially means that if you own a business and it does not have a website, your competitors are most likely taking away all that potential business. These days, the average person rarely uses the phone book (this is becoming exceedingly true in Saskatchewan). More people now tend to go online to find the business they need as opposed to any other method. When more and more users going online to find what they are looking for, a new industry called “Search Engine Optimization” is coming more into play. With “SEO”, a few experienced web developers can not only make you a great website but they can also make sure that it appears above all your competitors. Just imagine, how great would it be if a potential customer searches a keyword that is related to your business (ex: Saskatoon Cars) and your website appears first, above all your competitors! As the Internet is the great equalizer, no matter how big your company is, it can appear as big and credible as you would like it to be, that is, if you have a good enough web developer. If you would like to learn more about getting a unique website that stands out and getting to the top of the search engines feel free to call Stealth Web Designs, mention the pass code “PRAXIS ROCKS” and we will give you a free consultation! That is over a $100 value and it’s yours for free! Cheers and good luck!
Ryan Stealth Web Designs Ryan S. Yedersberger – Partner and Chief Operating Officer Your Competition Won't Know What Hit Them! Office: (306) 978-9018 Cell: (306) 251-1005 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.stealthwd.ca 1107 8th Street East, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Canada
PAGE 4 VOLUME 6 ISSUE 1
Every new business starts with an idea. Three years ago, I decided to make my own wedding cake. Then I proceeded to make wedding cakes for a few friends. Then an idea hit me—I wanted to start a business that made cakes. Cakes that are original, made with all natural ingredients and cakes that offer a wide range of options for people with food sensitivities. We are the first and only place that refuses to put food dye and artificial substances in any of our cakes.
That year, I baked constantly, trying out new and old recipes which lead to me creating all my own recipes from scratch, using all natural “ingredients”. Once I had a binder full of ideas, and dreams, I stum-bled upon a brochure from Praxis School of Entrepreneurship that read “ StartSMART™ ” . My heart skipped a beat and I knew that I had found what I was looking for to jump start me into making my dreams a reality!
The timing couldn’t have been better. The next course was a few weeks away and I was more than eager to get started. The course was everything I wanted and needed to start building up my courage and confidence to actually start a business. I still wasn’t convinced I could make a living off of baking cakes but I knew that this course could teach me all I needed to know to give it a try.
The biggest challenge I faced was when the classroom phase was over and I was on my own. Sitting at home that first day trying to sort out the logistics of starting Sliced Decadence made me panic. I didn’t know where to go from there, I had all the plans and forecasts but I was paralyzed. It was such a relief to still have the mentorship after the classroom phase was done. The first weekly meeting with my advisor ended up being a “you can do it” speech and it gave me the courage to proceed. I was so thankful for the way the StartSMART™ program ran. They teach you what you need, show you how to do it, they let you try it on your own. But, they are always there to lean on and slowly let go of your hand as they push you towards your goal. It was such a smooth and un-intimidating way to start a business. Sliced Decadence started with a dream of creating only wedding cakes but once I started into the program, it grew into an even bigger dream. With the input of my peers and mentors in the classroom, I decided to start selling at the Saskatoon Farmer’s Market and added products such as cupcakes and mini-cupcakes.
PRAXIS PROFILE
What’s New?
SLICED DECADENCE
Designer Cakes!
VOLUME 6 ISSUE 1 PAGE 5
These ideas completed the business enough for it to become well rounded and successful. For those starting a business, I would advise that you keep an open mind and allow others to share their ideas and thoughts about your business. Another key factor for me was taking my market research and learning from others that has started businesses similar to mine—seeing what their weaknesses were and filling the gaps to allow my business to have a unique edge. Sliced Decadence has been very successful and I attribute that to the skills I learned from the Praxis School of Entrepreneurship's StartSMART™ program.
.
Sherry Sawatzky—Owner of Sliced Decadence
Contact Information:
Sliced Decadence
Designer Cakes
Sherry Sawatzky 306-716-0115
[email protected] www.sliceddecadence.com
Are health and dental plans a tax effective way to compensate employees? Health and dental plans allow employers to reward employees by providing them with a unique form of compensation not taxable in most provinces. Because employees receive the full bene-fit of every dollar their employer spends, employees can get significantly more out of a benefit plan than they would a pay increase. Pay increases are impacted by employer payroll taxes and by employee income taxes. With a benefit plan, employer contributions are treated as a tax deductible business expense while employees receive health and dental benefits tax free. How much does a 5% pay increase really cost? If a company decided to give a 5% raise to an hourly paid employee making$38,000 per year (depending on the province) the employer would have to spend up to an additional 13% on payroll taxes and the employee would lose 30% of that raise to the government in personal taxes. What are the hidden costs of a pay raise? ♦ Canada Pension Plan (CPP) ♦ Employment Insurance (EI) ♦ Workers Compensation ♦ Others
In addition to personal income tax and employee has to contribute to payroll taxes, such as CPP and EI. Why do benefit plans make good financial sense? If an employer puts the 5% pay increase toward a health and dental plan, all the money goes to the plan for the direct benefit of the employee. In fact, the actual benefit to an employee could significantly exceed the cost of the plan particularly if an employee has significant health and dental expenses!
Pay Raise Benefit Plan
Company Spends:
Total Cost $ 2,000.00 $ 2,000.00
Add:
CPP 4.95% $ 99.00 —————-
E.I. 2.42% $ 48.40 —————-
Workers Comp 2% $ 40.00 —————-
Vacation 4% $ 80.00 —————
Total Spent $ 2,267.40 $ 2,000.00
Employees Get:
Total Increase: $ 2,000.00 $ 2,000.00
Less:
CPP 4.95% $ 99.00 —————-
EI 1.73% $ 34.60 —————-
Tax 33% $ 660.00 —————-
Net Benefit $ 1,206.40 $ 2,000.00
901 3rd Avenue North Saskatoon, SK S7K 2K4 Phone: 306-244-0949 Fax: 306-244-4026 [email protected] www.wiegersbenefits.com
VOLUME 6 ISSUE 1
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VOLUME 6 ISSUE 1
Simple Sales Tips For Success Fear affects how we behave; how we process information and how people feel about us. The same is true of your customer, so if both of you are feeling afraid it will spin out of control, take a breath and make your customers comfortable as fast as possible.
James Kernaghan, Profit Source Sales Training Ltd. 704-601 Spadina Cres. E., Saskatoon, SK [email protected] 306-665-0031
Skilled Employees – Volunteer Work Placement The Mentorship Project For 10 years, the Saskatchewan Intercultural Association (SIA) has been offering the Mentorship Project. This is a work readiness program designed for highly skilled immigrants who have settled in Saskatoon. Classes run in February, May, and September. The program consists of an 8 week in-class portion including workshops on a variety of employment topics. Following there is an 8-12 week volunteer work placement with a company involved in the participant’s area of training. The work placement allows employers to benefit from the contributions of highly skilled interns and train potential employees with very little expense. SIA is actively looking for employers that want to expand their labour pool to participate in the program . For more information on the Mentorship Project visit: www.saskintercultural.org or contact Jess Hamm at 978-1818 ext: 10 or email at [email protected] or Haven Seto by 978-1818 ext: 14 or email at [email protected]
PAGE 7
VOLUME 6 ISSUE 1
Upcoming Events
Hosted by the Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce: October 19, 20, 21 and 22, 2010—7:30am—9:00 am Chamber of Commerce Boardroom “Business By Design” Seminar Members: $10/ Session or $35 for the full series Non-members: $12/Session or $45 for the full series (prices include GST, coffee and muffins) go to saskatoonchamber.com and check under “Events” for more information
October 23, 2010 Powerless 2 Powerful Conference – Hosted by BPW Saskatoon Travelodge Hotel—Galaxy Room A (Focusing on creating healthy Workplaces) www.powerless2powerful.com
http://www.picatic.com/ticket/event58148/ October 25, 2010 StartSMART Self Employment Program begins—Praxis School of Entrepreneurship Contact Elaine @ 664-0500 or [email protected] to register or for more information October 30, 2010 Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce presents the 2010 ABEX Awards Delta Hotel, Regina go to saskchamber.com for more information November 8, 2010 WorkSMART Workplace Skills Training Course begins Contact Silvana @ 664-0500 [email protected] November 22 and 23, 2010 “Oilpatch 101” Seminar Presented by JuneWarren-Nickle’s Energy Group 8:00am—4:00pm at Hotel Saskatchewan, Regina go to saskchamber.com for more information
PAGE 8
If you are looking for some great staff who are loyal and bring a set of skills and contacts to your business that will help you grow to the next level, let us know.
We are working with Linxus Immigration & Employment Consulting Services Inc.
to help skilled individuals from Korea find employment in their field under the SINP Skilled Workers category.
Under this category, individuals who are trained in a profession or skill or trade that falls into the
National Occupation Codes O (Management), A or B (usually requiring post secondary training).
Linxus has access to skilled individuals from Korea and we are helping to
find local businesses interested in their skills.
We believe that the key to developing our entrepreneurial capacity within Saskatchewan is to help open the doors to new employees and new markets. Hiring individuals from
outside Saskatchewan and Canada, when you cannot find a qualified resource domestically, is a great option. Companies that employ individuals from another
country enrich their workforce and often increase their customer base either through contacts from friends and families of the new employees but also through the
International networks that employees bring with them.
We all know that business is built on firm community relationships and networks. This holds true no matter where you go in the world. If we can help you connect
with new networks in other countries and new skill bases, we believe it will help you grow internally and externally. You are not responsible for completing any documentation
for the candidate or for any costs to bring the candidate to Canada or house them.
If you are interested in these skill sets or are looking for other skilled professionals that you have not been able to find locally, please contact Denise at
Linxus is a graduate of the Praxis School of Entrepreneurship!
PAGE 9 VOLUME 6, ISSUE 1
Want a great career?
Ready to change the world?
START YOUR OWN BUSINESS!
Taking registrations now for January 2011! Contact Elaine 664 0500
Join the over 700 entrepreneurs who have learned from practicing entrepreneurs and started their own companies since 1991 in Canada’s most unique school dedicated to
entrepreneurs!
Follow your passion, find your purpose, and make a difference in the lives of those you serve.
Join us at our campus in Saskatoon located in a business incubator or….
Take the program online. Our entrepreneur coaches will help! We are with you every step of the way.
Monica Kreuger President/CEO
Next Program November 2010 Contact Elaine today 664 0500 [email protected]
Want your teenager to attend a school that challeng es their intellect
and focuses on their passion? Where diversity of t hought, learning style and culture is encouraged? Where the ory and practice
unite? Where youth live, learn, work and create tog ether?
Welcome to THE HIGH SCHOOL THAT THINKS DIFFERENTLY
We believe each child has a great contribution to make in this world. Our campus is located in an eco village where, in addition to the Saskatchewan curriculum, youth will learn what it is like to be a global citizen; develop an
entrepreneurial mindset; become a caretaker for the planet; and use technology in a responsible way.
Dedicated teachers, house-parents and staff will support them
throughout their journey.
AND FOR YOUR TEENAGERS…….
PAGE 10 VOLUME 6, ISSUE 1
VOLUME 6, ISSUE 1
GlobalPraxis
GlobalPraxis
PAGE 11
We are located at: 99-120 Sonnenschein Way Saskatoon, SK S7M 1M8 Phone: 306-664-0500 Fax: 306-664-0505 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.globalinfobrokers.ca
Entrepreneurs Teaching Entrepreneurs
Humour Corner
MURPHY'S LAWS ON WORK—PART I * A pat on the back is only a few centimetres from a kick in the pants.
* Don't be irreplaceable, if you can't be replaced, you can't be promoted. * You can go anywhere you want if you look serious and carry a clipboard. * Eat one live toad the first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day. * When the bosses talk about improving productivity, they are never talking about themselves. * If at first you don't succeed, try again. Then quit. No use being a damn fool about it. * There will always be beer cans rolling on the floor of your car when the boss asks for a ride home from the office. * Everything can be filed under "miscellaneous." * To err is human, to forgive is not company policy. * When confronted by a difficult problem you can solve it more easily by reducing it to the question, "How would the Lone Ranger handle this?"
