Your starting point

As a new business, it is common knowledge to say that owners will lose money to get started, while the new company gets known and builds trust and a following.

Where is the funding?

However, very little is said about alternative ways to fund your business, or rather, what alternatives are out there which allow to fund a business or run operations with as few fees as possible.

On one hand, there has been a lot of news related to crypto or investing in real estate as a way to build wealth. But what happens when you have invested every cent you own in a business and you still face paying banking fees with little to no returns?

Options, options, options!

That’s where these options come in: Koho, Tangerine, GoPeer, Wealthsimple, Canada Post Credit Card. Each option mention aims to tackle a finance or budgeting issue.

Daily accounts

For instance, Koho is your every-day card and gives you a percentage on almost every purchase you make. Moreover, it lets you set money aside, without creating a savings account and it even allows you to borrow small amounts of money with no fees, to help you build your credit. The best part is that you can do everything online and you do not have to contact customer service to get started. Finally, you also get access to Financial Coaches, if needed.

Tangerine provides phone and online support and gives you the usual banking experience, with little to no fees. It lets you save small amounts too, but you have to create a TFSA or savings account. This is more like a virtual banking experience without the overhead costs.

Loan, credit or others

GoPeer is an alternative to those who cannot obtain credits at a bank. As long as your credit score is decent and you have a good payment and employment history, you are in!

They allow to defer payments due, when needed and the rates, payment plans and amounts borrowed are monitored closely to ensure you have the best funding options at your disposal.

Wealthsimple allows you to invest and set money aside, while also having an option to have a cash account. This could be a great starting account to invest in Stocks or Crypto, while having the flexibility of TFSAs, GICs and regular spending and savings accounts. 

Finally, the Canada Post Credit Card allows you to build your credit, while having a pre-paid card that you can obtain online or at your local post office.

While it is obvious that this is not the only list of options out there, it is a good starting point for those who have little knowledge to what’s out there. 

This is not news, but chatbots have been mentioned in different channels, mainly when mentioning that it makes customer interactions faster.

While this may seem like a set-back in real human touch, it it is an improvement when you think of providing fast answers to routine questions.

One can think of many applications to chatbots. For instance, have you ever waited on the phone to know your account balance, or to know where you can pay your bill on time?

Have you spent hours trying to find the right form to send any official changes to a government agency?

Have you contacted your payroll or HR department to be told: “read the manual, or the collective agreement and get back to us”?

In fact, Chatbots could take care of answering those routine questions. They can even be integrated in mobile apps and websites of public entities.

Then, what is the resistance? 

Mainly, the concern of human interaction and the validation that it brings, considering that online hacking and fraud cases are highly publicized.

Resist the tide: Recommendations

Therefore, what we recommend is to use chatbots to take care of questions that do not provide confidential information or that may just guide customers to the right answers. For example, providing office locations, opening hours, forms’ locations, etc.

On the other hand, chatbots increase traffic on your website. Specially, if you have reduced your office hours due to increase of remote work.

However, not all chatbots are set up the same way, or not all of them provide an easy way to integrate to your website or social media channels. 

We found that Conversiobot takes the headaches out of the equation and provides and easy-to-use approach to integrating chatbots.

Moreover, the good news about this type of integration is that you can remove it or tailor it, if you do not like it as is. 

The bigger picture

The main goal of adding this tool to your website is to reduce the clutter in your mailbox by having automation answer basic or simple repetitive questions from leads or potential clients. 

This way, you get to concentrate on delivering awesome services to those who have become your customers or to your current staff.