Business
We try to simplify our business functions as much as possible.
General
We host our company emails on Fastmail (RCMD).
Company Chat/Voice
Our preferred company chat/voice system is Zulip (STRONG RCMD).
Google Meet is our voice chat backup.
Banking
We have a CAD bank account and USD bank account with RBC.
We have a CAD credit card (1% cashback) and a USD credit card (to avoid costly credit-card FOREX).
FOREX
We do FOREX with Wise (usually CAD-USD).
Payroll
We handle payroll internally on a monthly basis with Canada Payroll Deductions Calculator.
Every month we submit and remit our payroll source deductions to the CRA via CRA My Business Account.
Credits
SRED and OITC: We get fully refundable tax credits for about 40% of our scientific, research, and experimental development expenses via SRED (federal program) and Ontario Innovation Tax Credit (provincial program). Both programs are STRONG RCMD. Part of our corporate tax return.
Corporate Taxes and Filings
Annual Return: Every year we submit our corporate return to Corporations Canada Annual Return Service.
Corporate Tax Return: Every year we prepare our corporate tax return with T2Express and submit to CRA via their NETFILE service (sendable from T2Express). Includes annual financial statements.
HST Refund: We get fully refundable tax credits for all the HST (domestic sales tax) and GST (import tax) that we pay for our business expenses via Input Tax Credits. This is STRONG RCMD. Part of our HST return.
HST Return: Every year we submit and remit our HST return (HST from our sales) to the CRA via CRA My Business Account.
Business Insurance
Kase Insurance (Canadian insurance broker)
Phone Service
Freedom Mobile Canada (Canadian phone service provider) (cost-effective: $15/mth 1GB annual prepaid)
Stories
| Topic | Description | Link |
|---|---|---|
| Leadership | Ebook: The Great CEO Within, Matt Mochary | https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZJZbv4J6FZ8Dnb0JuMhJxTnwl-dwqx5xl0s65DE3wO8 |
| Big Retail | The Last Days of Target Canada | https://archive.canadianbusiness.com/the-last-days-of-target-canada/ |
| User Retention | Lessons from Citizendium | https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/Lessons_from_Citizendium.pdf |
| Investors | Reasons Investors Pass on Start-ups, Alex Iskold | https://twitter.com/alexiskold/status/1565732379079196675 |
5 Keys to a Successful Team (Google, 2015)
Article: A Group Is Its Own Worst Enemy, 2003-07-01, Clay Shirky
Resources
Government of Canada:
| Description | Link |
|---|---|
| Doing Business in Canada | WEB |
| CanadaBuys: selling to government of Canada | WEB |
| CorporationsCanada: federal company registration/search/maintenance | WEB |
| NUANS: Canada corporate name search | WEB |
| Canada Innovation Superclusters | WEB |
| Made in Canada | WEB |
Government of Ontario:
| Description | Link |
|---|---|
| Doing Business in Ontario | WEB |
| Ontario Made | WEBSITE |
| Workplace Safety Insurance Board (WSIB) | WEBSITE |
| Electrical Safety Authority (ESA) | WEBSITE |
Corporate Maintenance, Guidebolt Inc.
Federal Registration: Canada NFP Act (equity-less)
Extraprovincial Registration: Ontario
Note: The federal corporation number (organization ID with Corporations Canada) is different from the federal business number (organization ID with Canada Revenue Agency).
Documents:
- NUANS Report
- Certificate of Incorporation
- Articles of Incorporation
- Corporate Info Sheet
- Registered Office and Board of Directors
- Extraprovincial Registrations
Assorted Reading:
CNCA, Problems and Solutions, Mcmillan, 2010
SRED
2021 Guidelines on SRED Work Eligibility
Pre-Claim Consultation Request
Old Notes
Commercial General Liability (CGL) Insurance: Protects against third-party injury and property damage claims. Benefit is significant risk reduction of the business having to directly pay a typical $100K to $1M legal settlement.
Data Backup Schedule and Reliable Data System: Prevents data loss and business disruption caused by drive failure, human error, indirect damage (ex. fire), and special data problems (ex. bitrot). Benefit is significant risk reduction of a variable $10K to $1M+ business disruption cost (depends on business size and data-dependency).
Data Security Policy: Protects against typical brute-force, phishing, and social-engineering attacks. Benefit is significant risk reduction of a typical $1M+ ransomware settlement, reputation damage, and business disruption.
Typical business scope:
- Sales, Marketing, Support (public engagement)
- Operations, Engineering, Project Management (product-service focus)
- Accounting/Finance, Human Resources, Legal, Security (resource accumulation/protection)
- Strategy (planning/direction leadership)
Key questions:
- What is the long-term strategy?
- What makes the product/service compelling?
- What is strong about the product-market fit?
Key planning ideas:
- Prepare for market saturation.
- Focus on significant upgrades (ex. air conditioning inside cars).