Christmas Celebration at John's house

It was great Christmas celebration at John's house!

Almost all group could make it and get together in John Horchik home in Surrey. Friendly talks and fantastic Thai food delivered by Scott and Fanta created good holiday environment. To observe John's way of making coffee was especially exciting - scientific almost alchemy process with vessels more suitable for chemical experimentation rather than drink preparation.

Thank you John and Emma for opening your house for BBN members. Thank you Scott and Fanta for delicious food. Thank you all for participating.

Merry Christmas!

Passwords and laptops

It was interesting discussion initiated by Ray about password protection and computer safety. Thank you Ray for bringing it up and for the informative printouts.
Just want to get you a link to that data on most common passwords used for ATMs and online banking. Sorry Don I misinformed you about the "mustang" - it is not fifth but tenth, which I believe is still remarkable enough. 
See it here: The ten most common
Also regarding laptop and their safety. Here is an interesting article on software that can mitigate the risk in unpleasant event when laptop is stolen: Retrieving stolen digital devices
Hope none of BNNers would face laptop loss and if you see your password in that list make sure you change it to something less predictable.

BBN Guest: Captured Assets Inventory Services Inc.

Thursday morning was wet and gloomy but our BBN meeting was as usually sunny and bright. Magic touch of Sun Life expert Bob Fletcher some might say and it is hard to imagine anyone who would disagree.
We had guest that morning, Lynn Rimmer of Captured Assets Inventory Services Inc. Lynn has highly specialized business in the niche many of us never heard of - Lynn helps businesses and individuals with detailed cataloging of material assets. It was very interesting to hear Lynn about her business and how it can help people to organize stuff so everything would be taken into consideration. It makes sense since many of us hardly keep track of all our belongings. Lynn just started to build up networking for her business and we really hope she would consider joining BBN as a member.
Matt the Mortgage Man shared with us a very interesting nuance regarding renewal of mortgage.  Too bad banks do not always disclose that clause. Thank you Matt for keeping us up to date.

BBN guest - educational consultant Ira Alexandra

It was a great meeting last Thursday at our new temporary meeting location Classic Bagel Cafe. Lots of people attended and many interesting ideas were expressed and duscussed. Three key events took place.

We had a guest speaker an educational consultant Ira Alexandra, owner of Loadstar Consulting. Ira provided us with detailed description of her business and how she helps enterpreners to detect hidden opportunities and realize business potential. We thank Ira for visiting us and hope to see her again in future. We also were pleased by the fact that Ira found our group via Google search, which means that SEO optimization of our Fraser Valley Business Building Network website kicks in.

Our BBN member Parinya Loptson, owner of Langley Thai Cuisine Restaurant, had a feature presentation of how to make famous Thai rolls. Every BBNer had a chance to prepare that roll. It was easy and delicious. We thank our host Classic Bagel Cafe for assistance in preparation and running of that small cooking class.

Finally our member Chuck Vanderbyl brought up an idea of expansion of BBN operations to international level. Many members might benefit from such expansion for their businesses are scalable in that regard. Idea received warm reception and debate followed of how to implement it. We are currently in the process of development of that idea so more discussion will follow.

HST Vote

There are plenty of opinions out there about HST introduction and its potential usefulness for BC economy. Some say it is good for small business, other say it is very bad for small business (restaurant industry is particularly vocal in that regard). Some opinions are strong and somewhat emotional. Here we publish opinion of Leo Vandebyl, brother of our fellow BBNer Chuck Vanderbyl. With upcoming vote for HST debate about that tax is getting overshadowed by only Vancouver Canucks puzzling performance in Boston. Anyways, you may or may not be agreeing with Leo but make sure you vote when HST voting day comes.
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Now that Premier Christie Clark has offered a rate reduction, I see a softening in the populace and that maybe they might change their vote. Voters are getting tired and wearing down and a promised reduction IN THE FUTURE will help the Federal and Provincial governments keep this tax. Not many of our taxpayers understand that the power to assess this tax was given exclusively to the citizens of the provinces and specifically negated from the Federal government by the BNA act. BC can tax its own citizens for services provided by their own elected government. The federal Government was not allowed to interfere with that direct taxation process.

Governments are spending money like drunken sailors. They are borrowing every dollar. BC is spending money that none of the taxpayers can ever pay back. What the hell, let's blow a billion on ferries, or a half billion on BC Place Stadium. The citizens of BC can never pay this back. If we halted the gluttony and stopped the out flow of money and fired all the high priced public servants, we would discover that we no longer had the power to collect taxes from our own citizens to rebuild our province. The control was passed to the Federal Government. It wasn't just passed, it was bribed by a greedy federal cabal intent on removing all provincial ability to resist their agenda. If we no longer can collect a portion of our production to rebuild our society then we are in trouble. We dance to the Cabal's tune. And we GAVE it away! 

Look at Iceland! Look at Greece! Two countries swallowed by the never ending credit spending and all their citizens are now enslaved by the people issuing FIAT currency. The bankers OWN them. Do we want that fate???

There are positive efficiencies in the HST taxation process. We should simply adopt them in the BC sales tax. We should never allow any group to control our resources and lands other than our own citizens. 

It was a $1.6 Billion dollar bribe by the Federal Government that swayed Gordon Campbell to sell our taxation rights. Make no mistake! These were not Canadian Taxpayer dollars. These were provided by the same bankers who are taking over Iceland and Greece. We never had that much surplus to give away. 

Think before you vote! Consider your fellow citizens! Protect your rights and do not sell our precious resources to the magic money machine. 

Leo Vanderbyl 

Pricing art for small business

It can be very unclear and even difficult how to set up prices for your products or services. Many agree that prices setting is more art then otherwise, especially when it comes to fairly unique business. This article describes some of the pricing challenges of real businesses and how they dealt with it. One thing is clear though - the correlation between price and sales is not direct and sometimes completely counter-intuitive.


Real-Life Lessons in the Delicate Art of Setting Prices


I understand that pricing policy in certain industries (like Real Estate or Insurance) is not as controllable. But nevertheless for many of us the article provides some real food for creative thinking in terms of pricing.

Fundraising Dinner for MS @ Ban Chok Dee Thai Cuisine

Date:  Sunday, May 15^th, 2011 at 5:00 PM

Price:  $20 per person ($10 of each ticket goes directly to MS)

Location:  Suite 102, 5499 - 203 Street, Langley, BC  V3A 1W1

Tel:  778.278.3088

www.banchokdee.com

Dinner Menu:

(all items with your choice of mild, medium or hot spiciness)

Spring Rolls and Chicken Coconut Soup;

Pad Thai Noodles (choice of chicken or prawn);

Panang Curry with Rice (beef or chicken); and

Tapioca with Coconut Milk – or – Deep Fried Banana with Ice Cream.

(This fundraiser is supporting the Tour de Vinters Eh Team for the MS Bike Tour held June 4 & 5 , 2011)

Online donations can be made at: http://mssociety.ca/en/events/biketour/default.htm

Health and Dental coverage for an individual

During the discussion at BBN meeting last Thursday a couple of members expressed surprise that they could get health & dental coverage for themselves and their families.

Although I can put together very competitive group benefit plans for business with 2 to 200 employees I can also provide coverage for the one person business or an individual.

Just log into my website www.sunlife.ca/robert.fletcher and follow the "Health" link to Personal Health Insurance.  Here you will find 3 plan choices and you can obtain a quote for each and apply on line for the one that fits you needs and budget.    If you have questions or need a quote (no obligation or cost) for your business please email me at robert.fletcher@sunlife.com

Office move to Langley is now completed

I'm pleased to say that the move to my new office at Suite 307-19978  72nd Ave, Langley  has been completed.  My new phone number is 604-513-5232 Ext 230 when you need to contact me for all your life insurance, health insurance and investment needs.

How to save a client over $1,000 pa for the next 20 years

Yesterday I visited a lady who had been referred to me by an existing client and found that she had been hounded on the phone and pressured into buying life insurance and critical illness insurance last week that she didn't feel comfortable with.  This company had sold her the easiest products 10 year terms but her need was longer.  They neglected to tell her that her $34 mth life insurance premium would increase to $5,900 a MONTH when she was in her 80's, or that her $66 mth Critical Illnes premium would increase to $277 mth before it expired.

Not only am I able to save her over $20,000 in just the next 20 years but I can also set up her Critical Illness insurance to return 100% of her premium if she remains healthy and doesn't make a claim.

That is my I am a Financial ADVISOR not an insurance salesman like many others.  Call me or email me at robert.fletcher@sunlife.com to see if you have the best coverage for your family.

Dr Parm Rai of Insight Chiropractic is expected as guest speaker

We have confirmation that Dr Parm Rai of Insight Chiropractic, Willowbrook Drive, Langley will attend our meeting this week March 10 as our guest speaker.


Dr. Parm Rai has been a chiropractor in Langley for 5 years. Previous to
opening his practice in Langley he practiced in the United States, England,
and various chiropractic missions trips to Central America. His approach
to Chiropractic care encompasses the entire body and nervous system.
Relief care, corrective care and wellness care are all options that Dr. Rai
will work with for individuals to attain their health goals. The practice
has a large demographic of patients, from family care, senior, paediatrics,
pregnancy and many athletes. The practice is situated in Willowbrook Park,
equipped with on-site X-ray facilities and Surface Electromyography (sEMG)
to guide and help with all Chiropractic evaluation


Dr. Parm was invited by Bob Fletcher. We are looking forward to hear Dr. Parm's speech.


It is rare when we see guests from the industry of Dr. Parm so his visit looks very interesting indeed. We will post more about Dr. Parm's visit and highlights of his speech here. Stay tuned and please don't be late on Thursday! 

BBN Guest - Ralph Van Eijnsbergen, restaurant consultant

Bob Fletcher, our wizard of RRSP, invited Ralph Van Eijnsbergen as a guest speaker to our regular "Mostar" meeting. Ralph has launched a very interesting business - restaurant consultancy, RAVE Consulting. With 40+ years of experience in restaurant industry, Ralph's goal is help with turning any restaurant into profitable enterprise. All aspects of the business are analyzed, from inventory and location to personnel hiring, and detailed advised based on that scrupulous analyses is offered.
It was very interesting to hear about Ralph's business. It is great that consultancy of that kind is available now to Langley and Fraser Valley restaurants to improve and streamline business.
We would like to wish success to Ralph with his business and hope to see him again at our BBN meetings in future. 
Please contact our us at Fraser Valley Business Network if you need to learn more about Ralph's consultancy.

BC ships and taxpayers money

Leo Vanderbyl, an engineer and brother of our BBN member Chuck Vanderbyl, expressed interesting opinion about ships and taxpayers money. Leo wrote a letter to North Shore News about that, which was published. As business owners and Canadian taxpayers, BBN members are not indifferent to matters Leo raised in his letter. I personally find it very strange that decision was made to import those ships from overseas that are so much less fuel efficient especially now, when greenhouse emissions cuts battle is raging across Canada. 


Even though it looks like little can be done now to offset what already done, Leo's letter may generate public debate about public funds management by public servants. We would like to hear your say about it as well. Please post your comments here.


Leo's letter can be read here: Super C's a D-grade idea

Page Rank by S.E.O. Rapper

Well, I don't want to compete with Chuck in terms of music expertise but this performer got my attention. I will be honest with you guys - this is the first time I ever heard a rap about Search Engine Optimization. Those of you who might find some difficulties with understanding technical terminology used in the song, don't hesitate to ask:)

The S.E.O. Rapper Drops Science on Search Optimization

New Member and Paul's Photo Studio

Last meeting was a little unusual for BBN members. Paul Keeris, co-owner of Treasure-Book.com, invited us to his Photo Studio 1 (another business line he develops rigorously) to make a really cool professional images of BBN members and group photo of BBNers as well. Paul was very kind to provide us with complimentary coffee and overall environment of the studio was quite pleasant. Paul's clientelle in photo studio includes high profile individuals, like Miss Canada for example, and we all were very pleased to be photographed in such prestigious establishment. Photos will be displayed on out BBN website soon.

Also, we are happy to report that Laura of MommyMaids joined our Business Network. Our business networking group is growing and it is a very good sign. We welcome Laura to our group and are looking forward to see her business growing.

New Members and New Guests

We are glad to announce that Don of Canada Floral Greens joined our Business Building Network. We also are looking forward to see Laura of MommyMaids Inc. as BBN member as she expressed interest to become one in nearest future. That's great to see our group growing and involving more Fraser Valley small businesses. More members and more contacts will eventually translate in better sales and stronger community.

Also we had a guest today, Rosalina Rodriguez of Tomatillo Real. It was very interesting to hear how Rosalina's company makes genuine Mexican salsa in accordance with old family recipe. We wish Rosalina best of luck in development of her business and hope to see Tomatillo Real salsa in grocery stores of Fraser Valley. Thank you Fanta for inviting Rosalina to our BBN meeting today.

BBN guest - Don of Canada Floral Greens

Today we had an opportunity to find out about very interesting business located in Port Kells area of Surrey, BC. Don Talstra of Canada Floral Greens was our BBN guest.

Don is a manager of wholesale distribution of floral greens used as part of floral bouquets. His company buys greens from pickers in Vancouver Island and sells it around the world. We all were especially impressed by the fact that large shipments of BC floral greens are making its way for floral auctions as far as Holland. It was very interesting, thank you Don for coming and telling us about your company.

To learn more about Canada Floral Greens visit website: Canada Floral Greens (it is a bit slow so be patient).

Welcome To BBN Blog!

Welcome to BBN blog!

BBN stands for "Business Building Network" and here we plan to blog something interesting, informational or just downright cool stuff related to small business here in Langley and Fraser Valley and beyond.

BBN is a group of Fraser Valley entrepreneurs who gather once a week in the cozy cafe "Mostar" of Langley to discuss business related issues and help each other with business in general. Check out website to see what kind of industries are represented in our group. Please do not hesitate to contact us as well.

Stay tuned for more postings!