Paul Cipywnyk's Blog

Edmonds Clean Sweep

Community members participated in the Clean Sweep sponsored by the Edmonds Town Center Business & Community Association this morning. The main meeting site was the Eastburn Community Centre, whose staff were very helpful in coordinating the event. It was a rainy day, so we had fewer volunteers than usual. The City brought one of its salmon eco-sculptures and participants were invited to help plant it.

Mayor Derek Corrigan and Councilors Pietro Calendino and Dan Johnston helped out.

Byrne Creek Streamkeepers also participated in the event, setting up a sign-up booth in the parking lot of Edmonds Skytrain station. Thanks to the Horizontes Scouts for assisting!

photo by Joan Carne

Thanks to Burnaby Firefighters for supplying a hot dog BBQ and hot chocolate!

All in all, volunteers reported that the amount of garbage had diminished from previous events, which is a good sign. I did manage to fill a 5-gallon pail just patrolling around the community centre!

Burnaby Mayor Speaks to Board of Trade

Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan delivered an update on the state of the City at a Burnaby Board of Trade luncheon today at Eagle Creek Restaurant at the beautiful Burnaby Mountain Golf Course. The event was sold out and the mayor delivered another of his uplifting speeches on economic, social, and environmental sustainability in the city. I enjoyed speaking with City staff and councilors. The mayor's address is available here.

Crest Ad Tastes Bad

The Crest advert that's been running on TV for some time makes me laugh. The tag line is "It makes me feel like I just left the dentist's office."

Huh? I dunno about you, but when I leave the dentist's office, my mouth feels stretched and my lips are dry, I have the yucky aftertaste of a fluoride gargle that I'm not supposed to disturb for at least half an hour, and I've got bits of polishing grit on my teeth, chin and cheeks.

You won't catch me seeking that experience!

Public Safety Forum March 27, 2008

SOUTH BURNABY COMMUNITY POLICING

You are invited to attend an open community meeting on: Public Safety

Thursday, March 27, 2008
7:00-9:00 pm
Bonsor Community Centre
6550 Bonsor Avenue, Burnaby

For more information call:
District 4 Office at 604-656-3232 or District 3 Office at 604-656-3275

An update and discussion on Public Safety in Our Community

Speakers will include:

Mayor Derek Corrigan

Superintendent Rick Taylor Burnaby RCMP

District 3 and 4 Community Policing Representatives

Burnaby RCMP members and representatives from City of Burnaby departments and Burnaby School Board will also be in attendance.

Attendees are invited to bring their general concerns for the various departments. There will be a brief question and answer period.

A number of agencies and community groups will have displays of interest to all who attend.

Edmonds Association Sets Strategic Planning Dates

The Edmonds Town Centre Business & Community Association in southeast Burnaby has confirmed dates, times, and locations for two planning sessions on the future of the organization.

Both sessions will cover the same ground, so choose the date that works best for you.

1) The first (evening) session will follow our regular 6:00 p.m. monthly meeting and will start at 6:45 p.m. on Tuesday, March 11. This meeting will be held at the Eastburn Community Centre at 7435 Edmonds St. Our goal is to wrap up by 8:15 p.m.

2) The second (morning) session will start at 7:45 a.m. on Friday, March 14, and will be held at Myles of Beans coffee shop at 7010 Kingsway.

Please think of ways in which we can increase our membership, particularly from the business community in the neighbourhood. How can we improve what we offer to the community? What sorts of activities and events would you like to see? And please consider one of the purposes of our group as stated in the Constitution -- to work toward becoming a full-fledged Business Improvement Area.

Community Group Surprises Me With President's Role

I was elected to the board of directors of the Edmonds Town Centre Business and Community Association at the AGM last month. I've been a member of the group for several years now, and it was my first time to sit on the board. Then to my surprise, today at the first board meeting following the AGM somehow I was chosen to be president!

I had hoped to get some board experience before taking on an executive position, but now that the gavel has been passed, I will do my best to fulfill the responsibilities. Past President Dave Fairhall, who has done a great job for many years, assures me the board works by consensus and other directors are more than willing to assist me as I get the lay of the land.

The group does a lot of good work in southeast Burnaby, and we aim to expand our membership and our activities.

C$ Rip-Offs: Apple Computers

I haven't bought an Apple computer in 15 years, but admit to technolust that drives me to visit the Apple website every month or two. Now that the Canadian dollar has been stronger than the US dollar for some time, I thought I'd compare prices on the Apple Canada and Apple US websites. I was not surprised to see that the Canadian prices were higher, because Canadian consumers have been ripped off by most companies for many years.

Base prices on the Canadian site.

Base prices on the US site.

Update on Dec. 4, 2007: OK, the Canuck buck slipped back below the US greenback by a smidgen today...

Subprime Crisis Explained :-)

A hilarious explanation of the subprime crisis on You Tube.

Off to Japan

I'm off to Japan today, and am not bothering to take a notebook computer with me, so this blog will be in hibernation for a couple of weeks. When I get back I'll start filling it in with photos and commentary starting from the beginning of the trip.

It's been nearly four years since Yumi and I were last in Japan. Since we moved to Canada some eight years ago, we've returned to visit family, friends and clients every one to two years; however, a series of events including my two-year MA in Professional Communication program at Royal Roads University conspired to make for a long gap.

I'm really looking forward to the trip. In addition to visiting Yumi's folks in Aomori Prefecture, we've got meetings set up with several clients in Tokyo (these short meetings and lunches are important in maintaining contacts and keeping the work flowing), and lunches and dinners scheduled with several friends.

We're also taking a week to ourselves to take a swing down all the way to Nagasaki on the island of Kyushu with several stops at key tourist points along the way. Neither of us has visited Kyushu and we're looking forward to it.

I'll start posting entries and plenty of photos starting around Oct. 29. See you later!

Garbage Blights Burnaby's Foreshore Park, Glenlyon Development

An early afternoon stroll along Fraser Foreshore Park in Burnaby provided lots to see along the river and in ponds; however, the beauty was blighted by plenty of garbage dumped on the outskirts of Glenlyon Business Park in the vicinity of the lower reaches of Byrne Creek near where it empties into the Fraser.

First the good...

A view of the north arm of the Fraser from the park.

A small tugboat passing behind a log boom.

It's hard to believe summer is ending.

There were dozens of small frogs in the pond near Byrne Creek.

A bright red dragonfly.

An acrobatic chickadee.

And the bad, and the ugly...

I do not understand how some people can be so senseless and uncaring. I also do not understand how the tenants of the business park can drive by this crap every day and not ask the developer or the city to clean it up. At least two of these sites have smashed TVs, one of them several, and CRTs and accompanying electronics contain metals that are harmful to humans, other animals, and the environment.

I know that several of the tenants in the business park have security guards, and I've also seen mobile units patrolling the roads. As good corporate citizens, they might consider having their guards keep an eye out for dumpers and send license plates in to police.

Burnaby Business Excellence Awards 2007

I am sitting on the nominations committee for the Burnaby Board of Trade Business Excellence Awards 2007. We are coming up with a list of businesses and non-profit organizations that deserve to be in the running for an award this year, and encourage people to nominate them. I am the president of the board of the Stream of Dreams Murals Society that won the Community Service award in 2004.

The Burnaby Spirit and Community Service awards have been combined into the category of Burnaby Community Spirit. This category is not open to non-profits. To accommodate non-profits and not have them run directly against businesses, there is now a new category of Non-Profit Organization of the Year.

The other categories remain the same and are open to both businesses and non-profits: Business Innovation, Entrepreneurial Spirit, Newsmaker of the Year, Business Person of the Year, Small Business of the Year (fewer than 50 employees and annual revenues of up to $5 million), and Business of the Year.

Please contact the board of trade at the link above if you have any ideas about Burnaby based companies and groups that you feel would be deserving of an award.

CNIB, Howie's Bistro Host Board of Trade Event

The CNIB and Howie's Bistro and Bar hosted a networking reception for the Burnaby Board of Trade tonight. The food at Howie's was good, and the CNIB presentation was informative, including information about hiring people with vision issues. The BBOT has been growing by leaps and bounds over the last year or two, and it was great to see lots of people out for the event. Unfortunately I had to leave early to get another meeting.

Salmon-Safe Certification -- Why Not in BC?

I first learned about the Salmon-Safe certification program at the 2006 State of the Fraser Basin Conference a few days ago. It's an intriguing program that certifies farms, vineyards, industrial sites and even parks as being salmon safe. I think this is a great idea, and one that would be excellent to transplant to British Columbia.

"Welcome to Salmon-Safe. Almost a decade after we first started certifying fish friendly farms in Oregon's Willamette Valley, Salmon-Safe has become one of the nation's leading regional eco labels with more than 50,000 acres of farm and urban lands certified. The Salmon-Safe retail campaign has been featured in 200 supermarkets and natural food stores."

Burnaby Business Excellence Awards

The 7th annual Burnaby Business Excellence Awards Gala tonight was a blast. Sponsored by the City of Burnaby and the Burnaby Board of Trade, the "Blues Brothers" themed event was packed.

I was on the nominations committee for the awards this year, and it was a great learning experience. I want to congratulate the two businesses that I nominated, Mr. Ho Wonton House and Mussio Ventures (Backroads Mapbooks) for being finalists in the awards.

I also want to congratulate the Safeway #148 employees who were finalists nominated by the Stream of Dreams Murals Society. They have raised over $23,000 for the society over the last two years, and as president of the society's board of directors, I cannot thank them enough.

Writing, Editing and the 2010 Olympics

The BC branch of the Editors' Association of Canada featured a presentation on writing, editing and the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics at the April meeting tonight.

Sam Corea, Manager of Editorial Services for VANOC, the Vancouver Organizing Committee, talked about communications, media relations, and editorial services required by the Winter Games.

The amount of paperwork in terms of manuals, guides, maps, brochures, media kits, reports, schedules, etc., that needs to be produced is staggering, though Corea hastened to add that with sustainability being a major goal of the Games, VANOC was exploring alternatives to printing as much as possible, and would ensure that all materials were printed using recycled paper.

VANOC is already contracting external writers, editors, translators and photographers, and will be handing out work to more in the future, so Corea encouraged attendees to keep an eye on the VANOC website.

Other ways to get in on the action include the 2010 Commerce Centre and BC Bid

Mayor Addresses Burnaby Board of Trade

Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan gave his annual State of the City address at a luncheon meeting of the Burnaby Board of Trade today at the beautiful Burnaby Mountain Golf Course.

Corrigan focused on the draft Burnaby Economic Development Strategy 2020, which can be found and commented upon here.

The city's population has increased by 43,000 since the 1990 EDS was released, and booming development is resulting in decreasing land supply and higher costs. Corrigan said that means there will need to be redevelopment of low-intensity land uses, and also spoke about the problem of roadway congestion decreasing usability.

Corrigan invited comments and criticism of the draft plan, saying Burnaby needs to be smart, prosperous and sustainable. We need to become more efficient without sacrificing standards.

One interesting point he mentioned was that he felt the city lacked urban, or neighborhood, character. We need to develop more character while striving for a greener community, Corrigan said.

While praising Burnaby's development and job growth, the mayor emphasized that quality of life was important, pointing to the increasingly influential and holistic concept of social, economic and environmental sustainability.

In conclusion, Corrigan said we must leave our children and grandchildren something better than what we have now.

Vision 20/20 Opportunities Forum

Burnaby Board of Trade
Vision 20/20 Opportunities Forum

2009 World Police and Fire Games
2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games

Chad Turpin
Deputy City Manager, City of Burnaby
Overview of the World Police and Fire Games

Burnaby is the main host of the 2009 World Police and Fire Games. The mission is to attract the most athletes ever. Games were founded in 1985 and are held every two years. Over 60 events. The next games in 2011 will be in New York, so the symbolism will be very strong on the 10th anniversary of 9/11. This will result in a lot more media coverage for the 2009 event in Burnaby.

There will be a symbiotic relationship between the 2009 Police & Fire Games and the 2010 Olympics. The two will work together in training 4,000 - 6,000 volunteers.

2009 P & F Games expect 14,000 athletes from 70 countries, three times the number for the 2010 Olympics. There will be 67 events in a total of 16 cities around the lower mainland, with 17 in Burnaby and 12 in Vancouver.

2009 P & F opening ceremonies will be at BC Place with 10,000 spectators expected. Some of the athletes are Olympics hopefuls. Games open to all age groups. Tickets to all events are free, and the event is heavily based on community spirit and volunteerism.

25,000 family members are expected to travel to the lower mainland along with the athletes. So nearly 40,000 visitors, with many expected to stay on after the event for holidays.

Economic impact estimated at $100 million.

Sports tourism is the fastest growing tourism segment in BC.

Stephanie Herdman
Communications Coordinator VANOC 2010
The 2010 Winter Games –– An Update Post Turin

We were at Turin to tell people about the Vancouver Games.

VANOC is a non-profit but is also a big business. Huge logistical issues in putting on the Games.

OGKM –– Olympic Games Knowledge Management. New system to collate and share information on running Games among host cities. Pass knowledge on to future hosts.

VANOC now has 200 full-time staff, many of them multilingual. This will increase to 1,200 full-time and 3,000 part-time staff, and 25,000 volunteers by the time the Games are on.

Numbers:
Athletes and officials 5,000
Countries 80+
Paralympic athletes 1,700
Countries 40+
TV Viewers 3 billion
Media personnel 10,000
Event volunteers 25,000
Event Tickets 1.8 million

Revenue:
Broadcast rights
International sponsorships
Domestic sponsorships
Ticket sales
Suppliers (in kind)
Licensing, Merchandising
Donations, disposal of assets

Capital construction budget $550 million
Endowment (legacy) $110 million

Want to have all new facilities built 2 years before Games start so kinks can be ironed out.

“Olympic Winter Games University" to gain knowledge. 40 observer tours of Torino to gain knowledge in 80 areas.

Start-to-finish spectator services ties into Integrated Transportation Planning.

2007 Cultural Olympiad kicks off
2008 Test events held
2008 observe Summer Games
2009 Torch Relay over North Pole and covering three coasts.

The 2010 Games will be a 60-day event: Jan. 15 – March 24
Jan. 15 Press Center opens
Feb. 12 – 28 Olympic Games
March 10 – 21 Paralympic Games
March 24 Paralympic Village closes

Brian Krieger
Director 2010 Commerce Centre
The 2010 Commerce Center – Your One-Stop Business Information Portal

Leverage Games for long-term benefits
Connect BC businesses to 2010

In addition to 10,000 accredited (official) media, there will be 5,000 - 10,000 unaccredited media coming to the Games. They will all be looking for stories.

People spend unbelievable amounts of money when they visit Olympic Games.

BC Canada Place in Torino was a $6 million project and was the most popular attraction in Torino. 80,000 to 100,000 people visited it. Incredible media exposure. “The power to get Italian women to buy Canadian fashion" i.e. Canadian scarves and toques :-).

IOC was very impressed with BC Place. More than 80 BC businesses participated. Power to create a new world image. “After 1988 even Americans knew where Calgary is" :-).

$580 million in venues
$1.35 billion in operations
$2 billion in sponsors, media, teams, tourists
$3+ billion in other opportunities

Be a supplier
Be a subcontractor
Requirements:
Think big
Have desire
Put in the effort
Be persistent
Provide quality and consistency
Deliver on time (“the dates don’t move on Olympics")

In Sydney, 80% of business went to local firms, and U.S. businesses are already looking at the 2010 Games.

Check out the 2010 Commerce Centre for tools and resources.
BC Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Secretariat
Ministry of Economic Development
http://www.2010commercecentre.com/

Trevor Kier
Manager of Procurement and Business Opportunities at the BC Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Secretariat
Are You Thinking Outside the Box? Games Opportunities and You!

Offers 2010 Procurement Workshops
How to bid, etc.
Burnaby Board of Trade will sponsor such workshops in the future

Don’t let geography or size get in your way. (Presented several small business success stories related to Olympic Games.)

Huge media and PR opportunities

2010 Games emphasize sustainability as a core component, and this will factor into evaluation of bids.
Environmental sustainability
Social sustainability
Economic sustainability

Corporate social responsibility

In bidding, the best solution can be more important than the price.
Watch the 2010 Commerce Website and learn as others bid.
If you’re a small company, you can approach other bidders.

2010 Olympics Burnaby Luncheon

Brian Krieger is the general manager of the 2010 Commerce Centre, and he spoke at a Burnaby Board of Trade luncheon today.

The 2010 Winter Games are already bringing a lot of business to BC, and that will only increase over the next five years.

Krieger urged businesspeople in the audience to sign up for the site's newsletter, and once the functionality is added, enter their companies in an online database.

Review - Marketing Your Service

Review - Marketing Your Service

by Jean Withers and Carol Vipperman

This is another book in the Self-Counsel Press series of do-it-yourself business books. I've used several of the books in our business, and for the most part they have been clear and helpful.

This book is an introduction to marketing targeted at service businesses. It covers the basics of defining your business and its goals, and then writing a marketing plan to achieve your goals.

About half of the book is made up of excercises designed to get you to think about your business and get your plan down on paper. At first I thought this was a waste of space -- it would be more efficient to simply point readers to a website where they could download the material -- however on second thought perhaps it is useful to be immediately confronted with those blank pages!

Speaking from personal experience, I know how easy it is to simply "wing it" when it comes to running a small business, and while that may lead to short-term success, it rarely leads to growth and expansion.

I've zipped through the book, pehaps it's time to fill in some of the blanks...

Busy Summer Sees Blog Wither

Yikes, this blog has gone from near-daily posts to only nine so far in the month of August, and several of those have been rather short.

If I do have any "fans" out there, don't worry because in a way this is a good sign, for we've been very busy with work this summer. July and August both entered the list of top-ten earning months for our little company since we started it in February 2000.

It's nice to feel wanted, however we're back in the old home business dilema -- when you have plenty of free time you have little free cash flow, and when you're making money, you have no free time.

We have prevailed upon our major clients for a one-week camping vacation this autumn, and while we need the break, I also feel guilty as a few smaller clients are quite dependent upon our specialty of on-demand, fast-turnaround translation and editing.

I need a clone, or another translator-editor team I can trust to work to same-day in/out deadlines on occasion, using a variety of different style guides.

That's the other home business dilema -- at what point are you regularly earning enough to subcontract work out? Some months the hours pile up like crazy, however other months we've got plenty of time for streamkeeping activities and other volunteer work.

Well, the queue still has several items stacked up, so enough ruminating. Back to work.

Edmonds Reborn

Stream of Dreams co-founder Louise Towell wrote an eloquent letter about the rebirth of the Edmonds area of Burnaby that appeared in the Burnaby Now newspaper on Saturday.

It's a vision of hope, with the community, business and the natural environment co-existing and improving. It's a definite read for anyone who cares about our community.

Way to go, Louise!

Too Much Burnaby Development?

Several Byrne Creek Streamkeepers showed up for a rezoning meeting at Burnaby City Hall this evening.

There are huge development plans slated for the Marine Way/Byrne Road area, which is already congested.

Many citizens expressed concerns about storm water management, increased traffic flows in an area that already has traffic problems, and the drawing of shoppers away from established town centres.

They questioned the need for yet more malls and big-box stores, accessible mainly by cars, in an area that has few local residents. Why create more traffic flow, more pollution, and more impervious surfaces in an area that used to be a natural bog?

The city has been on a big kick to "revitalize" the Edmonds area, which is a 5-minute drive up the hill from these new developments. Developments which could starve Edmonds Town Centre and a lot of businesses on Kingsway.

I own my own business, we're members of the Board of Trade, I'd place myself slighty to the right of centre in the political world, but I think Burnaby is getting too much "building permit" growth on its brain.

The whole affair tonight had the feel of an act in a play, and I'm sure the development is a done deal. Sad.

Review - Starting and Running a Nonprofit Organization

Starting and Running a Nonprofit Organization
Joan M. Hummel
2nd Edition

A good introduction to exactly what the title states.

This well-written, concise guide covers a lot of the bases, with emphasis on setting goals and measuring results.

Whether dealing with setting up an effective board of directors, raising funds, running the office and coordinating volunteers, or compiling and monitoring budgets, this book offers sage advice.

While aimed at a U.S. audience, I found plenty of information to put to good use in Canada.

2010 Olympics: How Can My Business Get Involved?

The Burnaby Board of Trade luncheon today featured Ian Tate, former director of Community Relations for the Vancouver 2010 Bid Corporation, and he was full of enthusiasm and ideas for how local businesses could captilize on the 2010 Olympic Games.

One of his major themes was turning 17 days (the actual length of the games) into 17 years of opportunity. That means businesses should already be doing their homework, finding and capitalizing on opportunities, and figuring out ways to make all that hard work continue to benefit them locally, and even globally.

Tate pointed out that we will be having incredible media exposure that has already begun, and that will extend through the games and beyond.

People want to come and see what Vancouver and BC have to offer.

He also talked about how the Olympics can be a catalyst for change, and mentioned social, arts and environmental aspects.

In summation, he told the crowd, "You're only constrained by your imagination."

Laggardly Income-Tax Receipts

Why in this day and computerized age do we have to wait until the end of March or even early April to get investment-related tax receipts from financial institutions?

We have to file personal tax returns by April 30, but for those of us expecting refunds, it would be extremely beneficial to be able to file much earlier.

I bought my tax year 2003 copy of QuickTax well over a month ago and began entering data to supplement what it automagically sucked in from the 2002 version on my hard drive regarding last year's return.

And then I had to wait. And wait, as the statements and forms trickled in. We received another one today -- do I have to wait for more?

This is ludicrous. I understand that stock sales/purchases need a few days to be settled, but why does it take months to send out a form?

I encourage anyone in the banking/brokerage sectors to elucidate me on this issue. Are we talking regulatory crap here, or simple laziness?

Burnaby Mayor Gives Glowing Report

Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan gave a glowing State of the City Address to a Burnaby Board of Trade luncheon today.

We have a lot to look forward to with Burnaby hosting the World Police & Fire Games in 2009, and being part of the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Residential and commercial construction is booming, and the city is in the black with $260 million in reserves. A new Burnaby Tourism Bureau will open this year, and there is continuing focus on the Edmonds area where we live. The boarded up Burnaby Hotel has been declared a nuisance and is to be torn down within 31 days, and there is talk of a new public swimming pool in the neighbourhood.

The 117,000 sq. ft. of commercial space in the new Highgate (former Middlegate :-) mall that is under construction up the hill from our place is 85% leased. Condos in the first two residential towers in the complex are nearly sold out, so the developer is moving ahead planned construction of additional towers.

There are going to be a lot of changes in our 'hood.

Review - Start and Run a Copywriting Business

Start and Run a Copywriting Business
by Steve Slaunwhite

Another how-to book in the Self-Counsel Press small business series.

Our business is mostly translating and editing, however I found this book a valuable read. Much of it applies to any freelance creative business.

Lots of good tips on setting rates, getting organized, marketing and promotion, and dealing with clients.

Reading Comprehension, Common Sense

People don't seem to read what they read anymore. Yes, I said, "read what they read." OK, comprehend. A fair chunk of the discussion I've seen lately on various email lists and newsgroups is of this nature. "You said...." "No, that's not what I said...."

People have also apparently become incapable of using common sense.

I hate to be a sourpuss, but over the last few weeks I've run into several examples, of which I will share two.

1) Our translation, editing and writing company recently received several unsolicited resumes by fax. The applicants were looking for jobs in the hospitality industry, food preparation in particular. Duh. I suspect they found us through our local board of trade listing.

Did I say "hospitality industry" and "food preparation"?

Cooks.

Is there any hope in hell that our company would hire them? Or if they were thinking that perhaps we'd pass their fax-spam on to our favorite restaurants, they are sadly mistaken.

2) I posted some problems we've been having with Norton software on a couple of email and news lists, along with this blog. I also posted how I'd resolved those problems, and thanked people who'd helped me.

A few days later, I received a long email message from someone I'd never heard of, who did not identify which list he'd found me on, regurgitating in his own words the steps I'd already taken and written about to solve the problem.

Double Duh!

All this wasted time.... Which I've just added to with my rant :-).

The Business of Writing & Editing

I gave my wife the best Valentine's Day present she's had in years -- the whole day to herself, while I attended an Editors' Association of Canada workshop :-).

John Vigna presented "Thinking Like an Entrepreneur: Growing Your Writing & Editing Business." As I recall, John has been running a writing and editing business for about three years now, and appears to have picked up a lot more business sense in that period than some of us who have been toiling away on keyboards for much longer.

Business plans? Managing cash flow? Marketing? Networking? All topics I suspect most creative types don't like to think about, yet that are crucial to success.

John told us about how he'd had a stellar rookie year, with gross sales that far surpassed his expectations, and then how in his second year he'd slacked off on his marketing and soon found himself pinching pennies.

By focusing on marketing basics, he pulled himself back up, and during the workshop he ran us through those basics, plus a number of excercises to see how we were doing, and where we needed to improve our business skills.

I can relate to John, as we too started out strong, had a stellar second year, and then became complacent, only to see sales slide for two consecutive years.

So it's back to the basics. We have to write a new business plan, and update it regularly. We have to devote more time to marketing instead of waiting for work to find us.

What a great way to spend Valentine's Day! My wife, who is also my business partner, got the day to herself, and I came home charged up with new plans for making money. How romantic :-).

The Discipline of Working at Home

There was a business tip from local publisher and internationally known speaker Peter Legge in the Vancouver Sun the other day.

He pointed out that if you get up an hour earlier every day, that gives you 365 more hours a year, or 15 extra days per year, to accomplish your goals. Well, duh. But the simple math got me thinking -- and feeling guilty.

My wife and I run a home-based translating and editing business, and if there are no pressing deadlines, it's seductively easy to roll over for another hour when the alarm goes off. With no commute, and no fixed starting time, it's also easy to watch some 1 1/2-star movie on the TV past midnight.

We talked about this, remembering with amazement the days when we had full-time jobs in Tokyo and got up at 6:00, made and ate breakfast, packed lunches, and trotted out the door at 7:15 to catch the train downtown.

What's happened to us? Wouldn't we like to have 15 extra days a year? Hell, with our present level of discipline, we could shoot for 30 extra days a year!

I used to scoff at all the tricks people who work from home say they use to maintain discipline and to remain focused on work. I now realize we've been in a long, slow, nearly imperceptible slide that has accumulated over the years.

So it's back to business.

When the alarm goes off, I will get up.

Thanks, Peter.

"Pending" Issues with Banks "On Hold"

I find it curious as to why when we transfer funds from one Canadian bank to another, it can take several days for the funds to appear in the destination account, and even then there might be a note with a "pending" or a "$XXXX on hold" qualifier attached. Initiate the transaction on a Friday just before the weekend, and it can add up to four, five or more days.

Of course banks will talk about "business" days, but once you initiate the transaction, I highly doubt if you're getting any interest on the transfer amount.

We regularly transfer business income from a Japanese bank to a Canadian bank, and that money usually arrives in our Canadian account, ready to access, in less than 24 hours.

What gives? I know banks make money on the transfer float, or whatever one calls it, but three or four days to shift a few digits from one computer to another from one financial institution to another in the same country? Computers don't sleep....

Burnaby Booming?

I went to a Burnaby Board of Trade lunch today that featured presentations by Jock Finlayson, vice president, Business Council of BC; Jack Belhouse, director of planning, City of Burnaby; and Mary Cue, vice president, Anthem Properties Group.

It appears Burnaby is booming. All of the presenters were very positive about the business outlook for 2004 and possibly 2005, mentioning an ongoing low-interest environment, lower taxes, and booming real estate development. The main point of concern was the rising Canadian dollar.

While all this development is going on, including areas near Byrne Creek where I volunteer as a streamkeeper, Belhouse proudly pointed out that 25% of Burnaby is park space. While I'm all for business, and am happy that the economic outlook appears to be improving, I hope we keep our parks too. They are a huge factor in our quality of life.

Creative Rates vs Trade Rates

A plumber paid us a two-hour visit today, and the labor charge came to C$162.50. That's C$65.00 for the first half-hour, and then C$65.00/hour for the balance.

I don't begrudge paying a professional tradesperson to do something that would likely take me two or three times as long to accomplish, and perhaps with questionable results. What gets my goat is that while the average person swallows paying a plumber or car mechanic such rates, quotes for translation or editing that are anywhere near that hourly figure draw gasps of surprise.

I know a plumber has years of training and thousands of dollars worth of tools. So does an editor. I have a total of seven years of university, and thousands of dollars worth of computers, software, and reference books.

Dealing with companies or other people in the trade is fine, and in the end I gross at least as much per hour as the plumber does, and on many jobs even more. It's the calls from Jane Public who needs help with a resume that irk me. Why would she think she could pay me less than, say, an electrician?

Part of the problem is the hundreds of less-than-professional editors and translators out there who are willing to work for a pittance. By selling out for 8 cents a word for translation, or $15.00/hour for editing, they demean our craft.