BMO Bank of Montreal and PROFIT Magazine Business Coach Podcast

If you have worked in a large corporation, there is little doubt you have watched amazing employees promoted into management where they end up failing miserably. It's an error smaller businesses can't ill-afford to make. So how can you avoid it? In this episode, Ian puts that question to Dan McDonald, a co-founder of Business Improvement Solutions and the co-author of three books simply entitled Management, Leadership and Success.

In this episode, Ian interviews Cameron Herald, founder of BackPocket COO, a coaching and mentoring practice founded in 2007 to help entrepreneurs grow their companies. Cameron talks to Ian about the manic-depressive cycle that all entrepreneurs go through as their companies expand and identifies tactics for managing your business and yourself at key points in this cycle.

For many entrepreneurs, November and December are the months they roll up their sleeves and draft their strategic plans for the following year. But that's a tougher task than usual going into 2009 given the current volatility of equity, commodity and currency markets and the rapidly deteriorating economic outlook. In this episode, Ian discusses ways to overcome all of this uncertainty in the planning process with Michael Epstein, managing partner of Fuller Landau LLP, a mid-market accounting and advisory firm based in Toronto.

With the 2008 tax year drawing to a close, it's a good time to review some of the ways your business can pay less tax. In this episode of the Business Coach, Ian discusses last minute tax strategies with Stephen Pasquale, senior tax partner with Fuller Landeau LLP, a mid-market accounting and advisory firm based in Toronto.

In this episode, Ian talks to Boyd Neil, senior vice president and national director of corporate communications at Hill & Knowlton Canada, about how effective communication with stakeholders in the event of a crisis can help to minimize damage to a company's operations and reputation.

How do you start a business successfully and then turn it into a successful business? In this episode of the Business Coach, Ian talks to two winners from this year's PROFIT HOT 50, a ranking of Canada's emerging growth companies that identifies the fastest growing young businesses in the country. In part two of this two-part podcast, Ian continues his interview with Neil Spivack, the founder and CEO of Toronto-based Direct Sales Force, and Alex Haditaghy, founder and CEO of MortgageBrokers.com, discussing why and how they launched their own companies.

How do you start a business successfully and then turn it into a successful business? In this episode of the Business Coach, Ian talks to two winners from this year's PROFIT HOT 50, a ranking of Canada's emerging growth companies that identifies the fastest growing young businesses in the country. In part one of this two-part podcast, Ian chats with Neil Spivack, the founder and CEO of Toronto-based Direct Sales Force, and Alex Haditaghy, founder and CEO of MortgageBrokers.com.

In this episode, Ian talks to Sal Guatieri, Senior Economist with BMO Bank of Montreal, about the state of Canada's economy and what businesses can expect over the coming months. Sal provides his outlook on what we can expect in terms of Canada's housing market, commodities and inflation rates over the next year.

In this episode, Ian talks to Marnie Kinsley, executive managing director of Global Treasury Management for BMO Capital Markets, about some of the financial challenges of exporting. Together they discuss how to navigate changes to corporate finance when you are doing transactions in multiple countries and multiple currencies.

The "baby boom" generation is huge, and the one that follows it – Generation Y – is relatively small. In this episode of the Business Coach, Ian talks to Dave Aplin of Edmonton-based David Aplin Recruiting, which conducted a survey of Canadian workers to get a better sense of their wants, needs and how to get the most out of the various generations that make up today's workforce.

There has been a lot of talk lately about recession and whether or not various regions of Canada or the country as a whole will experience it, and when. In this episode, Ian talks to Mark Wardell, the founder and president of Wardell Professional Development in Vancouver, who shares tips and tactics that will help SMBs "recession-proof" their business.

With a softening U.S. economy and the rising price of oil, companies across the business spectrum are starting to feel the squeeze. In this episode of the Business Coach, Ross Pinkerton, president of ERA Canada, takes some time to chat with Ian about how entrepreneurs can reduce their expenses and keep costs under control.

Every company likes to get paid for their product or service, and the more promptly you are paid, the better. In this episode of the Business Coach, Ian talks to Brian Green of Moneris Solutions Corporation about the importance of payment processing for small businesses, and what card-based payment tools are available to help speed up the process.

In this episode, Cheryl Sylvester, president of Toronto-based Beyond Brand Thinking and co-founder of yourbrandmakeover.com, talks to Ian about the value of creating, maintaining and evaluating a strong brand from a small business perspective.

In this episode, Ian interviews Paul Klein, founder and president of Impact in Toronto, which advises companies in the areas of community investment and corporate responsibility. Paul talks to Ian about what these terms mean and how small and mid-sized businesses can take advantage of them.