Business Ideas Centre Just for You | APRIL 2023

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¡Bien Venidos! Welcome! Nancy here and welcome to the very first edition of Business Ideas Centre Just for You. 

The information in this post is for Canadian businesses however, towards the end of this post I will be providing non-residents of Canada information that may help guide you on how to start a scrapbooking business.

These ideas will be for you and your family. And if you do not have a family, not to worry because the ideas are still very suitable for you.

These ideas are perfect for:

• Families
• Single people.
• Single dads and moms.
• Grandparents, Uncles, Aunts, cousins, siblings, and inlaws, and your pets and farm animals if that's even possible, haha...

For our first blog post of this segment, we will be presenting Scrapbooking as a business. Yes, that's right! Scrapbooking as a business. There are many people out there in this world who have turned their hobby and passion of scrapbooking into a successful business. And if this was something you did not know before, now you know!

"How Do You Turn Scrapbooking Into A Business, Nancy?"

You turn scrapbooking into a business in the following way: You provide scrapbooking services for people who don't have the time to create one for themselves....ta, daaaa! So you see? It was not as hard as you were probably thinking right? Okay so now that you are feeling much more relieved let's carry on with how to actually get your scrapbooking business started.

Before we get started here is a side note: If you have been scrapbooking for many years, you already know how to scrapbook. And if you have only been scrapbooking for a few months, weeks, or even days, then not to worry. You are still very qualified to start your own scrapbooking business.

But First, for New Scrapbookers

If you are new to scrapbooking, my suggestion is that you practise your scrapbooking skills before actually launching your business.

And in case you are in kind of a hurry to learn a bit faster to start your business sooner than later, I suggest you get ideas from such platforms as Pinterest, and YouTube.

On Pinterest, you will get incredible ideas for scrapbooking about any topic or theme. You will be able to both collect and then save your favourite ideas on boards.

On YouTube, you will find step-by-step video tutorials on how to create scrapbooking layouts, and you will also be able to save your favourite tutorials to your account.

Pinterest: Here is a layout of a high school graduation.

 

Pinterest: Here is a layout of a wedding.

 

YouTube: In the video above will be a tutorial on how to create a Spring layout.

Visit the Pinterest website for more scrapbook layout ideas for any theme. If you do not currently have a Pinterest account, you need to acquire one in order to use it. Click on following link to create an account: Create Pinterest Account.

You do not need a YouTube account in order to use it however, as a business, there are great benefits to having one. For example, you can create videos of your finished work and then upload them to your account. This is an excellent way to showcase your business to attract customers. 

You also have the option of saving your favourite videos from other YouTubers to your account. This way, you'll have quick and easy access to ideas and tutorials you are learning from.

You must first create a Gmail account in order to acquire a YouTube channel. Click on following link to create a Gmail account: Create Gmail Account. 

Once you have created your Gmail account, you can move forward with creating a YouTube channel. The instructions on how to create a YouTube channel will be within your Gmail account.

Next, there are a few important steps to take before actually moving forward with starting your scrapbooking business, or any business for that matter. 

As a business owner, you will need to acquire a licence and in some cases a permit before starting a business. I am in Canada in the Province of Ontario and I have a business licence. I also have a business number also known as a GST/HST tax number which I will explain a little more about in a moment.

Type of Business: This is just for your general knowledge. Depending on the type of business you are starting you may need to acquire both a certain type of permit along with a mandatory business licence registration required by the government. If your business has to do with food preparation as in making meals or baking, you will require a Food License. If your business does not involve food preparation such as a scrapbooking services business, you will not be needing to acquire a Food Licence. Having said all that...

Good News For Ontarians!

Recently, the Ontario government has made some regulatory changes to the Food Licencing Act. This will enable persons desiring to start certain types of food businesses such as baking to operate from home without also requiring a food licence.

SO! Aside from your scrapbooking business, in the event that you may also want to get into the food business at some point after you launch your scrapbooking business, you will now be more aware of what your options in this area.

Remember that this new regulation is for the Province of ONTARIO. To learn more about Ontario's food business regulations please visit the websites in the links in the bulleted list below. 

OTHER PROVINCES: Please check with your current Province of residence's government website to find out what the regulations are for home-based food businesses. 

• Government of Canda | Food Licences
• Bakers Journal | Regarding Home-Based Bakeries

Now, Back to The Main Topic of Scrapbooking & Important Documents

Okay, everyone, you must take the following steps before starting your scrapbooking business:

• Choosing a name for your business: Choose a name for your business. 
• Name search: Once you have already chosen a name for your business, you must then conduct a name search. A name search will let you know if the name you have chosen is currently available to you. Here in Canada, a name search is conducted at the same time as when you are registering your business. If the name you have chosen for your business is available, you are free to use it and if not, you must choose a different name.
• Business Registration: Once you find a name for your business that is available for use, you will now be ready to register your business. In Ontario, the link to register a business is here: Ontario Business Registry
• Business Numbers also known as GST/HST Numbers: Business numbers are NOT issued by The Ontario Business Registry. They are registered by the CRA or Canada Revenue Agency. 
• NOTE. Business Numbers: Currently, if your business will be bringing in less than $30,000.00 a year, you will not be requiring a business number. If your business has employees even it if's only one, and bringing in above $30,000.00 a year, you will be requiring a business number. An issued business number means that you must collect sales taxes from each sale and then declare them during tax-filing season. You are not required to declare taxes if you do not acquire a business number. HOWEVER, there are benefits to acquiring a business number even if your business does not bring in $30,000.00 a year. For example, right now my business is very small and is not currently bringing in $30,000.00 a year. It's bringing in less than this. Regardless of this, I still decided to acquire a business number because as a business owner, it made me feel special. And later on, I learned about the great benefits that come with having a business number. I just acquired a membership at COSTCO. In case you did not know, Costco has two types of memberships. They have a membership for the general public and one for businesses. As a business owner, I acquired a business membership. Just like the general membership, the business membership allows you to buy things in bulk only in greater quantities than the general membership does. Having said that, due to having acquired a business number, even though my business is not currently making $30,000.00 a year, I still charge taxes on each sale from my business which I declare during tax season and then send to the CRA. You MUST charge taxes, declare them, and then send them to the CRA if you choose to be issued a business number even if your business is making less than $30,000.00.
• File your taxes online for both business and individuals (non-business-related) on the Canada Revenue Agency website: Business and individual accounts are filed separately. This means that your business tax information is filed separately from your individual account. Visit the website here: Registration Process to Access The CRA Sign-In Services.

Other Provinces & Territories

To register a business in your Province or Territory of residence you will need to visit the proper government website.

The following is a national Canada website with information to help easily guide you to the right business registration office/website where you live. Visit here: Government of Canada | Regional Business Support.

Organization And Your Business

Once you have already acquired the necessary information as stated above such as your business name, license, registration, and business number if applicable, make sure to store them in a folder.

Create a filing system to help you keep these documents safely stored away and in neat order. This way, you will have easy access to them whenever required.

At the time of this post, business numbers were free. Your business number will appear in your yearly tax forms that will arrive to you by mail separately from your personal income tax forms.

Your business licence is not free. If you lose a copy of your business licence, depending on the time you lost it, you may or may not have to pay for another copy. So upon first acquiring your original copy just make sure to keep at least 3 copies of your licence filed away. Having said all that, make sure to file away the following:

• At least 3 copies of your business licence.
• All business-related tax forms that have already been filed.
• Copies of sales receipts: Keep receipts from your customers in a separate folder from receipts related to your business operations such as your inventory, overhead, on so on.
• And lastly, once you have begun to file away your documents be very, very dedicated to REMAINING ORGANIZED! If you are going to start a business DO IT RIGHT the first time. The CRA does make mistakes and if they should happen to contact you regarding anything you supposedly did not file at any time, you can easily prove it by sending them a copy of the documents in question already in your filing system.

Inventory for Your Scrapbooking Business

Finding inventory for your scrapbooking business is a lot easier than you may already be thinking. If you happen to have the funds to make a big purchase of supplies then go ahead, and if you do not, there is still a way for you to get really nice supplies even with a super small budget. 

For those of us living in North America, we all know what the Dollar Store is right? Okay, then to start off with use dollar stores as your primary source of inventory.

Today, dollar stores have really improved in the quality, designs, and styles of all the products they carry. If you take a walk down the art section of any dollar store you will see that this is true. 

Registering Your Business On Google | It's FREE and Beneficial to Your Business TOO, Yipeee!

Make sure to register your business on Google. You will help make the entire world aware of your products or services. Click on the following link to learn more on how to register your business on Google: Register Your Business On Google.

More Guidance for You

I invite you to check out a series of blog posts I created that will help further guide you in your scrapbooking business adventures. These posts will include such things like what supplies you will be needing and more. Learn how to start a scrapbooking business at a super low cost too!!

• How Do You Make A Cheap Scrapbook?
• How Do You Get Good At Scrapbooking? – How Do You Make A Scrapbook Like A Pro?
• What Are The Essentials For Scrapbooking?
• How Do I Start Scrapbooking?

CRICUT!

Have you ever heard of CRICUT? CRICUT is a cutting machine for many types of crafts and it's the perfect crafting buddy for your scrapbooking business. To learn more about the CRICUT cutting machine please visit my blog at the following link: CRICUT!

Let The Public Know About Your Scrapbooking Services

Earlier, I spoke to you about Pinterst and Youtube. In my experience as a business owner, you do not need to have more than one or two ways of making the public aware of your business. Actually, I currently have five. I am referring to social media accounts and I will explain more. 

You've probably noticed that many businesses out there have several social media sites where they advertise their products or services.

For example, a big nationwide shoe company may have accounts on YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, Pinterest, and many more.

It is easy and cost-effective for largescale businesses to be operating on so many social media accounts because they have the budget to employ enough people to manage them on a daily basis.

However, a much smaller business that is only being run by the owner could never operate their business effectively enough with so many social media sites to manage at the same time. 

With so many accounts to be managing, they would soon become very exhausted both mentally and physically. Next, their business operations would begin to suffer, and if they don't stop, their business will soon come to a complete stop.

Even a business with as few as 10 employees would run into great difficulties because each of those 10 employees would have to cut into their business-designated in order to manage so many accounts.

Having said that, a small business owner with 10 employees or less if they wish can choose to rearrange the hours of one of their employees to manage social media accounts within a working day.

This can be made financially possible ONLY if that employee is managing between one and two accounts and no more than that. This is why although it is very important to have a social media presence for your business, just remember that as a small business, managing more than one or two media accounts at a time will not be beneficial to your business on the financial side.

Should you be the only person operating your business, in the event that you should still find yourself exhausted by managing two social media accounts then simply only use one. Choose the one you want to keep and get rid of the other.

As mentioned earlier that I have four social media accounts. I have a Facebook page for my cookies business which I currently deactivated for now. I have another Facebook page for my Scrapbook website and another one for my jewellery business. I also have a YouTube channel and Pinterest account for my scrapbooking website business.

At this time, I am the sole operator of my business and my current schedule permits me to manage four social media accounts at once. However, at the time of this post, I was on a break from posting. But when I was posting, I was only posting between ONE to TWO times on EACH of my accounts ONCE a week. This pattern of posting allowed me enough time to dedicate to the other areas of my business in a healthy way.

Posting a few images and information to your media accounts once a week is the best way to help keep your business operations as a whole running smoothly. 

So, upon you getting your business started, you can handle two media accounts then go ahead. Just be sure to choose a time schedule within your week to dedicate solely to posting to your accounts. Remain disciplined with your routine and you will not fail. And even once your business becomes busier and you decide to have 3 or more social media accounts, if you stick to a strict posting routine it will be a very easy and problem-free weekly task for your business operations as a whole.

If you do not already have a YouTube account, below is the information to help you get started.

You must first create a Gmail account in order to acquire a YouTube channel. Click on following link to create a Gmail account: Create Gmail Account. 

Once you have created your Gmail account, you can move forward with creating a YouTube channel. The instructions on how to create a YouTube channel will be within your Gmail account.

Click on following link to create an account: Create Pinterest Account.

For The United States 

For those of you who are currently residents of the United States and you are interested in starting a scrapbooking services business, you will have to contact your local city or town to find out how to acquire the proper documents to start a business. 

For example, if you are currently a resident of the state of New York, you would need to register with the state of New York.

I did some research and came across a website called Wikihow. Wikihow provides information that should be able to help guide you in the right direction. Visit the site here: Wikihow | How to Start A Business in New York. 

NOTE: In the Wikihow website search field, you have the option to search for how to register a business in your current state of residence, however, after testing it out, I also found it to be not as helpful. For example, when I attempted to do a search for another state which in this case was Texas, a list of information was generated that was related to how to start a business, but nothing too helpful as far as registering a business with the right government office/website for Texas either. Actually, it was rather confusing. Having said all that, the best way to search for how to start a business for your current state or territory is NOT by doing it within the Wikihow website but through a Google search. For example, in your browser type the following: "Wikihow to start a business in Texas". For Texans, I also came across the following page: How to Set Up A Sole Proprietorship in Texas. 

For Nations Outside of North America

For example, if you are currently living in India simply do a google search under the following, Wikihow to Start a Business in India. 

Guam: I did a google search for Guam but it appears that Wikihow does not carry any information for registering a business in Guam at this time. In such cases, I advise you to get in contact with your local or federal, tax office to ask how you may register a business. Having said that, in my search, I did come across a website with information for Guam. Visit the site here: Doing Business in Guam | Things You Will Need to Start A Business. 

So, if after doing a search for how to register a business in your current country, territory, or island with the example I gave above you still can't locate your designated government office/website, simply contact your local tax office and they should be able to help guide you in the right direction.

Registering Your Business On Google | It's FREE and Beneficial to Your Business TOO, Yipeee!

Make sure to register your business on Google. You will help make the entire world aware of your products or services. Click here to learn more on how to register your business on Google: Register Your Business On Google.

Hi! This is me, Nancy. I am hoping the information that I provided for you on how to start your scrapbooking business was helpful. In case you have any questions please leave them in the COMMENT form at the bottom of this page. I will do my best to help you.

Thank you for visiting us! Christ bless you, your loved ones, pets, and homes. 

Nancy

¡Muchas gracias por visitarnos! Cristo los bendiga, a sus familias y animales. 

Nancy