British Columbia Faces the Consequences of the NO HST vote - In the province of BC, the issue of a Harmonized Sales Tax has been in the public eye since it was instituted in 2009, and there have been heated battles on both sides of the issue. It’s been the position of most businesses and lobby groups like the BC and Canadian Chambers of Commerce, that the HST was good for business, but a consumer outcry, led by former BC Premier Bill Vander Zalm, led to a recall vote that defeated the HST, forcing the province to revert to its old tax structure and return billions of dollars to the federal government. While at the moment, this is a hot issue in BC, it is likely that the topic of HST will raise its head in other provinces over the next number of years, especially given the dynamics of the world economy. We’ve provided several links and perspectives on this important issue that will likely face all Canadians at some time in the near future.

• From CTV BC
• From the Vancouver Sun
• From the Star Phoenix

Flaherty confident deficit-fighting plan can weather economic storm - The recent economic downturn in Europe and the United States will inevitably impact Canada – but Jim Flaherty says Ottawa's 2011 budget numbers are still on track. Click here to read more.

Small businesses stay steady amid strife in markets  - If stock-market turbulence is making you queasy, it may be some comfort to remember that the real economy-where goods and services are bought and sold - is much less volatile. While financial markets have been wildly gyrating this year, small business confidence has been on a relatively even keel. Click here for more information Click here to read more.

Internet advertising revenues in Canada exceed expectations - The Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada (IAB) announced earlier this week that Canadian Online Advertising Revenues for 2010 exceeded original expectations. The projection for 2010 called for total revenues of $2.1 billion; the actual numbers came in at $2.23 billion, showing a 23 per cent increase from the previous year. Click here to read more.

Small Business Confidence Up in Canada - An index of Canadian small-business confidence rose in July for the first time in three months even as the U.S. and European debt crises were playing out. Hiring plans out-numbered cutbacks and future pricing plans were below the central bank’s 2% target. The Canadian Federation of Independent Business said Wednesday its Business Barometer Index climbed to 68.3 from 66.3 in June. Click here to read more.

One of the biggest changes in customer satisfaction in the last 10 years, is the expectation of customers to be included in conversations with the companies they buy from. The advent of social media has catapulted this expectation to the point where many customers are no longer willing to just spend their money. They want to be an active part of what your business does, and how it does it.

In a June, 2011 article in Businessinsider.com, Linda Ireland, global strategy & operational change expert (Aveus LLC) says, "Customer feedback isn't a new concept. It's been around since commerce began. The tools are different and more democratized now. It is easier now than ever before for the everyday customer to applaud your efforts—or to voice her criticisms—of your brand." Customers have always been willing to give you their feedback, but now they expect you to do something about it, and companies who don't, lose credibility and potential sales and referrals.

According to Ireland, "More than half of all companies are not translating customer observations or feedback into actions that can drive performance for their organizations. We learn much. We don't execute enough, or leverage what we learn in the most meaningful way."

Given that the trend toward customer engagement is growing, how will you incorporate your customers' perspectives into what you do? Here are some ideas:

• Ask the right questions - before you ask for feedback on anything, make sure you are asking questions to which you can actually respond. If you find out that all your customers are excited about your company doing XYZ, but you don't have the capacity or the intention to implement it, what's the point of asking the question? Make sure that the feedback you're asking for has a potential response.
• Translate feedback into product innovation.Use customer observations, ideas and feedback to drive product and service innovation for your company. "Quite often, customers have ideas you haven't considered since they're the ones actually using your products and services on a daily basis. Create simple processes where you can get that direct customer feedback into the hands of product designers and innovation leads for your company." says Ireland.
• Read between the lines. Use customer feedback to identify needs that haven't been solved - or even articulated - yet. Don't just take customer comments and feedback at face value—dive in. "What's the need beneath or beyond what you hear or see? Social networking tools like Twitter or Facebook may be particularly helpful here. Emerging needs are the headwaters of demand for your organization." says Ireland. Give yourself the opportunity to solve a greater number of customer needs in the future.
• Get personal.Find ways to make your customers feel like they are the most important people to your business (ironically they are, but we often forget to let them know that). Personalize your interactions with them so that you can let them know how valuable their feedback was, and what ways your business has changed as a result.
• Keep the conversations going. Customer service experiences are not transactional - they're relational. If all you do with your customers is create transactions, there is no loyalty to your business. They can have transactions with anyone as there's no investment from either party. But, if you create a relationship with them, if they believe you care about who they are and what they say, you're building customer loyalty that builds business and generates referrals. Customer satisfaction isn't achieved by sending out a survey once a year, while for the next year the customer tries to figure out what you did with the feedback. It's a conversation that happens over and over. Feedback needs to be ongoing and meaningful. By meaningful, I mean that the information you get should lead to actual, real change to your business.

This trend toward customer involvement and engagement and the importance of hearing and then meeting your customers' expectations is going to grow. If your business is to survive into the next decade, you're going to have to find a way to creatively engage and involve them in your business.

Linda Ireland is co-owner and partner of Aveus LLC, a global strategy & operational change firm.

Does your business produce or sell something that's uniquely yours? Whether it's an innovative method of installing inter-locking brick, a graphic image you've created, a special recipe, proprietary software, a commercial jingle - if you've created it, it needs to be protected. Trying to make a profit from someone else's idea has been part of business for as long as business has existed, so don't ever assume that someone won't try to copy it, steal it, reproduce it and make money from it. There are many ways to protect your intellectual property, and it's worth doing some research to determine how to best do that for your particular property.

Intellectual property is the ownership rights to the fruit of a person's creativity or original work of some kind, usually in scientific or artistic fields. As the creator of these original works, you have particular legal rights, especially as it pertains to the right to control use of the work.

The Canadian intellectual property regime is comprised of six federal statutes. The Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO), an agency of Industry Canada, administers the first five acts, sharing responsibility with the Department of Canadian Heritage for the Copyright Act. CIPO also maintains databases of registered patents, copyrights, trademarks, industrial designs and integrated circuit topographies. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency administers the Plant Breeders' Act, which applies to certain new plant varieties.

Here is some information on the kinds of intellectual property you can protect in Canada through these Acts.

1. The Patent Act
   For an invention to be patentable in Canada, it must be novel (i.e., not already publicly disclosed elsewhere); useful (functional and operative); and non-obvious to someone skilled in the art (i.e., demonstrate "inventive ingenuity"). A Canadian patent gives the inventor the right to exclude others from "making, using or selling" the invention for 20 years from the filing date.
2. The Trade-marks Act
   A trade-mark is a word, symbol or design (or a combination of these) that is used to distinguish the wares, or services, of a person or organization from those of others in the marketplace. A Canadian trade-mark registration gives the registrant the exclusive right to use the mark across Canada for a period of 15 years, with renewal for successive 15-year periods on payment of renewal fees.
3. The Copyright Act
   Copyright subsists in all original literary, artistic, dramatic and musical works, including computer programs, provided that the author is a citizen or resident of a treaty country or the work, if published, was first published in a treaty country. Copyright gives the owner the sole right to produce or reproduce a work, or a substantial part of it, in any form.
4. The Industrial Design Act
   Ornamental shapes or the configuration of industrial objects may be registered under the Industrial Design Act for patent-like protection for a period of five years, renewable for one, further five-year period. To be valid, a design application must be filed in Canada within one year of its first publication in Canada or elsewhere.
5. The Integrated Circuit Topography Act
   Canada's Integrated Circuits Topography Act provides exclusive rights in the design or "topography" of integrated circuits (the semiconductor chips used in modern electronic technology). The law provides the creator of a topography, or a successor, exclusive right to reproduce the topography, manufacture the integrated circuit incorporating the topography and import or commercially exploit the topography or integrated circuit incorporating it.
6. The Plant Breeders' Act
   Plant breeders have the exclusive right to sell and produce the plant breed they have developed in Canada and to make repeated use of propagating material of the plant variety in order to produce, commercially, another plant variety if the repetition is necessary for that purpose.

Protecting your intellectual property means your business will profit from your creativity and ingenuity for years to come, without interference from competitors who may try to capitalize on your idea and benefit from it. Please check out the following links for more information:

• About.com
• Osler's Intellectual Property Group
• Intellectual Property Institute of Canada
• Business Development Centre of Canada
• Canadian Chamber of Commerce

Employees expect to have a specified length of time for probation when they start a new job. It's most common for employers to give 90 days, but some employers give as little as one month, or as long as six months. The probationary employment period is important, as this is the time during which the employer can watch and assess the employee's suitability for continued, permanent employment with their company. It is also a window in which an employer can release the employee without cause, for failing to meet the requirements of their probation; even if "failing to meet" means that they were not a good fit with the team. The probationary review is a "line in the sand" moment where the employer makes the important decision about how to proceed with the employee. It is the perfect opportunity to validate and acknowledge an employee who has done well, and to counsel and provide guidance to one who is struggling. Here are some suggestions for making the transition from probation to permanent employment status.

Schedule a Probation Review Meeting

Because they're busy, small business owners often simply roll probationary employees into a permanent employment agreement, as long as there have been no major red flags during the probation. This is a mistake. A one-on-one meeting before that decision is made, provides an opportunity for both sides to express how they feel things have gone. This allows the employee to reveal areas they have struggled with, of which the employer may have been unaware. It also allows the employer to determine whether an extended probation might be necessary.

This is NOT a Formal Performance Appraisal

During the probationary period, the employee should have developed a good handle on their roles and responsibilities, but have likely not been there long enough to receive a formal performance review. The purpose of the Probationary Review is simply to determine whether the employee is a good fit and will move into permanent employment. While you'll be discussing performance indicators, you'll be assessing the person's progress to date, and their potential to meet and/or exceed your expectations in the future. The tone of this meeting should be light and friendly.

Have a Form Ready

It's easy to go through a review if you have something that the employee and you can fill out ahead of time that will lead the discussion. This form should have some level of performance rating, but should also have lots of open-ended questions. For an example of a simple, effective review form that you could customize to reflect your own performance indicators, please click here for a Word file, or click here for a PDF. The performance rating factors should be clearly linked to your core values. In addition, you might want to consider saving another copy of this form and changing the language for the employee filling it out ("your" language as opposed to "the employee" as it is in the manager's form). If you're comfortable in leading these types of meetings, you may just informally chat about some of the person's achievements, challenges, and needs moving forward. Just make sure you have clarity around your format before you start the meeting. If you decide to go this route, make sure you document the outcome of the meeting.

Know your Outcomes

There are only three potential outcomes of a probationary review. The employee sails through the review into permanent employment: there are some challenges that need to be addressed but the person has the potential to be successful and the probationary period is extended; or, it is determined that the person is not suitable for the role and they are not offered further employment. Before you go into the meeting, know in which of these three directions you are headed. If you decide to extend the probation, clearly identify why you are doing it and what issues need to be resolved in order for them to move into permanent employment.

Mistakes to Avoid

• Don't assume you know how things are going, and that there are no problems.Employees are often trying to impress in the first few months and may be reluctant to talk about challenges, or issues, they've faced. Ask them specifically about this in the meeting.
• Don't ignore your gut and/or red flags you've seen.If something's been niggling at you, pay attention to it. Many a terrible hire has been made because someone went against their better judgment and ignored the little red light warning light inside of them in order to give the employee a chance. Be up front about any concerns - this is the time to do it.
• Don't neglect to provide the support the employee has identified.If they have identified areas of challenge and you think the person is worth keeping, provide the training, mentoring or support they need to move forward.
• Don't rush through this process.Moving an employee to a permanent position too soon can land you in all kinds of trouble if you have to let them go later. It's much easier to end the relationship during the probationary period than once they've become permanent employees. Be SURE before you make the offer.
• Don't pass this off to someone else. You're the business owner, and unless you have an HR person on staff, this is one thing you shouldn't delegate to someone else. The buck stops with you, and staffing decisions should have your 100% involvement.

Employee turnover is expensive for a small business owner, so before you hire someone into a full-time permanent position you owe it to yourself to make sure it's a good fit. Follow these tips and you'll increase your chances of getting your new employee off on their best foot.