Blog

Women’s Enterprise Centre (WEC) is proud to announce that our CEO, Laurel Douglas, has been named a Finalist for the 2019 RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur Awards for the Social Change Award. The RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur Awards are the pre-eminent national business awards recognizing the country’s leading female entrepreneurs. Now in its 27th year, the […]

Instagram Stories for business: do you really need to? With more and more social media and digital channels to promote your content on, it can feel overwhelming to know what to prioritize. I previously shared the Four C’s of Standing Out on Instagram. Now, here’s three reasons why Instagram Stories should be at the top […]

Earlier this year, I was contacted by the German consulate in Vancouver, and was told they’d like to nominate me for one of their Information Tours. Curious, I did some research and found that, in 2019, Germany will host 15 groups of 15-20 journalists and sector experts from around the world. They meet with their […]

If you want to grow your business, you have three options: increase your profits, increase your sales, or both. We discussed 5 common strategies to increase profits in a previous blog, so in this post we focus on increasing sales. It’s not rocket science: you either need to sell to more people (a.k.a. increase your […]

Learning how to cross-sell effectively is an art. Cross-selling means you sell an extra service or product to your current customer base, and it can be a great way to increase sales and profits. Unfortunately, cross-selling is often associated with aggressive sales tactics. Who hasn’t been bombarded with communications trying to get you to buy […]

So, you’ve decided that you want to grow your business. Will you do it by increasing sales; increasing profits; or both? Only you can thoroughly assess your situation and decide which strategies are best for you or create unique ones based on you and your business, but here are some ideas. If you want to […]

A commercial lease is a critical agreement for your business. If you think you’ve found the perfect location for your business, your first instinct may be to sign on the dotted line. But, before you rush into it, consider these six factors to make sure you’re setting your business up for success. 1. Take time […]

Fear of success was first diagnosed in the 1970s by psychologist Matina Horner. This phobia affects both men and women, and it’s very similar to a fear of failure and people who suffer from impostor syndrome. Fear of success can be easy to miss because it looks a lot like procrastination and insecurity. Some of […]

Last month, I got to be part of the Business Women in International Trade trade mission to the WBENC Conference in Baltimore, Maryland. It was a huge success, with a large turn-out. Even more impressive was the quality of businesses represented. I heard from more than one delegate that ‘this was the best WBENC yet’! […]

As many as 85% of future jobs don’t exist today. Wait, what? Yes, 85% of jobs that will exist in 2030 haven’t been invented yet, according to a report commissioned by Dell. As someone with young boys, how on earth am I supposed to prepare them for future work then? How do I prepare them […]