Although I may not do a lot of crazy outward acts of patriotism, I’m one heck of a proud Canadian. This is a great country to raise a family and run a small business.

One thing you’ll find out about Canadians, we’re very protective of our “celebrities”. Despite the fact that we’re the 2nd largest country in the world, our population ranks at #35. So, when somebody from Canada gets famous for any reason, we get excited. There are some exceptions. There are many Canadians who would be perfectly fine with forgetting that Celine Dion and Justin Bieber are Canadian. But I digress.

Perhaps it was just my ignorance, but I don’t remember a ton of big tech companies coming out of the Great White North. I knew about Corel and ATI early on, and the R.I.M. when I got older. Now that I’m running my own business, it’s so great finding Canadian companies doing really good work. Since I’m naturally biased, it’s even better when I find out that they’re Canadian after I’ve already fallen for their products and services.

There are more good Canadian companies than I have time to list. So, I’d like to get this conversation started with 3.

Freshbooks:

I know, I’ve mentioned them a lot here, and I apologize if you’re getting sick of me repeating that name. In my defense, they’re a well known company…in my field…in my country. Of course I’m going to talk about them a lot. If you want to read more, you can check out my other Freshbooks posts here.

Hootsuite:

I just found out this company was Canadian last week, despite the fact that I’ve been using their web app for over a year. Hootsuite makes my favourite social media web app. It’s where I do most of my Twitter-related work.

Arkli:

You may have just read my post last week about Arkli. Once again, I found out they were Canadian after writing the post and trying out their service. Arkli makes running a social media campaign exponentially easier. Check out the post, or visit them directly to see what makes them great.

Now, here’s your turn to help me finish this list. Do you know of a Canadian small business/startup/entrepreneur that’s really doing amazing things? I’ve discussed those in the tech or accounting sector, but feel free to brag about someone in any area…just as long as they’re based in Canada.

Don’t be shy either. If you think your own company is pretty darn special, then list yourself in the comments. There’s nothing wrong with being proud of what you do.

I look forward to seeing what you share.

One of the most fun, and yet challenging aspects of entrepreneurship in this day and age is social media. If Twitter is any indication, there are millions of social media “experts” out there, just waiting to sell you their services.

So, let’s first establish the fact that I’m not claiming to be one of those experts. Truth be told, I just really enjoy tinkering around with all of the services and apps that go along with it. It’s also a really great way for an introvert to get out there and network.

The problem is, it quickly becomes overwhelming trying to keep up with the workflow. You need to write a post, link it to content on other sites like YouTube or Flickr, and then promote the post on sites like Twitter and Facebook. There are a few different ways to manage this, and today’s pick is one of them.

I just read a post over at Erin Blaskie’s blog. If you haven’t checked it out before, it’s a great site. She has a really good review of Arkli, which is my pick today. Her post does a great job of describing the service, so let me just give you a summary.

Arkli handles your social media “campaigns” from start to finish. Link up your blog, your social media sites, your analytics, and even your email marketing service. Right from within Arkli, you can write a post…even upload videos that will then be added to your YouTube account. Then, while still in the same interface, you can schedule the post, and subsequent updates to your Facebook and Twitter accounts in order to promote the post.

It’s fairly new to me. In fact, I’m writing this post from within Arkli to test it out. So far, I really like the unified interface. Although I enjoy using Hootsuite to schedule future tweets, it’s incredibly useful having everything together in one place.

Pricing seems very reasonable (at least for those of us with small networks). I’m trying out the free account, which lets me link 3 social network accounts, my blog, and my Google Analytics account. If I end up with more than 1,000 followers in these accounts, I’d have to step up to one of the paid plans, which start at $19/month. Still, for what you get, that’s a steal.

update: Thanks to Mike at Arkli (@arkliapp) for clarifying something here. The blog is considered one of the social network accounts. So, the free account lets me connect with my blog, Facebook, and Twitter. That makes sense, and is still a lot for a free account. 

If you are trying to juggle this process in your own small business, I would recommend you give Arkli a shot. With any account, you can get a 14 day free trial. I think you’ll know within the first week if it’s worth the money.

If you end up trying it out, or if you already use it, let me know what you think.

There are more than a few reasons why I didn’t end up with a career in sales. When I sold computers, I had no problem telling a customer that another store had what they needed. I was also prone to underselling someone if I felt it better suited their needs and budget. Most of those customers were happy with the honesty…my employers were not.

The big problem with running my own business is that I have to be in sales again. If I don’t “sell” enough of you on the benefits of my bookkeeping services, it tends to have a negative impact on my bank account.

In the true Eric tradition, I thought I’d undersell you today. I have a feeling that there is a misconception surrounding bookkeepers. If I’m wrong, let me know.

The Theory

Many of you see bookkeepers as an expensive addition to your small business. Sure, the big companies have accounting departments, but individuals starting a home business certainly can’t afford a bookkeeper. Some of you believe it’s an all or nothing scenario. Either you’ve got someone working 20-40 hours per week in the office or you’re doing it all yourself.

The hourly rates of bookkeepers (and other professionals) also scares you off. In Canada, according to Intuit, the average hourly rate of a bookkeeper is $35. My rate is currently below that average at $30/hour. So, since you have that 20-40 hour work week in your mind, you now assume that it’s going to cost you between $700-1,400/month to hire a bookkeeper.

The Reality

Most of the time, if you’re running a business by yourself, you don’t need anywhere near 20 hours worth of bookkeeping per week. In fact, some of you don’t even need a bookkeeper on a monthly basis. Many times, as long as you stay organized, all you need is a bookkeeper to look over the books once or twice a year, just before you send them off to the accountant at tax time. Even if you need someone on a regular basis, it might only take an hour each week to stay up to date. That’s $30/week to take the guesswork out of your new business. Not as bad as you thought, right?

Obviously, each business is different. If you want someone else handling all of our invoicing, budgeting, bank deposits, and government remittances, then you’ll need those 20-40 hours. Like with anything else, the best first step is to plan out your needs.

The Solution

Sit down and figure out what you need to track. If it’s just you, then payroll won’t be a major job. If you don’t need to track inventory, you could do your own invoicing with something like Freshbooks. And, as long as you keep your business transactions in their own bank accounts, keeping track of cash flow should be a snap.

Next, sit down (virtually or literally) with a bookkeeper and discuss your options. You’re not on the clock, so just take your time and ask all the questions you want. In the end, I think you’ll be surprised by how little it will actually cost.

If you have questions of your own, don’t hesitate to contact me. I’m never more than an email/comment/tweet/DM/call away.