Your business can get a $2,400 grant

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[00:00] SPEAKER_02: Welcome to Canada's podcast.
[00:05] SPEAKER_02: Hello, this is Robert Snigga with Canada's podcast where we talk to the entrepreneurs
[00:09] SPEAKER_02: where making it happen here in British Columbia.
[00:12] SPEAKER_02: Today, our guest is Ilya Goldman.
[00:14] SPEAKER_02: Ilya has been in the Internet marketing industry since 1996.
[00:18] SPEAKER_02: He started his own web design and online marketing company way back in 2001 with a goal
[00:25] SPEAKER_02: of bringing more businesses into the world wide web.
[00:28] SPEAKER_02: He has worked on over a thousand web projects.
[00:31] SPEAKER_02: His clients include huge organizations such as UBC Press, McGill Press, as well as a very
[00:37] SPEAKER_02: small companies with self-employed individuals.
[00:41] SPEAKER_02: He's also certified by Google and Microsoft.
[00:44] SPEAKER_02: He has a wealth of knowledge on web design and online marketing through nearly two decades
[00:48] SPEAKER_02: in this field.
[00:49] SPEAKER_02: Whenever he works with his clients, he wants them to be aware of anything that could be
[00:54] SPEAKER_02: helpful to them and their business.
[00:56] SPEAKER_02: Such as business grants for up to $15,000 and a $2400 grant for the digital presence.
[01:04] SPEAKER_02: Ilya, welcome to Canada's podcast.
[01:06] SPEAKER_02: I appreciate you taking your time today to share your entrepreneur journey with Paul.
[01:11] SPEAKER_00: Thank you very much, Errol Booth.
[01:13] SPEAKER_00: It's very nice to be here.
[01:16] SPEAKER_02: Great. Why don't you tell us a little bit more about yourself and your current business?
[01:19] SPEAKER_00: I understand you came to Canada a few years ago, is that right?
[01:23] SPEAKER_00: I came back in 1994.
[01:26] SPEAKER_00: I finished my education here.
[01:29] SPEAKER_00: I was working as a programmer in a few different companies.
[01:34] SPEAKER_00: It was good.
[01:35] SPEAKER_00: At the time, I met someone that was running her own business.
[01:40] SPEAKER_00: I thought, let's get into it and lifestyle.
[01:43] SPEAKER_00: I started my own at the time, what development company.
[01:47] SPEAKER_00: I was kind of getting some projects here and there.
[01:53] SPEAKER_00: Then, I got laid off from work and I thought, well, that's a good time to pull myself
[02:01] SPEAKER_00: fully into my business.
[02:04] SPEAKER_00: That was more than 20 years ago.
[02:08] SPEAKER_00: We initially started a web design company, quickly found out that people looking to get more
[02:13] SPEAKER_00: business through internet and that has been the main focus since then.
[02:17] SPEAKER_00: You mentioned we worked with some really big organizations such as universities and political
[02:22] SPEAKER_00: parties, as well as with countless small businesses and medium businesses and self-employed
[02:27] SPEAKER_00: individuals, easily four to five thousand projects, which makes a lot of sense because
[02:32] SPEAKER_00: we've been in business for such a long time.
[02:35] SPEAKER_00: Whenever we work with anybody, we want to make sure that they take a 9-page of anything that
[02:41] SPEAKER_00: is available out there. This includes special deals, let's say Google, Facebook,
[02:47] SPEAKER_00: pink, if they advertise them there, as well as business grants.
[02:53] SPEAKER_00: There are some business grants available.
[02:55] SPEAKER_00: One was for 15 thousand dollars and for some less money, not available anymore.
[02:59] SPEAKER_00: They are the one for 24 hundred dollars.
[03:01] SPEAKER_00: Those grants can certainly be very, very helpful for companies.
[03:06] SPEAKER_02: Okay, how is the adoption rate going for you when you're talking to
[03:10] SPEAKER_02: prospective clients and describing this grant of 24 hundred dollars?
[03:16] SPEAKER_02: How does that go as far as getting them on board in the process?
[03:22] SPEAKER_02: What does that look like?
[03:22] SPEAKER_02: Can you walk us through it?
[03:23] SPEAKER_00: The process is not particularly complicated.
[03:26] SPEAKER_00: Essentially, we go with them over grant.
[03:28] SPEAKER_00: The way this grants works is, there are two business grants available on
[03:35] SPEAKER_00: the Canada Digital Adoption Program. The first one is for 15 thousand dollars and covers 90%
[03:41] SPEAKER_00: of expenses working with the digital advisor.
[03:44] SPEAKER_00: A digital advisor is specifically a company that has been approved by the grant to work with
[03:48] SPEAKER_00: applicants. So we are an approved digital advisor. Unfortunately, the 15th dollar grant is no
[03:54] SPEAKER_00: longer available. The other grant that is available is for 24 hundred dollars.
[04:00] SPEAKER_00: And 24 hundred dollar grant hours 100% of expenses related to digital presents.
[04:06] SPEAKER_00: So whenever we talk to people regarding those grants, the majority of them, I don't know if it's
[04:11] SPEAKER_00: 90% of it's, but most of those people do go through the application process.
[04:18] SPEAKER_00: Some of them do get rejected, although there is some bureaucracy involved with back
[04:26] SPEAKER_00: and forth between emails from the grant and the exchange between the grant and exchanges between
[04:33] SPEAKER_00: the applicants. And we do actively try to clear how people with it.
[04:38] SPEAKER_00: Those that get through this process and it's not so much that it's very demanding. It just
[04:43] SPEAKER_00: requires a bit of attention to keep an eye on the emails that come through.
[04:47] SPEAKER_00: Though they do get through this process, do get the grant and we do our best to have them
[04:55] SPEAKER_02: get the most benefits. Now, what does someone get for 24 hundred dollars when they do the
[05:02] SPEAKER_02: get the grant, they get approval, what can we spend it on?
[05:07] SPEAKER_00: So the 24 hundred dollar business grant, it covers things such as online marketing,
[05:13] SPEAKER_00: campaign, it covers things like search engine optimization. It also covers things such as e-commerce
[05:20] SPEAKER_00: development or let's say, adding online booking on the website, so things like that. So in many
[05:27] SPEAKER_00: cases, it would cover either development of a website with, depending on the credit,
[05:35] SPEAKER_00: it can have it on a store or on a booking, it can have a cover, a day online marketing campaign.
[05:40] SPEAKER_00: So it can certainly give companies a pretty big boost in terms of establishing their online presence.
[05:49] SPEAKER_02: So that grant is 100% free, they don't have to pay it back and it goes towards the user towards
[05:55] SPEAKER_00: their online presence. That's correct. So this particular grant covers 100% of the expenses.
[06:02] SPEAKER_00: In terms of the procedure, it requires, it's a reimbursement grant. So it requires
[06:08] SPEAKER_00: applicants to submit an application. Once they approve, they are required to submit invoices
[06:14] SPEAKER_00: and receive. And once they review it, they receive their reimbursement for this grant.
[06:19] SPEAKER_02: Okay. Okay. Let's talk a little bit about the online marketing industry and what
[06:25] SPEAKER_02: has looked like you for over the last 20 years that you've been at. You give us a one-piece of
[06:31] SPEAKER_02: knowledge or information about your industry that you could share that will benefit our listeners.
[06:36] SPEAKER_02: Something that the common person may not know about online marketing,
[06:39] SPEAKER_02: without much like and how it's changed over last few years.
[06:43] SPEAKER_00: I feel in terms of the online presence, people have that idea that they need to spend a lot of
[06:48] SPEAKER_00: time on that. And if they have that time that certainly is helpful, but in many cases, it's a
[06:57] SPEAKER_00: having a clear idea. What it is, what it is that they want to have the online marketing,
[07:02] SPEAKER_00: where they want to get with the online marketing, and also
[07:08] SPEAKER_00: what are their resources for that. So if they decide, you know, I'm just going to post on Facebook
[07:13] SPEAKER_00: and I'm going to or Instagram and I'm going to do it every day. They might, they like to spend a
[07:20] SPEAKER_00: lot of time doing that. But even with that schedule, they're not necessarily going to get much out
[07:27] SPEAKER_00: of that. However, if they decide a more, I would say business-oriented, for example,
[07:34] SPEAKER_00: I want to have top placement search engines for those particular keywords that are useful for my
[07:39] SPEAKER_00: business. And in that case, it's a much more achievable goal because they, if they do research and
[07:48] SPEAKER_00: things like that, they will see, okay, I need to have this necessary content on my website or
[07:53] SPEAKER_00: I need my website to be faster. They can certainly put a lot of effort into that themselves. They
[07:59] SPEAKER_00: can hire somebody like us to do it for them. But the clear, what they need to have is a clear
[08:07] SPEAKER_00: goal in terms of what they actually want to achieve with the online marketing.
[08:13] SPEAKER_02: Okay. Now, what areas do you guys, internet exposure? What areas do you guys cover, I mean,
[08:19] SPEAKER_02: you guys cover the design, the generation, things like that. What is your area of expertise as someone
[08:24] SPEAKER_02: is to call you up and say, what can you do for my business? What would that be?
[08:29] SPEAKER_00: Main focus is to get our clients more business to internet and we do whatever is necessary for that.
[08:35] SPEAKER_00: And that entails, then tells mainly gate and them online with their own website.
[08:41] SPEAKER_00: And also gate and them on the top of search. It is also whenever people look in for their
[08:46] SPEAKER_00: product services, they can find them. So I would say web design and search engine marketing
[08:51] SPEAKER_00: are made for us. We deal with social media as well. In general, also with the call or gate and
[08:58] SPEAKER_01: them more clients to internet. Stay ahead of the game with our expert tips and strategies that
[09:03] SPEAKER_01: will help your business thrive in a digital era. Canada's podcast.com subscribe now. Let's talk
[09:10] SPEAKER_02: a little bit about what that looks like in British Columbia operating a business in British Columbia.
[09:15] SPEAKER_02: You've been doing this for very long time. So I want you to give us the biggest benefits
[09:18] SPEAKER_02: of being an entrepreneur in British Columbia. I want you to share some good points, but also
[09:23] SPEAKER_02: some of the challenges that you had to overcome from operating your business in British Columbia.
[09:30] SPEAKER_00: Well, I feel that British Columbia, it's hard for me to compare with other, well, I wouldn't say
[09:45] SPEAKER_00: to be a entrepreneurial place. There are a lot of businesses here, which is certainly very helpful
[09:50] SPEAKER_00: for my business that deals with other businesses. The other places in Canada that also feel
[09:57] SPEAKER_00: are very active would be Alberta and Ontario. That's where most of our clients come from.
[10:05] SPEAKER_00: Whenever we're in campaign that cover most of Canada, that's actually where people are coming
[10:11] SPEAKER_00: from the most. And certainly British Columbia is a very in that along with other provinces.
[10:22] SPEAKER_00: So Ontario, Ontario, Alberta in British Columbia find they are the most active provinces
[10:29] SPEAKER_00: in terms of getting business life. The advantage I think of British Columbia is that there are
[10:38] SPEAKER_00: also immigrants here and immigrants do often open the own businesses. They do require services
[10:46] SPEAKER_00: like ours. Also because there are a lot of businesses, because there are a lot of immigrants,
[10:52] SPEAKER_00: it also they don't have their own vendors or their own network at the point. So for example,
[11:00] SPEAKER_00: they looking for a plumber or something like that, they don't necessarily know something. They just
[11:04] SPEAKER_00: won the internet and they find and they're looking for it which makes it advantageous for companies
[11:13] SPEAKER_00: to have high search engine placement. So there are just more people looking for the things as opposed
[11:20] SPEAKER_00: to more settled places where everybody finds and already knows everybody. It's still beneficial,
[11:25] SPEAKER_00: of course, for them to get on the top of search results, but it's more so in a place with more
[11:31] SPEAKER_00: immigrants. So I do feel it's it's only helpful. For very specific things, there was another
[11:40] SPEAKER_00: grant. And like I said, I do I do want to my clients to at least be aware of the grants that they
[11:48] SPEAKER_00: can get the most benefits from it. There were some grants specifically related to British Columbia
[11:54] SPEAKER_00: that were not available in other places such as a $7500 grant about two years ago I believe.
[12:02] SPEAKER_00: And that totally helped a good number of my clients. So I would say British Columbia is an
[12:11] SPEAKER_00: excellent place at least for my business to be in. Okay, good. Now we talked a little bit about
[12:18] SPEAKER_02: immigrants and there's a lot of immigration in Vancouver. I like to always ask people is if you
[12:24] SPEAKER_02: would have started all over again, I want you to imagine just lad digging Vancouver, you're just
[12:28] SPEAKER_02: coming, you're getting settled. Knowing what you know now, you've done this before. Where do some
[12:33] SPEAKER_02: of the things that you may have done differently or some of the things that you could recommend to
[12:38] SPEAKER_02: other people who are coming to Canada or even British Columbia to say, hey, I've done this. Here's
[12:42] SPEAKER_02: what I do differently. Here's some of the things that I would recommend. Is there anything that you
[12:47] SPEAKER_00: would do? I would absolutely do my business the way I do it now because I grew into my business.
[12:57] SPEAKER_00: So everything that I do right now is the result of me learning about things as I was continue to
[13:02] SPEAKER_00: develop it. And it didn't particularly stop. I still learn your things after more than 20 years
[13:09] SPEAKER_00: in the business. So I feel that I would definitely continue. I would, if I were to lose everything
[13:18] SPEAKER_00: and I would start from scratch, I would start exactly where I left off just without all the
[13:23] SPEAKER_00: established clients and employees and things like that. In terms of people who just start
[13:30] SPEAKER_00: working over, I feel other than online marketing, which I feel is excellent, excellent
[13:39] SPEAKER_00: feel, but it is you are competing with pretty much the world. So you do need to be on top of your
[13:46] SPEAKER_00: game as with any business. But for local businesses, I feel there is a good amount of demand for,
[13:53] SPEAKER_00: let's say, construction companies, plumbers, for electricians, for dentists, for any sort of
[13:59] SPEAKER_00: businesses. And I do feel that it's an excellent opportunity for people, for new people who come
[14:06] SPEAKER_00: here, either they come from other parts of Canada, all from other parts of the world, all just finish
[14:12] SPEAKER_00: the education and thinking what to start. I feel there is a lot of demand here. And if they were to
[14:19] SPEAKER_00: start a company like that, creation, plum or dentists, anything that serves local clients, they can
[14:26] SPEAKER_00: do very well. And I think the other piece of advice is if you do something in business and you know
[14:33] SPEAKER_00: that you can teach somebody else to do it and have them do that, just hire people and have them do
[14:40] SPEAKER_00: that. You as a businessman, your objective is not necessary to do things but to get things done.
[14:48] SPEAKER_00: So if you put the necessary structures in place, if you have other people that can do some parts,
[14:54] SPEAKER_00: that some parts that you don't need to focus on, it will free your time to help more people.
[15:03] SPEAKER_02: Okay, so you've been in the business for a long time, speaking of helping other people,
[15:07] SPEAKER_02: you've obviously seen a lot of businesses come and go, a lot of businesses clients that you've had.
[15:14] SPEAKER_02: How do you define success and how do you celebrate your success, not just for you but for your clients?
[15:21] SPEAKER_00: For my clients, I am looking to get them what they're looking for, which is to get them more client.
[15:30] SPEAKER_00: So, and I'm very happy that a lot of our clients actually happy with their online marketing,
[15:37] SPEAKER_00: which is how often people happy with their other type, but they are happy that what we've been doing
[15:45] SPEAKER_00: for them. So to me, that's certainly success. Other parts of success, I feel, is different for
[15:53] SPEAKER_00: every individual. So for me, I do appreciate how in my business, I do have a freedom of space and
[16:00] SPEAKER_00: I do have a freedom all time. I can do my work whenever, wherever, as long as it's done.
[16:08] SPEAKER_00: And it is a huge advantage and certainly makes my life much easier, makes it much more beneficial for
[16:19] SPEAKER_00: my family that I can, you know, I like to work when they sleep, which because I can work whenever
[16:27] SPEAKER_00: can be done. So it is, I do feel that there is a measure of success. So it's not so much,
[16:36] SPEAKER_00: like I think they have in mind, it's not just a monetary. It's not just a monetary.
[16:42] SPEAKER_00: I would say, I would say monetary is a part of that. You want to be comfortable, but in the end of
[16:47] SPEAKER_00: a day, it doesn't really matter how much money you have in the bank. What I think matters is how
[16:53] SPEAKER_00: easy your day will look. Like if you work like hours a day, it doesn't matter that you have 20 million
[16:58] SPEAKER_00: in the bank, it just, you know, there is, there is very limited opportunities to enjoy. Right? If you work,
[17:04] SPEAKER_00: I think reasonably maybe 10 hours a day. And then it does allow you to keep a steady business,
[17:11] SPEAKER_00: it does allow you to make your family happy and it does allow you to enjoy life.
[17:15] SPEAKER_00: Right. So I would say, I would say in not as many words, maybe a good work life balance.
[17:23] SPEAKER_02: Make it right? A good work life balance. Okay. So how do you work in the light balance and how do
[17:30] SPEAKER_02: you relax and being an entrepreneur? You work a lot for a lot of hours in. How do you check out and
[17:36] SPEAKER_00: do your thing and make it so? I feel the scheduling is a very big part of that. So for example,
[17:46] SPEAKER_00: if I do plan to go out with my wife or with my family at certain time, I know that I need to get
[17:52] SPEAKER_00: my work around it or scheduling appointments, even something simple that if I know that I'll have
[18:01] SPEAKER_00: a trip, let's say next month or a week, I can simply arrange not to have meetings at that time.
[18:10] SPEAKER_00: So I do, I do have a good handle on my schedule, more or less. And I do have freedom, you know,
[18:20] SPEAKER_00: if there is certain busy day, okay, great. I can work. I can work more during that particular time
[18:26] SPEAKER_00: or work on weekends to get things done. So I do have time to do things that I have
[18:32] SPEAKER_00: pre-plan a while ago later on. So I think being able to control my schedule so well does,
[18:44] SPEAKER_02: does give me a good amount of freedom. Okay, where do you see your business in five years?
[18:50] SPEAKER_02: If you're to say this is where it five years from the business where I like to be, do you want to
[18:55] SPEAKER_02: grow, do you want to expand, do you want to open up their offices, do you want to do more business
[19:00] SPEAKER_02: outside of Canada? Do you have any long-term goals for your company? I started to do and I feel that
[19:08] SPEAKER_00: has been a steady growth in my business. I have been hiring more people, also salespeople,
[19:16] SPEAKER_00: who basically get talk to clients, they would need to see if there is any opportunities available
[19:22] SPEAKER_00: for them and get them to the point where they basically ready to proceed with the project. So
[19:30] SPEAKER_00: I've used to do more of the work now, have myself people do more work, which allows me to get more
[19:36] SPEAKER_00: of all those more actual things. And I am looking to continue to grow that way. I do have some
[19:45] SPEAKER_00: good procedures in mind, it's a matter of handling more of that. I cannot tell specifically in
[19:52] SPEAKER_00: all if it's going to be double-sided in like three or five years or something like that. But if
[20:07] SPEAKER_00: I do like that there are currently good opportunities for me. I feel that I'm in a good place where
[20:16] SPEAKER_00: I have a lot of processes already established and it's just a matter of putting more into those
[20:23] SPEAKER_00: processes, getting more developers, getting more salespeople and keep moving forward.
[20:31] SPEAKER_02: Okay, so you want to grow the business? Yes. I feel like the work is a resource.
[20:41] SPEAKER_00: If I have options to get more out of this resource, I really want to. So right now, if I develop
[20:51] SPEAKER_00: the good way of working with more businesses, hiring more people and making it all work,
[21:00] SPEAKER_00: I probably continue to push it until it stops making sense, but hopefully it will never stop making
[21:05] SPEAKER_01: sense. Canada's podcast is your gateway to success in the world of entrepreneurship.
[21:11] SPEAKER_01: Start listening today. Canada's podcast.com subscribe now. We're going to ask you a few fun
[21:17] SPEAKER_02: questions now that we've taken care of business. If you are doing what you do now, what would you
[21:22] SPEAKER_00: like to do for your connection? If you know, I would like to do that. But in terms of, I think it's
[21:28] SPEAKER_00: more of a career question. If I didn't start my own business over 20 years ago, what would I
[21:32] SPEAKER_00: be doing? And at the time, well, not at the time, I was already running my business, but I was also
[21:39] SPEAKER_00: heavily involved with martial arts. And I had my gym at the time as well. The gym is still there,
[21:48] SPEAKER_00: but I'm not involved with other than taking care of the website. And I might or might not have become
[21:56] SPEAKER_00: an accomplished fighter. I did do well in the local competitions. It is a stupid choice for career
[22:06] SPEAKER_00: because the chances of injuries are so high and because of it's a short term career with long life
[22:17] SPEAKER_00: else negatives. But it would have been fun. But as long as it could have lasted.
[22:27] SPEAKER_02: Yeah. So do you still participate in that? I still have a small amount as much. My focus is
[22:35] SPEAKER_00: business and family time. So something has to give. And as much as I like sparring with other people,
[22:48] SPEAKER_00: it doesn't benefit my business or family time. So I don't do much of that. Also, as we get
[22:55] SPEAKER_00: in more advanced age, it is there are risk of injuries. I do remember when I was younger,
[23:02] SPEAKER_00: something always hurt it. And I was wondering, what exactly do I do that my head hurts all the time?
[23:09] SPEAKER_00: And it was like sparring just with jobs. So I stopped doing it on my top. I guess maybe I
[23:16] SPEAKER_00: sleep more. Maybe I drink more water. My head doesn't hurt anymore. So it is fun. I enjoy doing that.
[23:26] SPEAKER_00: But I don't particularly want to make it the regular part of my schedule because there will be
[23:32] SPEAKER_00: you know, you take a good amount of time and I don't feel it's going to be beneficial for my house
[23:40] SPEAKER_02: and family life or business. Okay. Entrepreneurs are busy people. It was a lot of different
[23:47] SPEAKER_02: people in situations. What two words would you use to describe yourself?
[23:53] SPEAKER_00: In terms of describing myself, well, I guess two words would be you, Evolving, but if I had to
[23:59] SPEAKER_00: if I had to find other words, probably reliable, I do I do my best to deliver on what I promise,
[24:09] SPEAKER_00: and often more than that. And I do my best to promise what I can deliver. And the second one,
[24:16] SPEAKER_00: probably resourceful. Whenever I work with somebody, it is my duty to make sure they at least
[24:24] SPEAKER_00: aware of everything out there that would be beneficial for them. So I do my best to present it
[24:31] SPEAKER_00: to them and take advantage of it if they do want to take advantage of it. Okay. I also too
[24:38] SPEAKER_02: working with you. I'll also find you to be honest, not an honest business manager. It's
[24:46] SPEAKER_00: that's a part of reliable. So you work with somebody and as I look, you interact with many
[24:52] SPEAKER_00: people in the world and you need to know that you can't rely on those people. If you ask them to
[24:56] SPEAKER_00: do something, it will be done. If you if you ask the advice on anything, they'll give you the best
[25:02] SPEAKER_00: advice. So I really want to make sure that whatever I work with somebody that people can trust me
[25:13] SPEAKER_00: with what needs to be done and rely on me to do it in the best way possible. So being reliable and
[25:20] SPEAKER_00: honest, I think is probably the most important aspects of running the business or even living
[25:26] SPEAKER_02: life. Yeah, I think it's also important with this is because people find out about you and your
[25:37] SPEAKER_02: your kind of presence or how you work and how you operate your business carries on into
[25:46] SPEAKER_00: other business recommendations. Absolutely. Absolutely. Right. And I think it's ultimately,
[25:52] SPEAKER_00: I say, like it is, it's very easy to cut corners and you know, and miss some things and forget
[25:59] SPEAKER_00: something. It's very easy to to strive for that. But I think ultimately you are the result of
[26:07] SPEAKER_00: your choices. You might say, you know, 10 minutes of not following up, for example, for the next
[26:12] SPEAKER_00: meeting. But then you lose hours when those people, you know, don't show up and you lose and you
[26:17] SPEAKER_00: lose on sale. That's maybe even millions of dollars if nothing, if there is no business generated
[26:23] SPEAKER_00: so I think it is absolutely essential to be as reliable and honest with your clients, your employees,
[26:32] SPEAKER_02: family, anybody you really use. Okay. Is there any advice that you receive from mentors,
[26:40] SPEAKER_02: other entrepreneurs, people you've worked with that you can pass on to entrepreneurs or account?
[26:44] SPEAKER_00: Is there anything that you've made red or heard or something? I did here a good advice.
[26:51] SPEAKER_00: And that was a confused mind cannot make a decision. So if you are talking to a client and they are
[26:59] SPEAKER_00: interested in something, you have to make it very clear to them or what they will be getting,
[27:06] SPEAKER_00: what they will be paying, what are the benefits of what they're getting, if it makes sense to do
[27:11] SPEAKER_00: that, if there is a better way to do that. So you have to absolutely make it clear to them and make
[27:16] SPEAKER_00: sure they understand. So that they are comfortable to make the decision and when they make the decision,
[27:24] SPEAKER_00: they know exactly why they make it and what would be the benefits of it.
[27:35] SPEAKER_02: Let's talk just about things that we're going to talk about. How can people get all of you
[27:40] SPEAKER_02: and talk about the grant and what does that look like once you have your first conversation with them,
[27:46] SPEAKER_02: just so they're at ease, they know it's not going to be difficult and just kind of walk us through
[27:50] SPEAKER_02: what that would look like if they were to call you into the home. Sure. So they can contact me at my
[27:57] SPEAKER_00: website www.internet-exposure.com. They can also call me at my tolls3number 866-699-3248.
[28:09] SPEAKER_00: Once I talk to them and see what they want to do, we'll probably have the initial conversation. We
[28:16] SPEAKER_00: set a Zoom meeting either with me or with one of my colleagues where we'll go over that grant
[28:26] SPEAKER_00: application if they want to take advantage of it or whatever services that they're looking for.
[28:31] SPEAKER_00: For example, they want to get more clients through internet or they want to establish online
[28:35] SPEAKER_00: presence or they want to add a certain feature to the business website. So we will stick
[28:42] SPEAKER_00: around and decide on the best way to proceed. And you will actually work through the application
[28:49] SPEAKER_00: process. That's correct. So if I will work them through the application process or my colleagues
[28:55] SPEAKER_00: will do that and we've been dealing with our grant so we know what the application should be done
[29:04] SPEAKER_00: and what the grant can be used for. So they most likely will be approved and get the most benefit
[29:11] SPEAKER_02: from it. Okay, and this grant is across Canada. So some college-of-months. That's correct.
[29:16] SPEAKER_00: So it is in the 2400 business grant covers whole Canada. I believe they
[29:24] SPEAKER_00: stopped it recently in Quebec and Yukon. They did stop the 15th suddenly grant a few months ago.
[29:34] SPEAKER_00: As well. So I do hope that grant will continue for a while. But as my experiences are shown,
[29:43] SPEAKER_00: they can stop at any moment because they've got too many people or because they run out of my
[29:48] SPEAKER_00: or because there are some changes in the government. So whenever something like that is available,
[29:58] SPEAKER_00: it's best to take a best take an official with sooner rather than later because later it simply
[30:03] SPEAKER_02: might not be available. Yeah, and if they... Some have got some questions, they just
[30:07] SPEAKER_02: not sure about what that looks like. Are they eligible for this grant? I guess the best thing is
[30:12] SPEAKER_02: just to call you, you know, assess their business situations. You have to ask. In terms of eligibility,
[30:18] SPEAKER_00: currently it's for companies that have 30-centre dollars or more annual revenue or an
[30:24] SPEAKER_00: employment payroll who is not a business owner. Certain types of companies are not eligible,
[30:28] SPEAKER_00: such as real estate agents, investment advisors, manufacturers, unless they deal directly with
[30:36] SPEAKER_00: consumers, drug shipping businesses again, unless they directly produce the products and deal
[30:44] SPEAKER_00: directly with consumers. So it's majority of businesses are eligible, but there are some
[30:52] SPEAKER_00: expectations where they might be better to talk to them to make sure that they are likely to receive
[30:58] SPEAKER_02: the grant. Okay, great. Okay, Ilya, thank you so much for coming on to Canada's podcast. I've learned a
[31:04] SPEAKER_02: lot about you and I suppose the grant and I'm sure our listeners have as well. But thank you very
[31:10] SPEAKER_00: much. It's very nice to be here and great job of keeping this podcast going. It's been years, I think.
[31:16] SPEAKER_00: Yes, it has. It has started in 2015 with the bank abroad. It's amazing. It's a
[31:26] SPEAKER_00: big day. It's almost a decade of you doing it. Yes. So I hope there will be many, many more
[31:32] SPEAKER_02: decades more. Thank you. Yeah, and I think it's now that we've expanded across Canada. It's giving
[31:38] SPEAKER_02: a platform for more viewers to share your telestory and share their resources and what they can do
[31:44] SPEAKER_00: for each other. Okay, thank you very much for that and keep up the great work.
[31:50] SPEAKER_00: Thanks, Ilya. Thank you very much. Bye.