The fundamental financial risks associated with farming have not changed in recent years, but they have increased due to changes in the agricultural landscape. Farmers are more than producers of food, they are perceived as caretakers of the natural environment and provider of quality goods of that environment. This webinar is designed to discuss financial risk management at the producer level to grow and strengthen your business and will demonstrate practical application of risk scenarios using MNP’s Risk Management ProjectorTM.

In this session, you will:

Learn how to identify financial risks; 
Understand how to manage financial risk;
Review tools to model and manage financial risk at the producer level; and,
Gain insight required to develop and implement a financial risk management plan.

Meet your Facilitator

Shea Ferster, CPA, CA, is a Business Advisor with MNP’s Agricultural Services team. Based in Saskatoon, Shea has 18 years of public practice experience and is actively involved in the operations of his family farm. He works primarily with owner-operated agriculture businesses, including the Hutterian Brethren. In addition, he is the coordinator of MNP’s Farm Income Support Programs group for the Saskatchewan region.  Drawing on his extensive knowledge of agriculture and the various farm income programs available, Shea helps clients manage their risk and identify unique opportunities for increased success. His aim is to help create customized solutions for Ag producers so that they can positively impact profitability and achieve their business and personal goals.

Owning a farm means your business and personal lives are intertwined.  As such, it is important to understand how taxation works and where there are opportunities to effectively structure your farm operations to allow for both risk management and minimization of taxes.

This session will:

Provide participants with an overview of taxation as it relates to farm operations (both personal and corporate), 
Outline basic reporting requirements (the basis for taxation and initial tax planning issues),
Address year-end determination including dividends versus bonus which form the basis for shareholder/owner remuneration, and
Outline expense deductibility and basic tax planning strategies as it relates to farm operations.

Marketing is much more than advertising and promotion. Businesses need to understand and be able to articulate their products and services to exhibit their true value to their targeted clients.  

In this session, participants will

learn the importance of completing a marketing plan and following the marketing process,   
distinguish between benefits and features,                                                 
articulate how their products and/or services exhibit true value to their targeted clients,
gain an appreciation for the strategy their business must follow to be successful, and     
develop usable strategies to help them meet their business goals.                          

Creating value in your business is not a nice to have, but a requirement as you build for the future.  Business valuation techniques vary depending on the industry and market, but there are simple guidelines and rules available to maximize value.

In this session, we will:
    
learn techniques business valuators use to value a business; and         
provide case examples, along with terms and strategies to maximize value.
Meet your Facilitator 

Nadine Wightman is a Partner with MNP’s Valuation and Litigation Support group in Saskatoon. Nadine delivers valuation reports and valuation consulting services on behalf of owners of private companies, insurance companies and lawyers in a wide range of industries, including health care, manufacturing, construction, oil and gas service and retail.
Taking a thorough, in-depth approach, Nadine considers all aspects of the business when preparing valuations. She has completed assignments for purchase and sale transactions, the settlement of matrimonial property, the resolution of shareholder disputes, corporate reorganizations and the quantification of damages resulting from a business interruption or a breach of contract.

Businesses must ensure that their planning process is well outlined and covers all essential components. This webinar is designed to cover the essential components of an effective business plan and will assist participants in addressing questions or concerns they have regarding the scope and depth of the proposed plan and provide a guide to build this comprehensive plan.

In this session you will learn:

The essential components of a well-written business plan,
A clear and simple method of developing an operational guide for business, and
A comprehensive business plan outline that is simple and easy to follow.

Business owners need to understand the importance of industry and market research and learn how to use this effectively as input into their planning process.

In this session, we discuss:

The benefit market research provides for the planning process;
Detailed guidelines on how to search for existing sources of information; and,
How to conduct your own market research through the use of information interviews, surveys and focus groups with various industry stakeholders.
Meet your Facilitator 

Jennifer Lester is a Senior Manager in the Consulting Practice of MNP LLP. With a focus on performance improvement and planning; Jennifer’s project portfolio includes operational and organization assessments, strategic planning, program evaluations, business planning, feasibility studies, and community economic development plans for a variety of organizations.

As businesses start out, you need to understand the importance of creating a Board of Directors, as well as tips to effectively form this important governance role over your business.

Learnings of this session explore:
    
the role of a Board of Directors,
the Board's duties and responsibilities,
liabilities and protection for directors,
assessing Board performance, and
best practices in the ara of Board effectiveness.

Business owners are passionate about their products or services, but passion is not enough. Owners need to learn the fundamental strategies necessary to effectively sell their products and services to their target markets.

This webinar helps participants explore:

Understand what “selling” is;
Be able to describe the sales process from prospecting to closing the sale;
Understand the concept of “solution” selling; and
Be able to explain what communication skills have to do with selling.

Meet your Facilitator

Janice Decelles is a Senior Consultant in the Consulting practice of MNP.  Her focus since joining the firm in 2005 is to provide training and consulting to self employment clients and general human resource services.  An expert facilitator and instructional designer, she has extensive training management experience in the insurance and financial services sectors and is a certified customer service trainer.  Skilled in both individual and group training, Janice prides herself on being a positive contributor to her clients’ overall success.  Janice holds a Bachelor of Arts degree and an Advanced Certificate in Human Resources.

Reading and understanding financial information is one of the most important tasks of a business owner.  However, for most business owners, the accounting and financial aspect of the business is not their background and learning financial fluency is a necessity in today’s marketplace.

        Part 1 of the series will help participants:

        
Read and understand basic financial statement concepts,
Understand the inter-relationship between financial statement items,
Find practical ways to use financial information to identify the areas of the business that are flourishing and the areas that require improvement, and
Understand cash requirements and what budgeting is required.

        Meet your facilitator
        Annette Bester is a partner in MNP’s Saskatoon office. Partnering and working with companies in all stages of their business cycle for over 17 years, Annette helps to support and strengthen their leadership. Over her career, Annette has worked with a number of businesses with a focus to helping clients understand not just their historical financial information but what the information is telling them from a forward-looking perspective.
        

Reading and understanding financial information is one of the most important tasks of a business owner.  However, for most business owners, the accounting and financial aspect of the business is not their background and learning financial fluency is a necessity in today’s marketplace.

This session organized into a two-part series provides:

Insight into financial statements and practical ways to use this information to identify the areas of the business that are flourishing and the areas that require improvement,
Discussions on key areas of financial statements that determine if fraud is a factor in the business,
Insight into cash requirements and what budgeting is required, and
Identification of immediate business strategies to increase revenues and decrease expenditures.

Meet your Facilitator

Annette Bester is a partner in MNP’s Saskatoon office. Partnering and working with companies in all stages of their business cycle for over 17 years, Annette helps to support and strengthen their leadership. Over her career, Annette has worked with a number of businesses with a focus to helping clients understand not just their historical financial information but what the information is telling them from a forward-looking perspective.

Access to financing is crucial for a business owner. It is important to develop relationships with financial partners that understand your business and can support your growth and strategies. How you finance your business from development and start-up, through the full business life cycle, can position you for success long-term. This webinar is designed to provide you with an understanding of the financing options available and how they may impact your business as you make decisions. 

In this session, we will:

Review the financing process;
Identify the need for both debt and equity financing as well as potential strategies for sourcing corporate requirements; 
Provide strategies for raising second stage financing, including alternative debt and equity instruments and potential sources for expansion capital; and, 
Discuss banking issues related to business operations, loans applications, collateral and financing proposals.

Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has ever changing requirements surrounding GST and as a business owner you are required to comply with the applicable rules. Failure to comply can result in significant penalties and interest, to the detriment of your cash flow. 

In this session, tax experts will:
    
Provide a comprehensive overview of how government and professionals work together;                                                          
Provide insight into current areas that Canada Revenue (CRA) is reviewing and some of the common deficiencies found in relation to GST; and, 
Share useful tips that will make remittance and filing more accurate and time effective.                                                     
Meet your Facilitator

Jeff Harrison is a Senior Manager with MNP’s national indirect tax team for the past 5 years and is located in our Regina MNP office.  He is an indirect tax specialist with over 26 years’ experience in Canadian sales taxes.  Jeff works with all forms and sizes of business across Canada to guide them through the sales tax rules, including support through audits and appeals.  He facilitates both internal MNP courses, external presentations and CPA Saskatchewan GST/HST courses.

As a business, it can be tough to keep up with customer demands as your industry changes and you wonder ‘What will be disrupted next?”  Large companies may have research and development budgets to grow and foster innovation, but as a small or mid-sized business, you wonder how you can innovate with the time and resources you have available?  You know that success can depend upon innovation and it is common for small businesses to focus primarily on existing products and services.  Innovation is not just about large technological innovations - innovation can be simple ideas. Remember, it’s not enough to say that innovation is a priority - ensure you have a process in place, and continue to work at making it a priority!  

In this session, you will learn:
    
What drives the need for innovation in small business
How to build innovation into a business routine;     
How to invest in innovation; and,                    
How to cultivate an innovative mindset.              

Recruiting talented and effective employees is not just about skills, but about fit with the culture of your business.  The first step in this process is learning to effectively interview and attract the right team members.

In this session you will learn the basics of performing an interview, including:
    
identifying Interview Objectives,
preparation for the Interview,
building Rapport,
interview Techniques,
detecting Deception, and
objections vs. Denials.

Business owners need to build high performance teams to operate effectively as a business and to most effectively service customers.  As a business owner or engaged team member you will explore personal and corporate values and discover how corporate values can be integrated into your day-to -day operations and observable behaviours

Upon completion of this two part webinar series, participants will:
    
Understand the importance of employee relationships as well as the impact and associated cost of turnover,                                                
Understand team dynamics and identify strategies to enhance team effectiveness,                                                                           
Understand and identify leadership philosophy and personal values and be able to connect these and the corporate values to identified observable actions, 
Understand the concept of Group Think and discovering the strength and value of “two heads are better than one”,                                          
Be able to utilize a model for decision making and effective communication, and                                                                           
Understand the value of employee engagement and identify ways to fully engage team members.                                                               
Meet your Facilitator 

Janice Decelles is a Senior Consultant in the Consulting practice of MNP.  Her focus since joining the firm in 2005 Is to provide training and consulting to self employment clients and general human resource services.  An expert facilitator and instructional designer, she has extensive training management experience in the insurance and financial services sectors and is a certified customer service trainer.  Skilled in both individual and group training, Janice prides herself on being a positive contributor to her clients’ overall success.  Janice holds a Bachelor of Arts degree and an Advanced Certificate in Human Resources.

A large percentage of business failures are not due to a poor business concept but rather are attributed to the lack of a proper cash flow management program. 

In this session, we will help you:
    
Understand cash flow and how this impacts your business
Identify the steps in developing a cash flow statement 
Learn basic tools to help effectively manage cash flow 
Plan for future cash flow needs                        
Meet your Facilitator 

Annette Bester is a partner in MNP’s Saskatoon office. Partnering and working with companies in all stages of their business cycle for over 18 years, Annette helps to support and strengthen their leadership. Over her career Annette has worked with a number of businesses with a focus to helping clients understand not just their historical financial information but what the information is telling them from a forward-looking perspective.

Owning a business is a challenging task.  Stress is a constant concern as you balance both business and personal objectives. Monday to Friday and 8 – 5 is not a concept most business owners know and therefore you need help to effectively manage time and keep things in control. We can’t help you have more than 24 hours in a day, but we will teach you to focus your hours and work smarter to accomplish your business objectives.

This webinar focuses on:
    
understanding stress, the sources of stress and strategies for managing personal and business stress levels;
examining some proven techniques for business owners;
learning how to prioritize and manage your time effectively; and
applying proven techniques through examples.
This bonus webinar is brought to you in collaboration with select Credit Unions across Canada to support Business Owners.  

Meet your facilitator:
Janice Decelles is a Senior Consultant in the Consulting practice of MNP.  Her focus since joining the firm in 2005 is to provide training and consulting to self employment clients and general human resource services.  An expert facilitator and instructional designer, she has extensive training management experience in the insurance and financial services sectors and is a certified customer service trainer.  Skilled in both individual and group training, Janice prides herself on being a positive contributor to her clients’ overall success.  Janice holds a Bachelor of Arts degree and an Advanced Certificate in Human Resources.  

It’s not as much about what you know, but who you know.  Building new business contacts gives owners the ability to expand their network and gain new market share.

This session will:
    
offer strategies and tactics for developing new business contacts and expanding you network, and
give participants confidence in their ability to build their business using numerous examples and exercises to reinforce the strategies learned.
Meet your facilitator
Annette Bester is a partner in MNP’s Saskatoon office. Partnering and working with companies in all stages of their business cycle for over 17 years, Annette helps to support and strengthen their leadership. Over her career, Annette has worked with a number of businesses with a focus on helping clients understand not just their historical financial information but what the information is telling them from a forward-looking perspective.

Business owners need to support team members in achieving their goals and successfully completing their work. Supervisors will discover how to be more effective in their role through reinforcing with praise, redirecting with constructive criticism and developing with the GROW model. The skills learned in this session can be applied to all aspects of the performance management and staff development processes. The focus of this workshop is on the performance conversations – not the process, tools or forms.

Upon completion of this webinar participants will: 

Understand the facilitation of continuous improvement and career development through ongoing performance coaching conversations with team members, understand the principles of effective coaching and communication in performance discussions with team members,
Understand the principles of confidently providing ongoing feedback to team members and handling emotion in discussion, and
Understand the process for performance coaching and formal and informal performance discussions.

Meet your Facilitator

Cathy McLellan is a Senior Advisor with MNP's national learning and development team for over 12 years.  Cathy has her Masters in leadership development, over 23 years working with teams and individuals helping them enhance and realize their potential.  She is a certified coach, trainer, and facilitator. She works extensively with individuals and teams in leadership development and building high performing teams. Cathy lives in Nanaimo on beautiful Vancouver Island for the past 26 years.

Businesses need to implement proper financial planning in order to maximize cash flows and monitor and manage expenditures.  Financial matters do not come naturally to many business owners and therefore you and your management team need to learn and understand the overall process for budgeting, basic budgeting guidelines and how to ensure roles and responsibilities encompass this important area.

In this session we will cover:
    
forecasting or planning revenue and expenses of a program or for an organization as a whole,
planning activities for the next fiscal year,
allowing an organization to allocate overall resources,
securing funding, and
planning for future cash flow needs.
This bonus webinar is brought to you in collaboration with select Credit Unions across Canada to support Business Owners.  

Meet your facilitator:
Annette Kuckartz is a partner in MNP’s Saskatoon office. Partnering and working with companies in all stages of their business cycle for over 17 years, Annette helps to support and strengthen their leadership. Over her career Annette has worked with a number of businesses with a focus to helping clients understand not just their historical financial information but what the information is telling them from a forward-looking perspective.  

Owners of small and medium-sized businesses are keenly aware that success depends on their most important asset: loyal, long-term employees who serve customers well and keep the business running smoothly. That’s why many are enhancing their compensation packages to include incentives beyond salary, such as group benefit and retirement plans, to help attract and retain the most productive and engaged employees.

In this session, you will learn: 

The drivers behind and key benefits of offering a group benefit and retirement plan as part of a competitive compensation package;
The steps you should take to implement a plan and how an insurance advisor can help you achieve your goals; and,
The product options available and how to structure a plan to best meet the needs of your employees and your budget.

Meet your Facilitators

Cheri Mitchell has over 17 years of experience in group benefit sales and underwriting. As Account Manager, Group Benefit Sales for the Co-operators Life Insurance Company, Cheri works closely with advisors and small to medium-sized business clients to design affordable group benefit plans that meet employee needs. She enjoys meeting clients face to face and working towards finding the best solution for their business.

Don Rowell, ISCEBS Fellow, CEBS, RAP, CMS, E.Ed., has nearly 25 years of experience in the group retirement industry. As a Client Relationship Specialist for CUMIS Life Insurance Company, Don works closely with small to medium-sized businesses to service their new and existing group retirement plans. Don has completed the Certified Employee Benefit Specialist (CEBS) course, which includes the Retirement Plans Associate (RPA) and Compensation Management Specialist designations, and received ISCEBS Fellowship Status in 2011.  Don holds two Bachelor degrees from the University of Saskatchewan, and has completed other industry related courses.

There are more ways than ever to reach out and connect with existing and prospective clients. Social media presents a unique opportunity to build a two-way relationship with customers – but only if accompanied by a sound understanding of each platform’s functions, audience, expectations and best practices. This course helps business owners assess and qualify which social media platforms are appropriate for their brand, as well as what is possible within each social network. Participants will come away with a clear understanding of the key aspects of participating in social media marketing.

In this session, you will learn about:

establishing key and secondary goals for social media marketing activities;
how to identify which social media platforms are right for your brand;
long-term resource and infrastructure considerations; and
overview, audience breakdown, best practices, and opportunities on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube, as well as insights on other social networks such as Snapchat, Tumblr, Pinterest, and Google+.
Meet your Facilitator 

Brittany Rycroft is the Manager of Digital Content and Engagement for MNP. With over a decade’s worth of marketing experience, Brittany leads all national digital marketing activities for the firm externally. Brittany develops and implements strategies related to the firm’s social media channels, websites, advertising buys, email campaigns, and other digital channels. She also regularly introduces and pilots new technologies and platforms for the firm to better connect with its audiences.

Brittany’s background includes working with multiple advertising agencies, crown corporations, and not-for-profits across Canada. In addition, Brittany has been facilitating social media workshops for her clients since 2011, and has specifically developed and worked on social media campaigns since 2009 – right when businesses began actively using these platforms for self-promotion. Brittany is also a social media influencer, with a successful blog that allows her to partner with independent and multi-national brands to promote their products.
        

A competitive strategy identifies how a business intends to compete in the markets it serves. This strategy provides the glue that gives shared meaning to all the activities within the business. 

In this session, participants will:
    
set effective strategies that are straightforward in their intent and direction,
determine how to create a clear sense of direction for their business, and
position themselves to grow and develop their business with confidence.
 Meet your facilitator:

Janice Decelles is a Senior Consultant in the Consulting practice of MNP.  Her focus since joining the firm in 2005 is to provide training and consulting to self-employment clients and general human resource services.  An expert facilitator and instructional designer, she has extensive training management experience in the insurance and financial services sectors and is a certified customer service trainer.  Skilled in both individual and group training, Janice prides herself on being a positive contributor to her clients’ overall success.  Janice holds a Bachelor of Arts degree and an Advanced Certificate in Human Resources.

Owning a business is a challenging task.  Stress is a constant concern as you balance both business and personal objectives.

This session focuses on:
    
understanding stress, the sources of stress and strategies for managing personal stress levels,
examining some proven techniques for business owners, and
the application of proven techniques through interactive exercises.
Meet your facilitator
Janice Decelles is a Senior Consultant in the Consulting practice of MNP.  Her focus since joining the firm in 2005 is to provide training and consulting to self-employment clients and general human resource services.  An expert facilitator and instructional designer, she has extensive training management experience in the insurance and financial services sectors and is a certified customer service trainer.  Skilled in both individual and group training, Janice prides herself on being a positive contributor to her clients’ overall success.  Janice holds a Bachelor of Arts degree and an Advanced Certificate in Human Resources.

A good succession plan not only deals with the transfer of ownership but also the transfer of leadership. Without a clean transition of leadership, relationships and people the chances of failing are much higher. This webinar is designed to cover the essential components of succession planning and provide participants with possible exit strategies for transferring their business. 

Using real experience and examples, in this session, you will learn:

Where to begin and the succession planning process;
The benefits to succession planning;
Traps to avoid when establishing a succession plan; and
Blind spots to be aware of during the succession planning process.

Meet your facilitators
Shane King is the National Leader for MNP’s Succession Services practice and a member of the Assurance team. Shane has more than 20 years of experience providing practical assurance, tax and succession solutions to clients in various industries, including manufacturing, construction, fishing, storage and incorporated professional services.

Lynne is a Succession Specialist and leader of MNP’s ExitSMART service.  For more than 15 years, she has worked with business owners to help them make and implement the “best” transition choices for their personal, business and family situations. In this capacity she has worked with privately held companies of all sizes, implementing transitions to family an/or  Management and Employee buy-outs.

As a small business owner, your business and personal lives are intertwined.  As such, it is important to understand how taxation works and where there are opportunities to effectively structure your business to allow for risk management and minimization of taxes.

This session will:

Provide participants with an overview of taxation (both personal and corporate),
Outline basic reporting requirements (the basis for taxation and initial tax planning issues),
Address year-end determination including dividends versus bonus which form the basis for shareholder/owner remuneration, and
Outline expense deductibility and basic tax planning strategies.

Time management isn’t simple.  Effectively managing time is a requirement in the fast paced business world and understanding the steps required will help both owners and their employees in their day to day roles.

Upon completion of this webinar, participants will:

Understand the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
Understand the importance of prioritizing
Recognize and understand the time management principles
Develop an understanding of time traps
Understand the time management matrix
Learn what it takes to live in Quadrant ll
Implement a six step process for effectively managing time
Understand the differences between designated and discretionary time

Meet your Facilitator

Janice Decelles is a Senior Consultant in the Consulting practice of MNP.  Her focus since joining the firm in 2005 is to provide training and consulting to self employment clients and general human resource services.  An expert facilitator and instructional designer, she has extensive training management experience in the insurance and financial services sectors and is a certified customer service trainer.  Skilled in both individual and group training, Janice prides herself on being a positive contributor to her clients’ overall success.  Janice holds a Bachelor of Arts degree and an Advanced Certificate in Human Resources.