r/canadasmallbusiness

Been reselling part-time for about a year now — mostly Facebook Marketplace, Kijiji, a bit of eBay.

Never really tracked anything properly. Now that im making more consistent money i want to do it right — especially with GST registration and keeping clean records.

Do you use an accountant? A spreadsheet you built yourself? Any app that actually works for small resellers without being overkill?

Hi everyone, I'm building foxnut.app and we help local businesses get discovered in answer engines likes Chatgpt, Gemini, Perplexity, and Claude. Would love to connect with local businesses to get feedback on what we are building. Happy to even run a free AEO audit check on your brand's visibility.

The job market is broken. We all know this, people are sending and making applications with AI then AI is reviewing those applications and while you might receive a rejection email, a majority of those jobs go to some preestablish “connection”or AI anyways.

The solution will be taking matters in our own hands. We need to build new better companies that gets our highly educated population and skilled workers back into the work force. Instead of waiting for a permission slip to do what you are capable of doing.

The longer we wait the longer we go without working in our fields, the more our skills deteriorate individually and as a nation.

Though, we know it’s not easy the answer is Canada needs to become more entrepreneurial. Taking opportunities to build our own projects, and our own companies.We feel this will be the most likely way we succeed not only as individuals, but as a country.

We don’t have to do this alone which is why we started prestartup.ca here in Ottawa. If you’re looking for a short term project , turning an idea into a business, or growing your existing small business reach out we are looking to help.

TLDR: Canada is full of smart and capable people and we shouldn’t wait for an AI to give us permission to put that to use.

What are your thoughts on this ?

Nova Scotia - Can anyone recommend an accountant who can do the basics of accounting for a small cancun company while also advising on international spending? We will be buying properties abroad and investing but every accountant I’ve hired so far has just advised me to ask someone else, not exactly why I’m paying them.

I appreciate any feedback, the business is in Nova Scotia.

I’ve been talking to a few local businesses (spas, chiropractors, etc.) and noticed that a lot of them rely on word of mouth, but don’t consistently ask for Google reviews.

I’m working on a simple tool that basically:

- reminds customers to leave a review after a visit

- follows up automatically (email/SMS)

- and helps respond to reviews in one place

Not trying to sell anything — just trying to understand:

Do business owners actually care about getting more reviews consistently, or is this one of those “nice to have but not a priority” things?

Would love honest thoughts, especially from anyone running a local business.

Private lender operating in the mortgage and business financing space across Canada.

We fund:

• Private mortgages
• Trucks & trailers
• Heavy equipment
• Restaurant & food service equipment
• Construction & trades equipment
• Business working capital
• Technology & office equipment

Up to $500,000 — decisions in 48 hours — all credit considered.

I am shook. Any other recommendation anyone? I would prefer a realiable Canadian 3PL in Ontario that accepts my new business, especially one with eco-packaging solutions.

Thank you!

I worked on Search and Ads at Google. I’ve seen how platforms decide who gets found and who gets buried.

That same shift is happening again — just faster.

What’s changing right now:

• When someone searches “best HVAC near me” or “dentist open now”
• They’re increasingly getting one AI answer (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI)

👉 No scrolling

👉 No comparison

👉 Just one recommendation

If your business isn’t in that answer, you don’t exist.

But here’s the bigger shift:

• Today → AI recommends
• Soon → AI acts

It won’t just suggest a plumber — it will book one

It won’t just list restaurants — it will place the order

The decision layer is disappearing.

What this means:

• The businesses AI trusts today
• Are the ones it will transact with tomorrow

The gap most people are missing:

• Businesses are still optimizing for Google rankings
• Very few are thinking about:
  • Does AI understand my business?
  • Does it trust my data?
  • Can it take action on my behalf?

That gap is where the next winners will come from.

Curious:

If you run or work with a local business —

Have you seen leads drop or change because of AI answers yet?

I was curious about how much small business pay for websites because it does cost a decent amount of monev to setup and maintain but I saw people were paying that much and they are qetting PLAYED. Im really good with vomputers and coding and tasks like that. never studied in it but always had a passion since a kid. I been doing stuff like making websites and editing, scripting videos and other things for my friends for a while. I usually charge 500 upfront and 1 50/yr for websites and barely make profit its really a service. I find that for most small business thats more than enough for what they need. im just flabbergasted by how bad people are getting overcharged. How much are yall paying for websites and what does the website do? Im curious

Sorry, this post has been removed by the

I live in Toronto and I have a patented design for vertical farm growth system that can be used to save 50% of the energy cost and grow twice as much plants in the same area as other verical farms.

I am looking for a partner in Toronto, someone to build the business with. I'm not looking for an investor, it has to be someone who is interested in vertical farms and wants to build something with me from the ground up.

Reach out to me if you're interested. Let's build the farm of the future!

I keep thinking of the saying; Just get started you can work on perfection later.

Regardless I do find myself somewhat blocked by the worry about what might happen if I do make my little side hustle official but register it under the wrong industry in Alberta or Federally if really needed, though I don't really see the benefit of going this route yet.

How big of a deal is it, is it difficult to change or should I register more than one business and conduct the most relevant business under each?

For background related to my concern; I buy and sell items in basic terms,but... Because of my expertise I focus on a wide range of specific products. For instance I look at Industrial robots, smaller construction machines that I can repair for instance bobcats with mechanical, electronic or engine issues. I know engines, electronics, control systems and robotics.The rest I tend to figure out as they are somewhere in between.

The scenarios or lets call them opportunities that arise as I go is where I become worried. So to transport the equipment I buy, I have a flatbed crane truck. I also have a shop and a bunch of tools and equipment that I use. Sometimes it ends up being a straight resell and other times it turns into a rebuild/restoration. Meanwhile as I meet people, they often ask me to move and transport items for them with my crane truck, other times when I arrive on a farm the people would ask me if I can't look at this or fix that for them which includes simple welding and fabrication in remote areas. Same goes for Robots, placing them and and writing a basic initial program also happens but less often. -I do want to expand this as I see a lot of potential.

So how would experienced business folks do this? Considering I want to pick up every lucrative job I can, I mean if I drive to the middle of nowhere to pickup a bobcat, who would say no to a quick 200 dollar weld job on a fence post nearby to cover the fuel expenses.

All of this started with my website where I listed items that I bought for reselling, but transport costs were killing me so I bought my own truck and it snowballed.

My untrained mind tells me I have an Ecommerce, buying and selling, transport, light welding and fabrication, repair services and import/export type business all in one. Import/export because I sometimes purchase and sell things abroad that I have to go pick-up etc. In the future I might want to expand this portion out as it seems promising at scale.

Any help or insight would be greatly appreciated. I want to make sure I get this right and don't mess things up Royally for the future as I grow.

I'm a jobless software engineer with bills coming up. Looking to use my skillsets to help SMBs to find leads, implement AI, automations. or any tips to make money to pay my rent end of next week, appreciate it.

Anyone know if this is a good strategy for sales?

We are running a live, hands-on session on Emotional Intelligence for Managers. This session for people managers at any level and is going to go into concepts of self awareness, emotional regulation and active listening.

Date - 25th April, 2026 (Sat)
Time - 6 PM ET

RSVP here

I recently launched a web app that's about using conversational AI to help anyone from GTA to plan their next meal. Be it a solo one, or with a date, or even a family outing. Right now, I am the solo founder, as part of the team. What i am currently looking to do is figure out how to start spreading the word. I have already started the same with my friends and family. But how do I build on top of that?

Any advice on this will be greatly appreciated.