PROFIT BusinessCast

In this week's BusinessCast, we're featuring guests we know well: ourselves. We recently held a book launch to celebrate our new book, Business Truths: 96 Proven Ways to Build Loyalty, Grow Profits and Succeed st Everything In Between. It was a great success, and taught us some good lessons about what it takes to hold an engaging, valuable, entertaining event.

At some point or another, most companies will have to host some type of event: perhaps it'll be a product launch, an employee or customer appreciation day, a conference or an educational session. These can be very good for business, but a lot of things can go wrong if you don't put enough thought into them. Here are five of our recommendations:

1. Think of a higher purpose

Before we did any detailed planning, we gave some thought about the purpose of the event. We decided early on that we didn't want to just sell books; no one likes a hard sell at events (especially when they've come out to an event in the dead of winter). Instead, we made it our goal to create a buzz around the book and its ideas. That shaped all our other decisions.

2. Pick an exciting venue

It's easy to forget the importance a venue can have. Hotel ballrooms or your office conference room aren't necessarily bad choices. But they might not get you the "wow" factor that a space that's a little different, distinctive or special might. We held our launch at La Parete Gallery, a small venue in Toronto, and it gave us exactly the vibe we were looking for.

3. Choose a format that fits

We decided to have the event follow the sequence of our book. Our opening speaker was Chris Carter, who did the foreword of the book. Then we spoke about the book and its lessons. Then we did a faux-BusinessCast podcast with La Parete's owner about the business of running a gallery. By roughly following the format of the book, we were able to tie disparate components together.

4. Consider the flow

Too often, events feel awkward or disjointed because no thought has been given into how things flow. We mapped out who we wanted to speak, then put a lot of thought how they would transition into the next sequence, next speaker, the next guest.

5. Keep it tight

People are busy; we didn't want to waste their valuable time with an agenda that went on and on. When you have people in a room, you have to incite them, excite them and entertain them, and it becomes very challenging if it goes too long—especially if people don't know each other. The tighter the agenda, the more fun people have. We kept ours to an hour and a half. People ended up staying longer, but not because they had to.

Listen on for more tips we learned from planning and hosting our book launch, including a dead-simple icebreaker to get strangers talking to one another.

As Dr. Meghan Walker now knows firsthand, many paths can lead to entrepreneurship. The naturopathic doctor, who is the guest on this week's BusinessCast podcast, can now add "entrepreneur" to her many titles.

Last June, after eight years in practice, Walker sold her clinic to pursue a venture she believes has tremendous growth potential. "I had a fundamental vision that technology was going to transform our industry and had a vital role to play in healthcare in general," she says.

She knew from years of practicing that when it came to alternative health, the general population had more questions than answers. "I found that people wanted something natural, they wanted to find a practitioner in that realm, and they didn't know where to go," Walker explains. "They didn't know how to differentiate someone who had regulated credentials and had spent eight years in school from someone who had done a lot of reading and taken some weekend courses. Each are valuable, there's a difference between the type of care provided."

Read: Best Business Bets in Healthcare for 2014

And it just isn't feasible to expect time-strapped practitioners to be able to clear things up—not without interfering with their core work. "As clinicians, we work with patients. We run businesses on the side," Walker explains. "It's really hard when you've spent eight hours with patients to then sit down and come up with a marketing plan."

That's how she became co-founder of Bright Almond, a just-launched online platform that aims to connect the public with licensed and regulated alternative healthcare practitioners.

1. Enlist whatever talent it takes to get launch-ready

Sometimes, the talent you think you'll need to get launch-ready isn't quite enough. In the past year, Walker has learned the value of bringing in fresh capabilities. "We started working with one development team," she explains. "We've now worked with three in bringing this application to market, to produce a customized application that works for both practitioners and the public."

2. Get people excited

As the developers were finalizing the technology, Bright Almond was also working to ensure high brand awareness at launch—not after. "We've been trying to establish a strong online presence in anticipation of our launch," explains Walker. "We've hired a full-time community manager who really engages both the public and the practitioners in that online space." This meant, for instance, redistributing information from practitioners to public before launch to get people familiar with one another.

3. Be nimble

Walker is a huge advocate of lean startup thinking. "It's a really small team that's making this happen," she says. "Like any startup, we're really nimble in how we execute with our small set of resources. We believe really firmly in resourcefulness, not necessarily really deep resources."

This week's BusinessCast podcast is about how magic can benefit your business. Yes, you heard us right: magic.

At least, that's what Dan Trommater believes. A Toronto-based magician, sleight-of-hand expert and entertainer, Trommater spends half his time speaking to and training business leaders at corporate events. And his job isn't just to wow you with nifty tricks.

"My work is entertaining, but it's not entertainment," explains Trommater. "It's being used as a tool to challenge people's assumptions and boy, what's better at that than magic? Magic is all about the impossible: ‘I know this isn't possible, but then I just saw this guy do it, so what do I think is impossible in my business? Maybe I can find a way to do that.'"

Trommater cites one example of his work in practice. One of his favourite tricks is to ask someone in the audience to give him a $100 bill. He then asks the person who comes forward to sign her name. He folds the bill up in his hands, and it disappears. On a nearby table is a red box; Trommater asks the participant to open it. Inside that box is a lemon. He asks her to cut open the lemon, and inside it is that $100 bill—complete with her name written on it.

"A CEO saw me do that trick," Trommater recalls. "He said, 'that thing with the lemon is amazing, but I know how you did it.' I said 'Really?' He went on to tell me his very detailed idea of how I did the trick. I said, ‘that's a good theory. Are you sure?' He said 'Of course I'm sure. It's the only explanation for how you could have done it.'

"And I looked at him and said, 'in the last 12 years, I've used at least 12 different methods for that trick, 12 different techniques for accomplishing the same feat.' When I told him that, it was as if I'd hit him across the head with a two by four. It was as if his brain had exploded with the possibility that there could be more than one answer. He said 'if that's true, if I was convinced that I had the only answer and you're telling me there are other ways, then I need to go back to the office and look at everything in our organization that I know we have the one right answer for. I need to question that.'"

It's these kinds of revelations, Trommater feels, that make magic so powerful as a business tool.

Listen to this week's BusinessCast podcast for more on how the work of Trommater and his fellow magicians might benefit your operation.

Toronto-based Wishabi Inc. makes circulars—those flyers retailers mail out once a week with local deals and specials. As with all media, the circular is slowly going digital. It's not a new concept. Wishabi is just one of several companies offering retailers digital versions of their circulars. But Wehuns Tan, co-founder and CEO of Wishabi, says his company's approach sets it apart from other companies offering print digitization. "Our job is to help reinvent this whole process of communicating with consumers," explains Tan. "It's not about a piece of paper anymore; it's about retailers creating a relationship with customers and telling the story every week of what's going on in your stores."

Tan and his partners Matt Cheung, David Myers and David Au-Yeung—all ex Microsoft employees—didn't want to take a standard approach like some others in the space. "We're doing to flyers what Google did to maps," asserts Tan. "While Google wasn't first in the market, MapQuest was, Google won the war at the end of the day because it focused on the consumer experience and on building and application that helps people make decisions."

Wishabi is working hard to stay ahead of its competitors. "If you look at Google Maps, it's a winner-takes-all market. Now, Google is the leader and the second-place guys, no one really knows. Similarly, in our world, we have to keep pace with all of our competitors." In addition to watching what other companies are doing, Tan and his partners keep a close eye on emerging technologies in retail and media "How is ecommerce and mobile transforming? How is media changing? What's new in social media? We spend a lot of time looking at trends, researching consumer behaviour, the newest apps and technologies out there and asking, 'How do we bring back that innovation for our retail partners?'" says Tan.

It's this focus that Tan believes will make Wishabi the Google of print digitization. And, like Google (or fellow Canadians HootSuite and PayPal) Tan knows that it's not enough to win the Canadian market. Global success is what matters. "By working with the best U.S. retailers—Macey's, Sports Authority—we are able to bring innovation to the next level," says Tan.

Competing on a global scale will bring even more competition. Tech companies are emerging that plan to offer retailers super targeted proximity marketing using Apple's new location-based system, iBeacon. Once implemented, the system would let retailers push a greeting or offer to an iPhone user passing a nearby iBeacon.

Tan says Wishabi's competitive advantage is its approach: "When we work with a retailer, it's not a vendor/supplier relationship, it truly is a partnership What has really fuelled our exponential growth is that we give [the client] the ability to execute quickly. We work with them to really understand what they want us to do and then give them the agility and speed that they need in order to compete."

Tan on failure. "Iteration? It happens all the time. The key is being able to fail fast—learn from it and move on."

Tan on success. No matter how well you're doing, remember this: "At any time someone can come up and try to disrupt you."

New technologies have made it easier than ever to create and publish your own digital content. William Morassutti, content editorial director at Venture Communications, says they shoot plenty of video profiles using just a smart phone—a big shift from as recently as eight years ago, when a video shoot required a whole team and a much bigger budget. The difference between Morassutti's videos and those shot by a teenager and posted to Facebook? Morassutti avails himself of a team of editors to make the videos look "slick."

While it still takes a pro (or two) to create professional-looking videos for web, it's far more cost effective today than it was a decade ago. "Companies that, in the past, might not have been able to compete with big media brands, big publishing houses, big television networks can become their own publisher—you're publishing this podcast! Technology has made all of these things possible," says Morassutti.

Video is just one of several ways companies are appealing to costumers with content, rather than more heavy-handed ads. Whether it's a guest blog on a relevant site or an entire site populated with content that subtly pushes a company message and brand, the soft sell is in. The trend has companies turning to content marketers like Morassutti for help.

According to Morassutti, the most effective content marketing is "subtle and artful." Louis Vuitton's digital platform Nowness is one of Morassutti's favourite examples of a brand that, rather than push it's products, has created a world that's emblematic of their brand. "It's leading with engagement, with what is of interest to the people you're trying to reach, then in a subtle way, coming in with your message and your brand," he explains.

Morassutti advises business owners looking to create this type of content to hire someone with experience, not just someone with an iPhone and a Facebook account. "You want someone who has a broad range of experience in media, journalism and content creation; someone who's extremely resourceful. Think of it as a hybrid: you have to have the editorial and creative chops, but you also have to have a strong business sense."

Why a strong business sense? Morassutti says as a content director he negotiates every day with writers, designers and video production houses. As a business owner, once you hire a content director, you can't micromanage the process. Set your budget, but hire someone with business sense and you won't have to.

Tax season is once again upon us. Well, upon some of us. For those who don't file, chartered accountant Denham Patterson has a message for you: you're missing out on free money from the government.

The annual chore is about more than just filing a tax return because the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) requires it, says Patterson, a tax partner at Bennett Gold LLP. "It's a window to getting government benefits. If you look at the tax return itself, it's called an income tax return and a benefit return; it allows us to access certain transfer payments from the government like the universal childcare benefit, the old-age income supplement," explains Patterson. "Without filing those returns, there's no way for them to know if you're eligible."

Taxes can be relatively straightforward, but global income can complicate matters for export-minded SMEs. Patterson explains that if you earn income in, for instance, the U.S., you're taxed on it by the American government. "When you pay tax there, you get a credit there. If the tax rates are higher or lower, you may just have to pay the differential." The good news: You can deduct any expense against U.S. income that you have to incur in order to earn that income.

Personal finance

RRSPs: "It's one of the most common deductions for middle class employed people, and CRA won't question it if you have the receipt," says Patterson. You have until March 3 to make a contribution for the 2013 tax year. Pro: You can contribute as much as 18% of your precious years earned income (to a maximum of around $20,000). Con: It's a temporary tax break. When you access the money, you will be taxed on that income.

TFSAs: The new favourite, a tax-free savings account offers more flexibility than an RRSP in that you can pull out your money any time you want without tax costs. Con: The contribution limit is much lower, $5,500 per year.

More tax tips for entrepreneurs

Patterson's final piece of advice? "Neatness counts." The seasoned accountant says your best chance at getting the CRA to approve amy tax credits for which you've applied is a neat and properly filled out return. Of course, it doesn't hurt that it makes his job easier, too.

Like any major technology company, Cisco Systems Canada is doing its best to track and predict market transformations.

Nitin Kawale, president of Cisco Systems Canada, says he spends half his time in any given month with partners, customers, government leaders and press to ensure he knows what's going on in the industry and what customers want.

"Catching market transformation is very important, no matter what industry you're in," says Kawale. Transitions in your market are your best opportunity for big wins–or big losses–he explains.

Kawale says the company recently came to the "scary" realization that the future is about getting the right folks hired—and that's the next generation. "We looked around our management table and realized that the expertise and the understanding of the next generation [needed] to recruit them [wasn't there,]" admits Kawale. "We weren't totally equipped, but have been working on it," he adds.

Kawale says that smaller businesses, especially startups, are better equipped to handle some of the significant market transformations occurring right now. "There are some very significant transformations occurring right now in terms of cloud computing, software-as-service, new consumption models—our industry is fundamentally changing the way it consumes technology," says Kawale. Organizations of all kinds need to embrace these changes. "When you're a larger company, that's much more daunting as opposed to a new startup accelerating around that," says Kawale.

Cisco Systems Canada plans to engage 5,000 new employees over the next ten years on Ontario, the bulk of them on the R&D side. Kawale says it's easy to find high-calibre talent in Ontario. Cisco's challenge is organizational: it must embracing the types of consumption models these new hires engaged. "The next generation of workers have grown up differently and you have to be able to let them work the way the live: that means working from anywhere, any time on any device," says Kawale.

There are few more competitive markets these days than the mobile application development platform marketplace. Panvista president Andrew Echenberg says his company has survived in this cluttered space by focusing on one specific need in the marketplace: marketing. Panvista built its mobile app with agencies in mind. Even with that tight focus, Panvista, like any app developer, must stay well ahead of the curve in order to keep delivering value as customer needs change.

In addition to the fight to remain relevant, developers need to defend against copycats. If you have a truly great idea, what's to stop others (perhaps companies with greater resources than yours) from running with it?

In this blog written from Startup Fest last summer, Mira Shenker quotes keek.com co-founder David Kerzner,who says the one question that stumps most tech startups is simply "If it's such a great idea, why can't Facebook do it?"

In this episode of the PROFIT BusinessCast, Robert Gold and Andrew Brown put Echenberg on the spot, asking him: Google launches a product exactly like yours. What do you do?

"To have a competitor like Google in the space isn't necessarily a bad thing," answers Echenberg. "It validates the market and shows that there is serious demand for what we have to offer."

Echenberg says he would capitalize on any buzz generated by Google's interest in his company's space by asking himself, "What are they going to do and what can we do better than them in a few key focus areas?"

"Capitalist with a heart" Brett Wilson's advice to entrepreneurs just starting out? Study.

The chairman of Prairie Merchant and former CBC Dragon says there are three things every entrepreneur needs to continuously study three key subjects.

1. Marketing. "You can build it, you can make it, you can provide the service. But if you can't do all of the above at a profit, you still don't have a business," says Wilson. "I always call marketing your point of differentiation: Why is somebody going to choose you over someone else?" Did you know that a business card has six sides? According to Wilson, once you've done your homework, you will. You'll also know what post-purchase dissonance means; you'll understand the value of a distinctive logo and brand and the goodwill associated with the quality of your relationships—"those are all marketing moments," says Wilson.

2. Entrepreneurship. "I don't mean the skills, I mean the values," clarifies Wilson, who suggests that every young go-getter make a point of studying some of the great iconic entrepreneurs, as well as young entrepreneurs who have made it the hard way.

3. Philanthropy. "There is a socially responsible way of raising money for charity and at the same time benefiting your company's bottom line," insists Wilson.

More advice from Brett Wilson

In the early days, when Wilson and his partners were launching First Energy Capital, he followed his own advice. The result? Investor and employee buy-in. "We could fire people and they would say ‘thank you for letting us be part of this experience,'" says Wilson.

For more of Wilson's advice on getting through the growing pains when launching a new venture, listen to this week's PROFIT BusinessCast.

"One the main precepts of being successful in flying in space is in visualizing failure," says astronaut Chris Hadfield. And business is no different. Those who only visualize success are doomed to fail because they haven't prepared for every eventuality—"they don't recognize that something always goes wrong," says Hadfield.

One of the obvious potential failures is that anything that's single source will go away, says Hadfield. For instance, a single source of funding can vanish overnight, leaving the unprepared entrepreneur in an untenable situation. "If you're launching into orbit and you have one rocket engine on your rocket ship, if it quits, you're done," says Hadfield. "If I let myself get to this point and never considered the 100 possible failures, then all I was really doing is hoping which is no way to set up a business or launch a rocket ship," he adds.

Sometimes, aborting the mission (in other words, letting your business die) is your best option. As Hadfield says, you need to stop digging when you're already in a hole. Find out which company Hadfield thinks will fail first: Google, Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.