Back to school

After Canadian labour day (yes in Canada you add the u), kids go back to school and parents get back to work.

So what have I got done this summer? July 19 was the first anniversary of my Financial Planning business. And let me tell you, Small Business is not for the faint hearted. Small Business is all about one thing: being able to draw cash out of the business. So foremost on my mind is efficiently generating cash flow in, and keeping expenses down.

Sounds like what they teach you at Kellogg, and Schulich, where I graduated right? Wrong. I got a generic theoretical grounding in all the business disciplines, so I am part of a privileged few that can talk about B School in the past. But small business is about identifying a community with a need, finding what fills the need from the public domain, adapting it to the business asap, and feeding that need continuously.

The need I fill is protecting Torontonians' hard earned money from the two biggest thieves: the CRA and the banking system. When I got here in 2001 on assignment for Swiss Reinsurance Company, my eyes goggled at how complacent the natives were about paying 50% of the cash they earned to the government in income and consumption taxes, and another 30% to the banking system in interest. Canada Statistics has the 2006 1Q Canadian personal savings rate at 1.6% (not a typo). Thi is better than the negative personal savings figure of our southerly neighbours, but a lot worse then the WHOPPING 10-20% of the Japanese. So let me get this straight - the Japanese, who are in a recession, are going to retire 5 times richer than us Canadians, who are experiencing a booming economy?

Great, I have an entire nation of people who are interested in what I have to sell. More next time.