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robertrc
01-30-2015, 06:16 AM
I am planning to start a new business in Toronto. I am pretty much aware of the technical aspects of what I plan to do. But as a newbie in business, I don’t know much about the business aspects like planning a strategy, finding and managing financial sources among other things. I want to take a business loan, but have a very less idea about what all to take care and is worried if banks may take advantage of my limited knowledge of these things. I have heard about certain companies like KPMG in Toronto who provides good advisory services on the matters of finance and business strategies. Should I contact them? Are they beneficial for my case?

LarsJ
01-30-2015, 02:04 PM
You should get a much more detailed response from others on here, but yes I strongly recommend it. Especially someone who has no affiliation with a financial institution and can advise you on what to plan for, what to expect and future forecast on expenses and income etc. Businesses have gone under because of bad planning and inadequate forecasting and accounting. Even when a product is great the finances can end up really hurting them. You can't be expected to know everything in a business so get help and advice when you can, even if its for a few hours from an advisor who really knows their stuff...

Fulcrum
01-30-2015, 05:46 PM
I would recommend that you exercise caution hiring a consultant. KPMG does good work, but they don't come cheap.

We can't tell you if a consultant (or even a loan) would be beneficial to you at this time as you haven't shared anything about your proposed business. I don't know how much you want to share but some details may give us some ideas as to where to direct your energies.

Freelancier
01-30-2015, 05:50 PM
When you spend money on your business, you want to focus on the intended return on your investment. Can you quantify (as in specific numbers) what you expect to get back from hiring the financial consultant? That might help you decide if it's worth it.

HowToForBusiness
01-30-2015, 11:18 PM
In the U.S. we have Small Business Development Centers (https://www.sba.gov/tools/local-assistance/sbdc) in certain cities where you can take workshops on various business topics. There is also SCORE (https://www.score.org/) where you can meet one-on-one with a business mentor. Both were very helpful when I was starting a small business several years ago. Is there anything like these opportunities in Canada?

KatieKats
02-07-2015, 11:06 AM
Many business accelerators will offer you free consulting. You can always pop to one of them and ask for advices!

turkeysub
02-07-2015, 11:32 PM
Don't spend much for consulting. It's not completely necessary so don't spend much on one if you could better use that money.

Kumar Palani
02-26-2015, 02:33 AM
The problem is fear, never show that you are not good at Finance or such stuffs. Hire a consultant and as him/her to take care of such tasks so that you can spend more time organizing your business. When you have to speak, never let others (Banks or your Consultants) no your weakness, if you can keep yourself busy they will never find out you are not good at those stuff and hence the chances of them exploiting you or taking advantage will be considerably less..!

Your best best is to hire a finance or Accountancy expert and let them handle your issues.

Adel Landman Steyn
02-26-2015, 07:54 AM
There are benefits and drawbacks to both options.

Finance consultants usually have experience setting up business plans, strategy, sourcing funding, doing cash flow projections and budgeting and all of that fun (or not so fun) stuff.
I am not from the U.S. so I can have no beneficial interest in this, but this is the sort of thing that I do for clients.
Although technically adept in a specific field, new business owners are not necessarily very experienced at evaluating business and control risks, nevermind designing actual internal control systems. It is always a good idea to gain some advice if you don't feel comfortable evaluating these.

You also don't need KPMG to do it for you. Yes, they are an excellent international firm. But this also makes them very expensive and not affordable for most small businesses just starting out. There may be smaller consultants in your area who would be willing to assist you at a much lower cost.

If you are going to start out with a company with say, 20 or 30 employees, I would certainly advise getting some professional advice. If it is just going to be you and a secretary, perhaps this is not necessarily the most urgent need, unless you need help compiling documents for funding. Usually the finance institution will tell you that an accountant needs to perform certain tasks or they will refer you if they feel that it may be beneficial to you.

Kyle Johnston
03-19-2015, 10:06 AM
It really comes down to the fact that time is money. What I mean by this is will the time you spend trying to figure out all of the financial information be better placed somewhere else? Can you use that time in an area that will be more productive and if yes, then hire a consultant. Good luck!

2for1Creditlines
04-23-2015, 04:06 PM
I am planning to start a new business in Toronto. I am pretty much aware of the technical aspects of what I plan to do. But as a newbie in business, I don’t know much about the business aspects like planning a strategy, finding and managing financial sources among other things. I want to take a business loan, but have a very less idea about what all to take care and is worried if banks may take advantage of my limited knowledge of these things. I have heard about certain companies like KPMG in Toronto who provides good advisory services on the matters of finance and business strategies. Should I contact them? Are they beneficial for my case?


What you really need to get clear on is how will you bring in repeat customers, and how will generate/increase revenue, and those answers should be backed with tangible results, meaning you can show a huge demand that you can fill, and you can show how you can fill that demand in a very cost effective manner, and you know how to grow this. If you are going to take a loan to start this business, you should already have generated revenue in this industry and have a duplicatable model. Consulting costs should be kept low and should focus on those two things. Maybe consider bringing in a minority partner who has experience on the business side in your industry.

Your goal in the beginning is to keep costs low and laser focus on what will drive sales and revenue quickly. A consultant shouldn't know how to do this better than you because this is your industry and you are the expert.


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turboguy
05-24-2015, 11:37 PM
One of the things I think you will find is that most banks and normal loan channels won't loan money to a brand new business. They may make an exception if you have enough assets to secure the loan. There are some high priced places that will loan to a start up. They are about one step above borrowing money from the Mafia as far as rates but likely won't kill you if you default. Most start ups fund their business with savings, loans from family or credit cards. Of course if you have invented something that will make the iPad obsolete then getting funding won't be a problem.

That being said you might not want to waste the money you have on an expensive financial consultant. I think most of the information you need can be found inexpensively in other ways.