Growth and Innovation

Growth is the product of your success, but it does not come easily. Fuelled by your innovative ideas and your attention to cutting-edge technology and resources, growth is about riding the momentum.

This section will help you decide if your business is primed for growth and beyond that, it will help you understand how to go about achieving it. You will find resources aimed at helping you:

• understand the implications of expanding your operations; and
• link to activities and organizations that can help you grow.

The Innovation section concentrates on what is perhaps growth's most important asset: your ideas. A major part of growth is change, and innovation is how you capitalize on change, creating better or improved products and services that you can launch into the marketplace. This section offers information on:

• research and development
• commercialization
• product licensing
• financing opportunities for innovation

E-business, the use of the Internet as a business tool, is a major component of growth. Whether you plan to create an online store, use the Internet to process payments or to communicate with your customers, any plans you may have to grow your business should take the mass potential of the Internet into account.

• Growth
• Innovation
• E-business

Market Research and Statistics

Discover what market research is and how to create an effective market research campaign. You will also find numerous information resources and statistics that you can use to learn more about your industry, your customers and the markets you serve. This information can ultimately help you to make informed decisions that can maximize the potential of your business.

• Conducting market research
• Labour and employment data
• Demographics
• Industry sector data
• Canadian economy
• International markets
• Importing and exporting
• Environment
• Science and technology
• General research and statistics

Marketing and Sales

You put your heart and soul into your company because you love what you do. Your efforts should be rewarded in the form of profit.

How well you market your business and interact with your customers can vastly influence your success. Whether you're starting a new business venture or revisiting your existing marketing strategy, this section covers marketing from the ground up. You'll find information and resources that will help place your products and services at the forefront of your current and future customers' minds.

The Marketing Basics section will provide you with a nuts-and-bolts overview of marketing, covering topics such as:

• branding
• online marketing
• marketing on a budget

If you're looking for marketing resources, the sections Promoting and advertising your business and Sales and customer relationship management offer a number of assets that may be helpful to you, including:

• public and media relations
• negotiations
• e-business
• sales techniques
• direct mail marketing
• trade show marketing

If you're interested in marketing your products or services to a federal, provincial, territorial or foreign government, the Selling to governments section will help get you started, while the Marketing regulations and standards section will provide you with the rules, regulations, permits and licences related to marketing and sales that you will need to know along the way.

• Marketing basics
• Promoting and advertising your business
• Sales and customer relationship management
• Selling to governments
• Marketing regulations and standards

Regulations, Licences and Permits

Learn about regulations, permits and licences that apply to your business.

• Permits and licences
• Regulations for specific business activities
• Key regulated sectors
• Regulatory change
• Standards

Starting a Business

Want to be your own boss? The idea of starting your own business is appealing to a lot of people and it can be very rewarding. However, a lot of new businesses fail. This information will help you plan for a successful start to your entrepreneurship journey.

• Is entrepreneurship for you?
• Developing your ideas
• Developing your business plan
• Business name and registration
• Buying a business
• Forms of business organization
• Financing your business
• Choosing and setting up a location
• Checklists and guides for starting a business