tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25963155359578061882024-03-13T06:22:09.179-05:00Canuck ConsultantCanuckConsultanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12249724879884037252noreply@blogger.comBlogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2596315535957806188.post-68510956734031165882010-05-28T23:53:00.001-05:002010-05-28T23:53:32.150-05:00So How’s That Conference Thing Going?<p>I’ve started and restarted this blog post a few times already because there’s no way to just answer the question of “how’s it going?” with something as simple as…</p> <p>“Good.”</p> <p>This experience has been challenging…in a good way. I’ve been stretched, I’ve had to put faith in myself and the decisions I made, and I’ve learned a tonne of lessons…enough to fill a month’s worth of blog posts, or even a small book.</p> <p>I went into this thinking that there should be a way to run a conference in smaller markets but with all the quality of larger conferences. The conference hasn’t happened yet, but the fact that I’ve brought the race horse to the gate is something I’m proud of.</p> <p>The people I’ve met and dealt with, the willingness of colleagues to participate and help out, and the response from the developer community have humbled and inspired me.</p> <p>So to say that it’s going “good” feels like a disservice to the experience…but there’s no single word that can describe it in its entirety. I think right now the best words are “Anxious and Excited”. The planning and organizing, the marketing and sales, the management and scheduling…all good stuff, but I’m ready to actually run the conference.</p> <p>Ready in the gate, waiting for post-time…let’s run this race!</p> CanuckConsultanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12249724879884037252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2596315535957806188.post-72683577975533080362010-03-13T08:30:00.001-06:002010-03-13T08:30:10.158-06:00Yes Virginia, Cold Call Email Blasts Do Work<p>One of the biggest unknowns for me running a conference is how to best do marketing for the event. In addition to having an awesome buddy on the ground in the host city pounding the pavement for me (shout out to Gary), I had to come up with some other marketing initiatives to get the word out.</p> <p>One of these was to go through the established user group community. We handed out cards, gave away some free registrations, and the fruit of that will hopefully be seen before the first early bird price date passes.</p> <p>I also tried another angle: the cold-call email blast. I used canpages.com to look up software development and computer consulting organizations in the cities I wanted to target. After compiling a list of email addresses for them, I put together a nice marketing-type email and sent it off through the interwebs to 42 companies in 5 different cities. Doing this type of marketing for anything is a lot like fishing: you cast out your line, not knowing whether you’ll get anything nibbling on your bait. But yesterday I got a bite!</p> <p>A company that was part of my email recipient list registered four of their employees for the conference! Now, you might think “Wow, 1 company out of 42…is that really success?” Well, yes! That’s four more registrations that I might not have gotten otherwise. Email campaigns are an important tool, but its one that expectations need to be managed for. Its like doing telemarketing outcalls: out of all the calls you make, only a small number will actually buy what you’re selling. Doing a cold-call email campaign can have the same sort of effect.</p> <p>But for me, I’m very pleased that people are reading the emails, checking out the conference site, and even registering! It’s a tactic that shouldn’t be overlooked.</p> CanuckConsultanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12249724879884037252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2596315535957806188.post-29041521839292133082010-02-21T09:35:00.001-06:002010-02-21T09:35:37.730-06:00No Good Deed Goes Unpunished – Dangers of Community Development<p>Over the last decade we’ve seen an explosion of channels for small scale organizations and individuals to create and release software applications and services to the world easily. XBox has their program where community created XNA games can be purchased on XBox live. Apple has their app store. New platforms, like Android, are encouraging developers to create applications for them. It’s not just about the big titles anymore, its about who has the widest number of appealing applications that helps a platform succeed (consider that you don’t hear too many developing for the Palm Pre).</p> <p>What this has created is a developer community that may not be thinking from a business and legal standpoint though. The ability to create simple applications that collect, retrieve, and/or display data speaks to the creativity but doesn’t address the realities of our legal realm.</p> <p>Consider the case of <a href="http://www.threadabort.com/archive/2009/12/14/city-caller-id-my-first-android-app.aspx" target="_blank">the developer who created an Android application to identify the city and state an incoming call was originating from</a>. From the blog post:</p> <blockquote> <p><strong>So, I took some time this weekend to develop an Android application.  The application displays the city name and state someone is calling from.  This application is something I've wanted on a phone.  So I thought I would share!</strong></p> </blockquote> <p>He did what many geeks and software developers would do: he tried creating an application for a shiny new platform to see what the experience was like. At the end of it, he released it to the Android marketplace…for free.</p> <p>As the saying goes: no good deed goes unpunished. <a href="http://www.threadabort.com/archive/2010/02/20/city-caller-id-has-been-sued-by-cequint.aspx" target="_blank">He’s now being sued by a company</a> that not only has a similar product available but also holds a patent for the process of displaying a city name and state on a screen. He provides links to the patents and the company on his blog post, but here’s the abstract from one of the patents:</p> <blockquote> <p><strong>An improved decoding and processing system is provided for advanced determination and display of geographic information to a called party relating to the call origination party. The improved system comprises a receiving means to receive the calling number delivery (CND) message from a local central office (CO) switch or mobile station switching center; a microcontroller storage and retrieval device containing a data base library for selectively determining the corresponding geographic information such as city and/or state by matching the area code and/or local exchange number received from the call origination party; and a readout device for displaying the city and/or state of the incoming call. Preferably, the system includes capability to automatically update the data base library of the storage and retrieval device as new area codes and/or local exchanges are subsequently assigned. Accordingly, the improved system provides the user with convenient and efficient display of geographic information related to caller identification that is capable of determining an ever-increasing number of area code and local telephone exchange numbers.</strong></p> </blockquote> <p>Some people would read that and say “That’s not an invention, that’s a requirements summary for a software application.” What’s interesting is the suggestion as to the origin of the patent, which isn’t the company that currently owns it. From <a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-177901499.html" target="_blank">encyclopedia.com</a>:</p> <blockquote> <p><strong>SEATTLE -- Cequint, Inc., a leading provider of Caller ID and call screening products for wireless, announced today the purchase of U.S. Patent No. 6,353,664, a pioneering patent on the display of location information for screening incoming and outgoing calls. The patent was purchased from LSI, formerly Agere. </strong></p> <p><strong>Originally developed by Lucent in 1997, the patent represents a significant innovation in providing location information on a device for purposes of enhancing caller identification.</strong></p> </blockquote> <p>Originally developed by Lucent in 1997?! Back then the abstract provided definitely *was* an invention! We didn’t have the advances in software and platforms that we do now. The fact that this patent is even allowed to survive is further proof that the patent offices in North America haven’t kept up with the rapid change of technology and the changing definition of “invention”.</p> <p>But this post isn’t about patent law, its about us as content/product creators and what we can learn from this man’s experience.</p> <p><strong>Names Are Important</strong> <br />Names we use, even for software we’re planning on giving away for free, are important. Very important. Companies spend huge sums of money every year ensuring that names, slogans, and images are protected under trademark laws.</p> <p>Because of that, you can’t assume that the name you want to use is available to you. This is one of the issues for the creator of the Android app. He named his application City Caller ID. The company suing him has the name City ID trademarked. Two applications that do the same thing and have such close names is an obvious issue.</p> <p><strong>Know The Patents</strong> <br />In a book I read recently, the US author stated how the US is the most litigious country in the world. Unfortunately suing is not just a tool of justice, but part of the business game. Because of this, and because of the issues with patents being released for things that arguably aren’t true “inventions”, its important before you release anything that you check for existing patents and ensure that you’re not infringing on anything.</p> <p>Is this extreme? Well, no. What we don’t realize is that when we release something into the market, even if its free, its now competing with other products in the market. We see the internet as a flea market, when really we’re entering the same marketplace as any established company. The platform creators don’t push this to the developers though, mainly because they want to encourage application dev and not create fear mongering that the next app published could be targeted for a lawsuit.</p> <p><strong>Don’t Hate the Player, Hate the Game</strong> <br />On a moral level, I absolutely disagree with the way the suing company is acting. They easily could have sent a cease and desist order first, assuming they believe that this application was released without the individual doing due-diligence and not meant to maliciously damage the company.</p> <p>Regardless, the law is the law and they are within their right to bring this to litigation. If this makes you angry, and it should, then get in contact with your government representatives to push for patent reform. Note that we’re talking about the US mainly here, but all of what I’ve written applies to any country.</p> <p>My hope for the software dev in this story is that there can be some sort of agreement between the parties that avoids this going to trial and any huge damages being levied against him. For us, this is a warning about what can happen when we don’t understand or respect the rules of the arena we decide to play in. It’s also a rallying point for us to push for rule changes to how we do battle within it.</p> <p>CC</p> CanuckConsultanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12249724879884037252noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2596315535957806188.post-75332840705101559222010-02-09T16:59:00.001-06:002010-02-09T16:59:52.153-06:00Fun With CRA – Be Aware of Instalment Payments<p>In 2008 I was, for the most part, self employed. I did quite a few speaking engagements that involved travel, hotel, and food expenses, and I assumed that the expense write-offs would have a huge dent in the taxes I’d eventually have to pay at the end of the year.</p> <p>You know what they say about assumptions.</p> <p>So I owed a bit of taxes for 2008, no biggie. This past Summer (2009), I was sent a notice from Revenue Canada saying that it was time to make some instalment payments. This was obviously about my taxes from 2008, so I paid them off and continued on with my now full-time employee life.</p> <p>Today I got a call from Canada Revenue Agency alerting me that I still owed all my taxes for 2008. Say WHAT?! This was quite the distressing news: did a cheque get misplaced, did I imagine making those payments, did the money go to the wrong account (like under my wife’s)…all these things raced through my mind as I raced home.</p> <p>I reviewed my records and there were the payments that were made right in my bank statements. I called CRA back, confident that I was vindicated! But I wasn’t…and in fact, I actually *hadn’t* paid my 2008 taxes…</p> <p> <strong>Self Employment and Your Tax Schedule</strong></p> <p>When I was self employed, I *vaguely* remember at some point agreeing to a quarterly tax payment schedule (as opposed to the end of the year like normal). What happened as a result was that CRA looked at what I owed in 2008 for taxes and assumed that I’d probably owe a similar amount in 2009. So last summer they sent an instalment notice saying that I could pay by x date towards my 2009 tax year.</p> <p>What I did when I saw that was assume it was talking about <strong>my 2008</strong> taxes since the amounts were similar (even though it said plainly it was for the 2009 tax year…why would I pay income tax before the year was over?). So all this time I’ve been derelict on my 2008 taxes, but my 2009 tax account has been overflowing!</p> <p>Luckily, I do have the option to move the income tax I’ve paid in 2009 into my 2008 account, so I’m only out a small amount to cover the accrued interest.</p> <p>So here’s the takeaways:</p> <p><strong>Know Your Tax Schedule</strong> <br />If you do agree to a non-yearly tax schedule, understand what that means! Mark it on your calendar, set up reminders, or better yet STAY YEARLY (I really don’t understand the rationale of making early payments…)</p> <p><strong>Pay Attention to What Tax Year CRA Communications Refer To</strong> <br />CRA has different buckets set up for you as far as taxes go. So it is possible that you owe money for a past year’s bucket and yet have extra stored in a present year’s. If you get a notice from them, make sure you understand what its for and what year its for.</p> <p><strong>Don’t Assume CRA Staff are Dinks, But Don’t Assume They Tell You Everything</strong> <br />The guy I dealt with at CRA was awesome…he was very patient in trying to explain to me why I still owed money from 2008 even though I had paid it in 2009. With that said, it wasn’t until I called my accountant that I realized I could transfer the money I paid for 2009 taxes to my 2008 taxes. CRA staff are calling you because they need payment, not to give you advice.</p> <p><strong>Have a Great Accountant You Can Get A Hold Of</strong> <br />’Nuff said.</p> CanuckConsultanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12249724879884037252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2596315535957806188.post-80964513605461740032010-02-09T08:54:00.001-06:002010-02-09T08:58:24.219-06:00The Importance of Details<p>I’m very fortunate to have an amazing graphics artist putting the conference website together. She’s done an amazing job, and I don’t want this post to sound like I’m slaggin’ anyone…its more of a “lessons learned” thing.</p> <p>We’re launching the site this week and I was sent all of the HTML for the site so I could get it setup on my web host. Admittedly, I didn’t look at them as soon as I got them.</p> <p><strong>Lesson – Don’t Put Off To Tomorrow What You Can Do Today</strong></p> <p>When I popped open the zip file last night I saw a collection of PHP files. I wasn’t expecting PHP, but whatever…no biggie. At least, until I tried to get it running on my web host. Turns out that they don’t support PHP.</p> <p>Luckily the damage was very minor: PHP script was just being used for include files (header, footer, etc.) and for some menu aesthetics…nothing that can’t be remedied with a little Javascript.</p> <p>But it leads to the real lesson of this experience:</p> <p><strong>Lesson - Don’t Assume, Spell Out All The Details</strong></p> <p>*Especially* if you’re a developer dealing with a graphics person. That’s not a slag against graphic artists, its just reality: I live in a Microsoft world with Microsoft hosting providers and Microsoft technologies and leveraging Javascript for UI goodness. Graphics people live in an Adobe world with PHP and Flash. Sometimes terms can mean different things, so make sure you investigate and communicate limitations up front (i.e. If I provided the web host capabilities up front, this wouldn’t be an issue).</p> <p><em>Note: In the time it took me to write this post, she had the updated site in my inbox…awesome people = awesome results!</em></p> CanuckConsultanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12249724879884037252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2596315535957806188.post-15363975411656555222010-02-08T16:38:00.001-06:002010-02-08T16:38:32.320-06:00Merchant Account Fiasco<p>Last Fall I helped organize a local developer conference and we used a registration service to handle our online credit card processing fees. It went really well, but the downside is that their rates are a bit high.</p> <p>For my upcoming conference I wanted to try and save a bit of money on the credit card processing, and to do this I’d need to open a Merchant Account. From Wikipedia:</p> <blockquote> <p><strong>A merchant account is a type of bank account that allows businesses to accept payments by debit or credit cards.</strong></p> </blockquote> <p>I went into this process very naively. I assumed opening a merchant account would be akin to opening a bank account: you go in, you sign papers, you get an account and an account number. Voila, done and done. Unfortunately this was not my reality.</p> <p>My business banks with BMO, but the banks themselves don’t handle merchant accounts. Other companies do, and BMO partnered with the Royal Bank to create <a href="http://www.moneris.com/" target="_blank">a company called Moneris</a> which they recommend to businesses looking to create merchant accounts. I was put in touch with a Moneris rep and began the process.</p> <p>And what a process it was! Remember that all I needed was an account to handle online credit card payments. To do this though, I would need to complete a few steps.</p> <p><strong>Step 1 – Bring Up the Website to Moneris’ Standards <br /></strong>There are a whack of standards your site must meet to use a Moneris merchant account: Privacy Policy, Terms of Service, Refund Policy, visible images of the credit cards accepted, etc. These must be in place before the credit application can go forward.</p> <p>I was able to provide a test-site for the registration so that they could go through and ensure everything required was set up properly, but as a final signoff they required seeing the registration link be live from the main website. This can be challenging if you don’t want your website open for registration beforehand.</p> <p>I get why they did this: they want to ensure that I’m actually collecting registrations from the site I’m claiming I am, but its still annoying.</p> <p><strong>Step 2 – Take Out a Mortgage</strong> <br />Well, not really…but let me tell you: the credit application you fill out for opening a merchant account <strong>feels</strong> like you’re taking out a mortgage. You’re asked about your assets, liabilities, current income, previous loans, dependents, life insurance, etc. It’s a full disclosure of your entire financial standing.</p> <p><strong>Step 3 – Expect the Unexpected</strong> <br />At this point I’m very frustrated with the process. It just seems like more work than it has to be to open up a merchant account, and it also feels like Moneris has more involvement with my business than I want it to (While Privacy Policies and Terms of Use are good for any website to have, why is my merchant account provider dictating that to me?). I also felt very uncomfortable with the amount of financial information I had to provide.</p> <p>But then came the phone call today that pretty much ended my quest for a merchant account. Someone from the credit department at Moneris called me to say that the merchant account could be opened contingent on a few things:</p> <p>1) Need registration link available from the actual webpage, not just the testing link, to verify that the registration is from me (I mentioned this previously).</p> <p>2) Provide a $6,500 deposit to cover 50% of the credit exposure. This would be paid back after a certain time period.</p> <p>3) Something about Non-face-to-face transactions…</p> <p>I didn’t really hear what she was saying at #3 because I was dumbfounded by #2: <strong>$6,500 deposit?!</strong> So basically, I had to partially cover the payments I’d process up front to ensure that if there were issues with refunds or anything that I’d actually pay them back and lower the risk on Moneris’ side.</p> <p>Great for Moneris, but horrible for me. And insulting really. I understand in this day and age that there needs to be more scrutiny to ensure fraudulent and criminal activities aren’t being performed. And maybe, because Moneris is such a big player in the debit card machine business, they see website payment processing as a higher risk and therefore need more hedging.</p> <p>But this is just ridiculous! How can it be so difficult to open an account to handle online payment processing?! Why are businesses made to feel like they need to jump through hoops <strong><em>for the privilege</em></strong> of using Moneris’ services?</p> <p>I was trying to get a less expensive method for processing credit card payments. Instead I just wasted a lot of time, got very frustrated, and pushed back launching my site registration.</p> <p>Very disappointing Moneris, very disappointing.</p> CanuckConsultanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12249724879884037252noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2596315535957806188.post-7941138923233901022010-01-27T07:33:00.001-06:002010-01-27T07:33:03.814-06:00A Year Later and New Adventures!<p>It’s been a years since I’ve posted here and a lot has happened in my life. I’ve joined a really great company that gives me a lot of freedom to learn and grow in my career, trying new areas of the business that I’ve always wanted to step into. I’ve also become a father to a beautiful little girl, so I’ve added “Daddy” to my list of roles.</p> <p>But now in 2010 I’m also adding one more title: conference organizer! Really this isn’t a new title for me. I’ve organized code camps and a one-day tech conference through my employer last October. But this is the next logical step: I’m organizing a large technology conference in another city!</p> <p>I’ll be posting here over the next 6 months talking about the experience, what worked and what didn’t, and even some ramblings on what I think the future holds for conference events and learning opportunities for professionals.</p> <p>So let’s blow the dust off this feed and settle in for an interesting 6 month ride!</p> CanuckConsultanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12249724879884037252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2596315535957806188.post-92049581784228137652009-01-18T09:27:00.001-06:002009-01-18T09:27:37.718-06:00Rewarding Employees – Don’t Ask ‘How’, Ask ‘Why’<p></p> <p><a href="http://www.inc.com/magazine/20090101/how-hard-could-it-be-thanks-or-no-thanks.html" target="_blank">In the current issue of Inc. Magazine, Joel Spolsky discusses something that many businesses face: how do you measure and reward performance.</a></p> <p>He discusses in the article the young intern who came up with an idea that brought in a million dollars (almost all profit) for 4 weeks of work. Pretty good ROI for sinking 4 weeks of salary.</p> <p>But even in the shadow of this obviously huge feat, Joel still struggled with whether to compensate the developer. He writes:</p> <blockquote> <p><font color="#333333">How do you properly compensate an employee for a smash-hit, million-dollar idea? On the one hand, you could argue that you don’t have to – a software business is basically an idea factory. We were already paying Noah for his ideas. That was the nature of his employee agreement with us. Why pay twice?</font></p> </blockquote> <blockquote> <p><font color="#333333">And what about everybody else at Fog Creek? Those people were doing their jobs, too. Simply because one programmer’s idea translated visibly and directly into a lot of money didn’t mean that the other team members weren’t adding just as much value to the business, albeit in a less direct way.</font></p> </blockquote> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p><font color="#333333">In the middle of the page (in the printed magazine), is another quote from the article:</font></p> <blockquote> <p><font color="#333333">The very act of rewarding workers for a job well done tends to make them think they are doing it solely for the reward.</font></p> </blockquote> <p>When I first read the article, I was going to write a blog post around some ideas I had relating to the topic. But as I read it, and re-read it, I got angrier. Not at Joel specifically…in fact I applaud that he was so open about his experiences and views on employee compensation and rewards. No, my issue is with the software industry in general and how the employee/employer relationship is viewed.</p> <p><strong>The issue of how to compensate employees shouldn't be the question business owners need to answer. Why are your employees asking for compensation for their exemplary work is.</strong></p> <p>This wouldn’t even be an issue in our industry if businesses took more time to evaluate how they view their staff. Many organizations try to attach the same models found in other industries. Those models <strong>don’t work.</strong></p> <p>Example: I used to work for a guy who previously had been a manager at a car dealership. He tried to apply the same tactics used to motivate sales people with the developer staff. Unfortunately, developers have a lower tolerance for bullshit and the entire desktop division that I was part of (nine staff) eventually left the company within a year.</p> <p>I suggest two areas that need to be addressed by businesses to help them realize exactly how they view their staff and the relationship between ownership/management and their workers.</p> <p>First, be real about how you view your employees. You have two options really, which is what I describe below under ‘Employees Don’t Exist’.</p> <p>The second is to be honest about how your business views itself in relation to its employees. I give some examples of that in ‘Employers Are In Denial’ further below.</p> <h4>Employees Don't Exist </h4> <p>You are either a Wage-Slave or you are a Partner. There are no employees in IT.</p> <p>Wage-Slaves are those that get hired by a company for a set amount of money as compensation. They are then tasked with doing whatever they can to help further the company including sacrificing their own lives when the company requires their time, accepting any directive or command from the company, and coming up with million-dollar ideas. They are promised yearly reviews and raises, and office amenities are usually pointed out as other perks for working (drinks in the fridge, treat days, etc.). While companies will talk about the importance of keeping talent, many see their wage-slaves as replaceable - burn one out, you can just get rid of them and replace them. Wage-Slaves are expendable.</p> <p>Partners are mythical. I hear they exist, and I know of one company that actively tries to make their staff true "partners" in the business. But by and large, you have a better chance of seeing a unicorn then a Partner. Partners live in an environment where the success of an individual is shared by all, through shares in the company or profit sharing or some other means. Their thoughts and opinions are valued in forming the course of the company and everyone has a seat at the board room table, not just listening in through the door. Partners also have responsibility in ensuring the work environment is one that fosters trust and cooperation. Partners have a <strong><u>vested interest</u></strong> in seeing the company succeed because it means direct gains for them <strong><u>beyond continually getting a paycheck.</u></strong></p> <h4>Employers Are In Denial </h4> <p>Maybe you're an employer reading this and you think "Well, I don't treat my employees as wave-slaves!" This is a common response...nobody wants to feel like they really, deep down, view their employees as nothing more than resources. Many businesses try to mask reality by applying different archetypes to their business:</p> <p><strong><em>The Family</em></strong> <br />Companies that claim that they are a "family" without anything beyond a salary binding their employees to the company are simply trying to cast the Manson family as the Brady Bunch. </p> <p>Families love each other. Families are there for each other through trying times. Families go out of their way and sacrifice for the oldest, the youngest, the dumbest, and the poorest, even if its at a personal cost. Businesses DON'T. <br /> <br />Businesses care about profit, and if you aren't helping with that, then your spot in the "family" can be easily replaced. Don't call your business a family unless it literally *is* your family...and even then, I'm sure there are some businesses that really would fire grandma.</p> <p><strong><em>Personal Jesus <br /></em></strong>Oh if only I had a dollar for every time I heard a business owner say "You don't have as much vested in the company as I do...my house is on the line...I took a second mortgage out...blah blah blah". Why, people in their employ should be <strong>*grateful*</strong> that they stuck their necks out on the line so that the opportunity to work for them was even created in the first place! Of course, the trade off for that gratefulness is total and complete loyalty and submissiveness.</p> <p>Look, there is always a risk involved with starting a business...but there's also more REWARD for those that do and succeed. People who choose to be in your employment are doing YOU a service by agreeing to help pay off your house, your car, or put your kids through college. The IT industry is a pantheon, and there's more than one saviour that we can choose to serve.</p> <p><strong><em>The Government <br /></em></strong>Secrecy is king in the Government business. Staff are always praised for the work that they do and thanked for their commitment and service, but all discussion surrounding the company are done behind closed doors. Information is sanitized and structured, delivered as part of some yearly kick off meeting where employees aren’t part of the process of forming goals, policies, or vision…they’re just the ones tasked with carrying out what “the government” has decided.</p> <p>Staff may be able to have a say, but only by approaching the decision makers and making a case for their stance. Opinions are rarely collected.</p> <h4>What Next?</h4> <p>You’re probably thinking its just easier to answer the original question about how to properly compensate an employee for good work. But its not, its just covering up the bigger issue of employer/staff relationship. Joel even states in his article that formalized pay-for-performance programs don’t work.</p> <p>As always, the right thing to do…the thing that will make your organization better in the long run…is also the toughest, painful, messy thing to do. It means being honest about your business’s deficiencies and committing to change not just company policies or guidelines, but how you…as a business owner, as a person…view your staff and their role in your organization.</p> <p>If you make your staff partners in the business, if you can get them to buy into the idea of your company and give them a true stake in its success, then you won’t need to worry about your staff wanting something “over and above” their paycheck for a job well done. They’ll want to do an exemplary job because the success of the company will mean as much to them as it does to you.</p> <p>D </p> CanuckConsultanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12249724879884037252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2596315535957806188.post-65734071660447476242008-11-22T21:06:00.001-06:002008-11-22T21:09:55.560-06:00Update on LifeSo its already almost December and I've been derelict in posting here. However, there's a very good reason: I've taken a permanent position with a company.<br /><br />Now, that doesn't mean that I'm no longer going to be doing consulting work or letting my side business go away; on the contrary, I need to continue to work even harder and making sure my name and brand are established...both within my organization and external to it. I've been around long enough in my industry to know that very few things are ever long term, and things can change in a heartbeat...especially in today's economy. But for now things are going very well. I'm being challenged at work and I'm still diving into new areas of technology.<br /><br />On the government front, I did in fact get my GST number FINALLY (end of September, shortly after my last post).<br /><br />CCCanuckConsultanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12249724879884037252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2596315535957806188.post-45836125600063060242008-09-22T10:56:00.001-05:002008-09-22T10:57:45.624-05:00Word From Revenue Canada!I got a call today from Revenue Canada wanting to verify some information about the direct deposit. Which means I *still* don't have my GST number, but it does give me a bit of relief that I'm still going through the process. A very long process...CanuckConsultanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12249724879884037252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2596315535957806188.post-30214484486600450632008-09-03T23:58:00.000-05:002008-09-04T00:14:12.945-05:00Experience Means Nothing...Unless its Quality ExperienceI had an interview today with a company...not for a contract, but for a perm position. They how and why behind it aren't necessary for this post, but let's just say its a great opportunity to work with some technology I'm really excited about.<br /><br />The interview today was just soft-skills. Nothing super technical other than to discuss my prior experience, behavior type questions (what would you do in this situation), etc.<br /><br />One thing became apparent though as I was asked these questions: considering I was interviewing for a software development type of position, I had alot of examples that were from non-software development projects or were non-complex ones: small web applications, business analysis, teaching, Microsoft Excel applications...all good work that brought in good money...but it wasn't <span style="font-style: italic;">good experience.</span><br /><br />As consultants, we're tasked with finding new work and bringing in the money. But sometimes we'll hit a dry spell, where we still need to put food on the table but the opportunities just aren't there. In these cases, we'll look at what's available and take whatever we deem is the best based on type of work and rate.<br /><br />But I would make a new suggestion, one that takes a bit more gumption: If an opportunity has no lasting benefit beyond providing you a paycheck now, don't take it.<br /><br />This is the new credo that I'll be basing all my contract opportunities on. I want to be sure that the work I do is something that a potential future employer will look at and identify as <span style="font-style: italic;">good experience</span>.<br /><br />As an example, let's say you were hiring for a sous-chef position in a restaurant. You have a candidate that claims to have over 10 years of experience. You look through the resume and see that the person does have a long tenure, but the types of restaurants are diners, chain restaurants, or mom-and-pop shops. Sure, he has 10 years of cooking...but does his experience show that he's able to perform in the sous-chef position. Compare that to the person with 4 years experience in high end NYC restaurants, working under well known chefs, and with proven experience cooking with more fine dining style cuisine? The 4 year candidate has more <span style="font-style: italic;">good experience</span> than the 10 year candidate.<br /><br />The same is for us as consultants. We can definitely eek out a living on the scraps that other companies drop to the ground...the projects they pass up because of a low dollar return or a technology that is below them. Or, we can raise ourselves to a higher standard...one that puts us in the major league ranks when it comes to offering up good experience as part of our portfolio.<br /><br />CCCanuckConsultanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12249724879884037252noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2596315535957806188.post-20832873909323523212008-07-20T13:58:00.000-05:002008-07-20T14:08:14.476-05:00I Don't Think The Government Wants Me To Have a GST Number...So I decided to finally just fill out the form and snail-mail it into the government. Filling out the form was very painless...good directions on which pieces to fill out for which aspect of a business account (GST, payroll, etc.) you were applying for.<br /><br />But as seems to be the case with my government interactions lately, there of course is a snag: <a href="http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pbg/tf/rc1/README.html" target="_blank">The form</a> doesn't say WHERE I need to send this thing to. Ok, that's alright. I mean, maybe there are different offices or something. Luckily, they suggest to review <a href="http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pub/tg/rc2/" target="_blank">"The Business Number and Your Canada Revenue Agency Accounts" brochure</a> to get all the answers to any questions you might have.<br /><br />Great...I download the pdf...and look...and look...no address. I search. No address. I HAVE NO F'N CLUE WHERE TO SEND THIS!!!<br /><br />So let's recap:<br />- Tried unsuccessfully to enter my information through the government website THREE TIMES and was even told by tech support that they were sure it was working fine and to try again.<br />- Tried to call it in but wait times were UNREAL. Any time at a client's (which is where I am during the hours the gov's office is open) and am doing personal stuff, its time I'm not billing the client for...which means I'm losing money...which means phone calls are NOT an option.<br />- Tried to manually fill out a paper-based form and the wonderful government website couldn't tell me where to send the form to!<br /><br />Luckily with a bit of snooping, I finally found <a href="http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/bsnss/tpcs/bn-ne/rgstr/menu-eng.html" target="_blank">this page</a> which gives you a link to a listing of all the government tax offices accross Canada.<br /><br />So what's the lesson in all of this kids? Don't wait until you hit your $30k to get your GST number. Get it right out of the gate. Sure you charge your clients GST up front, but you also get to write off your own GST on purchases for the company (or something like that...I still don't have my GST number so I'm not sure what the details are, but there's a benefit).<br /><br />Now let's see how long before I actually get my number in the mail.<br /><br />CCCanuckConsultanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12249724879884037252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2596315535957806188.post-43995939075532672462008-07-14T14:22:00.000-05:002008-07-14T14:29:31.028-05:00Seriously...I just want a GST number...So continues the ongoing saga that is me trying to get my GST number. Seriously, this *shouldn't* be this difficult.<br /><br />I've tried again going through the Government of Canada's website. I was actually very optimistic this time around...until I clicked the Accept button and got "This application is temporarily unavailable". Really.<br /><br />So then I decided to check out some other sites, like the Business Development Center, which is actually a private company that will, for a fee, register your GST number for you. But, it shouldn't be that complex of a process to warrant bringing in a third party.<br /><br />So now I'm onto my last option which I think might be my best: fill out the form, and mail it in.<br /><br />Ugh...this is SO FRUSTRATING...CanuckConsultanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12249724879884037252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2596315535957806188.post-23770100122373223242008-05-06T10:51:00.000-05:002008-05-06T10:56:54.690-05:00Head-Hunter Lesson LearnedI have a potential client lined up for a bunch of work over the next few months. Sounds good right? Well...<br /><br />I was placed at this client through a head-hunting company. This was my first break into the independant world, and they were a great introduction, so I have no complaints. However, they recently changed their stance on sole proprietors and incorporated entities.<br /><br />Basically, if your inc then you're ok...but if your sp, then you get treated as a term employee, with tax taken off and everything...so you're not *really* independant (and you lose the ability to move what would have been taxable dollars into RSP savings instead of just handing it back to the government).<br /><br />So now I've been out of this client for about 6 months, but there's a 1 year non-compete clause that we both signed with the head-hunters. The problem is that I can't go in as an sp because i'm not willing to be considered a term. I'm also not going to jump through the hoops and pay out the money to rush an incorporated status just to be able to get this gig.<br /><br />Complicating this further is that when I did my taxes this year, my accountant asked me why they issues me a T4 at all (the head hunter place said they had to take CPP and EI off). They didn't...and because they issues a T4, that meant that I'd get flagged by Revenue Canada, so i had to claim all that money under taxable income.<br /><br />We'll see how this shakes, but right now I'm thinking that unless they let me ba a *true* SP and just invoice them and leave it at that, this contract might not fly. Which is ok...the one year ends in the fall and if they still have work I'll be free from the shackles of the head hunters.CanuckConsultanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12249724879884037252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2596315535957806188.post-58144778920591868352008-04-30T10:20:00.000-05:002008-04-30T10:24:56.621-05:00So what did I learn from tax season?Taxes are done and in, and let me tell you: having an accountant do them is a godsend!<br /><br />It wasn't the best case scenario for rebate/payments, but I did learn one very important thing:<br /><br />If you're working as a sole-proprietor and the agency you're going through gives you a T4 at the end of the year, ASK QUESTIONS. Turns out that organizations that claim to have to with-hold EI or CPP don't...at least they shouldn't be for fully independant workers....and that's what happened with one gig I did for a local head-hunting firm.<br /><br />As a result, that amount had to be recorded as taxable income (there's a T4...T4 = you worked somewhere).<br /><br />I'm curious to see the actual print-outs to see how it was all calculated, but so far my first 6 months has had some good lessons learned, and I didn't take too much of a hit...so we'll see what shakes!CanuckConsultanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12249724879884037252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2596315535957806188.post-70452667163250918622008-04-12T20:23:00.000-05:002008-04-12T20:28:07.822-05:00Tax TimeHere it is...my first tax submission for a year where I worked for half of it as a sole proprietor. I am a little nervous, as I really don't know what to expect. I know that I'm definately *not* getting a refund, but I'm also not sure what my bill is going to be. I've contributed quite a bit to RSP's, and I have a fair amount of expenses to claim (which is another thing...seeing exactly what does get claimed and what doesn't, or how much for some of the home bills since I work out of my home for some of my work). I just really don't know...<br /><br />I'm going to be talking with my accountant about Incorporation again, mainly for the tax benefits and not so much the increased "safety" that it supposedly provides (which I've heard numerous times ove the last few months that its really a fallacy about how much protection you get going SP to Inc).<br /><br />Anyway, time will tell...look for a tax report in the next few weeks!<br /><br />CCCanuckConsultanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12249724879884037252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2596315535957806188.post-51419223376780793612008-03-30T22:26:00.001-05:002008-03-30T22:30:05.327-05:00Frustrations with Registerign for GST NumberI've been trying to register for a GST number since late 2007. You'd think it would be easy, but unforunately its not...at least if you go the website route.<br /><br />I tried registering for my GST number online through the Government of Canada's website...at the end of it I got a blank page with the title of "Summary". Weird. Weeks went by and nobody contacted me (as I was told they would on the site). Finally I called. Guess what? They had *no* record of me in their system. I guess something had messed up.<br /><br />I went through the process again, and received the same issue: blank summary screen at the end. I emailed their tech support explaining what had happened and that I was concerned that this might not have gone through. I was assured that it had and that someone would contact me.<br /><br />It's been a few months. No contact. So I'm just going to call them instead and get this sorted out. This has been very annoying...it shouldn't be this hard.<br /><br />For what its worth, the application they use is a Java applet, and I was accessing it with Firefox on my iMac...so some combination of those three is the issue I suppose.CanuckConsultanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12249724879884037252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2596315535957806188.post-3214476029446151932008-02-11T10:44:00.000-06:002008-02-11T10:50:03.687-06:00Moving to IncorporationI've been pretty happy being a sole proprietor so far, and although I was aware of the benefits of being incorporated I was given advice not to worry about it until I was making more money than I was spending...basically a nod to protecting money taxation wise when my personal salary would start to jump up.<br /><br />However, things have changed. A bulk of my work is done through staffing agencies, Saphire (formerly CNC Global) as the primary one. As of February 1st, they've changed their policy and only do two types of placements: Incorporated individuals or Term individuals. The problem is that even if you're a sole proprietor, you'd be placed as a term employee OF Saphire...meaning that in the government's eyes you aren't acting as an independant body; you're a temp employee of the staffing company.<br /><br />So add to my plate this month going through the incorporation process...which should give way to some great blog posts at least. Some things that I'm needing to research:<br /><br />- How to set up my own salary once my business is its own incorporation<br />- How to set up other employees of the business if I wanted to<br />- How to set up financial accounts since the incorporation is now separate from my own finances<br />- What do I need to do from a license perspective with the city, provincial government, and feds<br /><br />And I'm sure many others. Stay tuned...<br /><br />CCCanuckConsultanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12249724879884037252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2596315535957806188.post-5850376071081331892008-02-06T11:16:00.001-06:002008-02-06T11:21:41.210-06:00Now I Know How a Trader Feels...Finding gigs on your own can sometimes feel like your trading stocks: things happen in ebbs and flows, and can change on a dime.<br /><br />Last week I was asked if I could help with a contract engagement with a former employer (as a subcontractor). We were waiting to hear back from the client and in the meantime I had an interview for another subcontracting gig.<br /><br />This week, I received confirmation that I won the gig I interviewed for, which is good...but this other opportunity would need to finalize soon if I was going to fit it into my schedule. That same day I get a call that the job I won was a no go because a senior position couldn't be filled and the government agency we were going to work with had to re-tender it. Then I find out today that the former-employer opportunity is a go and we have a meeting for this Friday. All the while, I'm negotiating with a placement firm for an engagement as well.<br /><br />Tonnes going on...the biggest thing I've realized in all this is that you play until the whistle: talk means nothing unless there's a signed contract backing it. Otherwise, nothing is a for sure. This meeting scheduled for Friday *could* get bumped, or cancelled outright, and if I placed my entire hope in this one contract I'd be handcuffing myself. So to all those out there starting out in consulting, keep all the pokers in the fire but don't commit to one until the meat on the end of it is cooked (I have no idea where that came from...just go with it).<br /><br />CCCanuckConsultanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12249724879884037252noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2596315535957806188.post-28338237453433119692007-12-11T11:32:00.000-06:002007-12-11T11:49:21.182-06:00Making the Independant DistinctionI received some interesting advice recently regarding how the government of Canada can view long-term contracts.<br /><br />I'm currently being sub-contracted by a consulting firm. This firm basically puts me out on contracts they source under their banner, and I in turn invoice them for my time at my rate. To the end-clients, it appears that I'm just an employee of the company though.<br /><br />However, going into these sort of arrangements can get dicey depending on how Revenue Canada views it. Instead of you being an independent consultant on a contract, they could say that you're just a term employee with a different pay structure. Items such as business cards with your name on it but with your client's logo on it only help Revenue Canada's case.<br /><br />So what can you do? Make sure that you show that there's a clear separation between yourself and the organization you're contracting under:<br /><br />- Create your own website and your own online identity, clearly stating that you are available for contract work and open to being contacted.<br /><br />- Get your own business cards made up. Don't fret too much about a logo, or color scheme, or anything like that; you can always change that later. The important thing is that you have something to hand out that clearly shows you as an independent entity.<br /><br />- Get other work. You may have a great sub-contract going on providing great work, but you should still try to get other work and show that you are truly diversifying your client base and not just "terming" it with one company.<br /><br />- Don't sign anything that limits your outside activities. Most companies will want you to sign some form of "Invention Covenant" or the like, which will state that the consulting company holds rights to anything you create during the course of employement. That statement alone I have no problem with: if you work for them, and you create a framework on their behalf or for their product or whatever, then its theirs. BUT, where it gets dicey is when (and most typically will add this in) they specify that <u style="font-style: italic;">the reach of those rights extend beyond working hours, and include anything done at home or for any other client.</u> This is where you need to draw the line...the company is just protecting their interests and insuring their own trade secrets don't get leaked out, which is understandable...but you need to protect your own organization's interests as well.<br /><br />- Before signing anything, have it reviewed by your lawyer and possibly also by your accountant. Your lawyer can identify any concerns or issues with the agreement, and your accountant can warn you about any concerns from a taxation point of view (in this case, whether Revenue Canada might have issues with the agreement)<br /><br />- Retain a lawyer if you don't have one, and get an accountant if you don't have one. ;)<br /><br />DCanuckConsultanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12249724879884037252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2596315535957806188.post-33853322863505086142007-12-11T11:12:00.000-06:002007-12-11T11:23:39.277-06:00Registering for GST AccountI've finally come to the point where I need to register for a GST account with the government.<br /><br />I'm somewhat relieved to be finally doing this, as I had alot of different information thrown at me about whether I should do this earlier than later, or whether I should have done it right from the beginning, or just wait until hitting the magic number...but I went with my accountant's advice and waited.<br /><br />The process is a little misleading, as you don't just sign up for a GST account; rather you register for a business number with the federal government. In turn, this lets you open a variety of accounts with them: payroll, import/export, corporate income tax, etc., ... and a GST/HST account.<br /><br />For a sole-proprietorship, you need to have some information ready:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Business Structure</span><br />This is just whether you're a SP, or incorporated, or a partnership<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Legal Name</span><br />What your business name is legally. For a SP, its just your given name<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Incorporated</span><br />Whether you're incorporated or not<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Operating Name</span><br />This is the name that you use for marketing, advertising, etc. So for example, you might use your name with "Consulting" attached at the end.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Effective Date</span><br />This is when you became eligible for charging GST.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Operating/Mailing Addresses</span><br />Where to contact you/send you stuff<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Reporting Period</span><br />Although the government site says you should be aware of this, they never actually ask you about this on the online registration form...and this is actually assigned. The reporting period is how often you have to send in your GST monies<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Fiscal Year End</span><br />When your fiscal year end is. For most SP's, sticking to the calendar year is the easiest.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Business Activity</span><br />What your business does, and what pecentage of services make up your business.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">SIN</span><br />They'll ask for your SIN<br /><br />There are also a tonne of rules about whether you can apply online, but the site does a good job of explaining those. Once you submit your application, its reviewed and you'll receive a letter with the information about your accounts and your business number (which you use in dealing with the government).<br /><br />For more information on registering for a business number, check out the link below.<br />http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tax/business/topics/bn/menu-e.html<br /><br />DCanuckConsultanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12249724879884037252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2596315535957806188.post-41167052279324863192007-12-11T10:54:00.000-06:002007-12-11T11:12:28.537-06:00Lawyers are Good ThingsNo, I'm not in any trouble where I need a lawyer...but I have visited one to get moving on creating my own contract for consulting purposes.<br /><br />I had a great lunch with another consultant who talked about the importance of creating your own contract and having that available for engagements. After meeting with the lawyer he recommended, I realized how naive I was at the types of things to think about.<br /><br />The idea of "warranty" for instance. I assumed that you would of course want to "warranty" your software. But then I was challenged on what "warranty" really meant: is it a bug, or a feature that's now requested...and if the latter, then how do you avoid getting into a "well that should have been in the original and its under warranty" argument. The word "warranty" is too grey of a word with software, so the safer road it seems is to say you won't warranty it...which opens the door to you as a consultant to offer value-added services for your clients. "Even though that wasn't in the initial agreement, I'll make the fix for you because you've been such a good client."<br /><br />There's also the issue of liability, and although insurance should always be a consideration there's alot that you can do up front in a good agreement to deflect many of those concerns. For instance, specifying up front that any damages due to failing of software is not your responsibility. Now, you might think "Well, that doesn't sound fair...if you're building software shouldn't it work properly?" Of course...but consider this situation:<br /><br />You write an application that provides some sort of financial calculation. As is always the case with software, its reliability is not tied directly to itself: network reliability, hardware access and reliability, proper maintenance, etc. are all part of the broader scheme...but many of those things are out of your control as the software developer: you can't dictate how often the IT department does routine maintenance on the servers your application will run on for instance.<br /><br />So let's say that your application is busy running calculations for a mission-critical portion of a business, when the server crashes due to no fault of your software. As a result, the data files that were being used for the calculations become corrupt and unrecoverable. Without the agreement up front regarding liability, the company could come after you trying to make an argument that the software failed and cost the business, even though it wasn't the software that directly caused the issue.<br /><br />Lots of things to consider around the legal side of things, and obviously the important part of this should be that the customer realizes that they're not getting someone that will shirk their responsibilities and try to sneak away with money for crap work...but taht's where reputation and experience play a larger role. But covering your butt isn't a bad thing; its a smart thing. It's just too bad that you have to paint broad strokes over everyone that they could be unsrupulous.<br /><br />DCanuckConsultanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12249724879884037252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2596315535957806188.post-695895534509998932007-10-31T11:23:00.000-05:002007-10-31T11:26:23.286-05:00Helpful Revenue Canada Small Business LinksJust putting these here so I don't forget.<br /><br />My Business Account service<br /><a href="http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/eservices/tax/business/myaccount/menu-e.html">http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/eservices/tax/business/myaccount/menu-e.html</a><br /><br />Canada Revenue Agency Phone Numbers<br /><a href="http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/contact/phone-e.html">http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/contact/phone-e.html</a><br /><br />About.Com page with lots of links<br /><a href="http://sbinfocanada.about.com/od/taxinfo/Tax_Information.htm">http://sbinfocanada.about.com/od/taxinfo/Tax_Information.htm</a><br /><br />RRSP Article<br /><a href="http://sbinfocanada.about.com/cs/taxinfo/a/rrsp.htm">http://sbinfocanada.about.com/cs/taxinfo/a/rrsp.htm</a><br /><br />Tax Deductions You Don't Want To Miss<br /><a href="http://sbinfocanada.about.com/od/homebusinesstax/a/hbbdeductions.htm">http://sbinfocanada.about.com/od/homebusinesstax/a/hbbdeductions.htm</a>CanuckConsultanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12249724879884037252noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2596315535957806188.post-64525234144070359032007-10-30T10:35:00.000-05:002007-10-30T10:40:09.571-05:00Vehicle Lease for Small BusinessesWe're realizing that it might make more sense to get a second vehicle now that my consulting gig is going to take me to various places in the city throughout the year. I began looking into what the benefits were for having a lease and what can be written off.<br /><br />If you're going to be using a vehicle partially for work and partially for personal use, then you can only claim use for work purposes. However, at this site (<a href="http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tax/individuals/topics/income-tax/return/completing/deductions/lines206-236/229/motor/menu-e.html">http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tax/individuals/topics/income-tax/return/completing/deductions/lines206-236/229/motor/menu-e.html</a>) I found an interesting statement:<br /><br /><em>"<strong>Employment use of a motor vehicle<br /></strong>If you use a motor vehicle for both employment and personal use, you can deduct only the percentage of expenses related to earning income. To support the amount you can deduct, keep a record of both the total kilometres you drove and the kilometres you drove to earn employment income. <strong><u>We consider driving back and forth between home and work as personal use</u>." </strong>(emphasis mine)</em><br /><em></em><br />So...let me get this straight: you can use a vehicle you use to "earn employment income", but driving between home and work doesn't fall into that category?! So if you're a consultant, and you're assigned to be on-site to a client, that is technically driving to home and work...isn't it?<br /><br />I'll need to look at this a little more closely...<br /><br />DCanuckConsultanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12249724879884037252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2596315535957806188.post-20880423586793064742007-10-22T15:52:00.000-05:002007-10-22T15:59:57.018-05:00The Importance of Treating Customers Well...and Small Business Liability InsuranceI learned recently that there are some insurance providers (like Wawaneesa) that have products designed for the small business owner. Unfortunately it sounds like there's not alot in the base plan that would cover error and ommission insurance, but the referred broker I spoke with didn't expand on what options were available, nor was he someone that I decided I wanted to provide my business to.<br /><br />In any service based industry, there's one common outlook that we as service providers must remember: our customer more than likely has no idea how to do what we do, and therefore our job is to help educate them as well as provide them with our services.<br /><br />Answering questions like "What options are available with the policy?" with "Well, whatever you want" doesn't really help me.<br /><br />I also asked this broker what was covered under liability. "Let's say you walk into my place...and you screw up...you're covered."<br /><br />Hmm...ok, so as a software developer if I walk in and there's a dispute about what was supposed to be included in the software, is that covered? "No...I'm not on the hook for that."<br /><br />Well, then obviously using the term "...and you screw up..." isn't quite clear enough is it?<br /><br />I'm not going to mention the brokers name here, but let's take this as a lesson: educate the people who are coming to you for help, and don't assume that they understand the service or products you provide...they just know that you're someone that has the knowledge and can help them.<br /><br />DCanuckConsultanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12249724879884037252noreply@blogger.com0