Would you be offended?

Montana, please take the precautions necessary to verify the caller was from your bank and that it is a legitimate invitation from them.

There are lots of schemes out there that do things like this and people fall for them because they happen to coincide with some banking issue they've recently had.

Call the phone number on your bank statement and ask them to verify the call was made by them and the bank agent's name you will be meeting with.

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just some thoughts :
- some years ago i worked part-time for what was then called BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT BANK (acency of govt. of canada) as a small business advisor and seminar leader , giving advice on simple book-keeping , making business plans etc. ,
- you will likely depend on the good will of the bank while you get your business off the ground and for sometime thereafter ; so it would be to your advantage to have a contact person at the bank who you can call on for any financial advice you might need (you might learn something at no cost to you) ,
- i would suggest you take advantage of whatever FREE services you can get from your bank in operating your business ,
- banks like to do business with succesfull entrepreneurs ; so make sure that you let your bank know if you run into any problems ; better still , keep them up-to-date on your progress (remember : successfull entrepreneur !) ,
- you certainly wouldn't want the bank to yank your line of credit when you need it most !
- make absolutely sure you do not take on any financial obligations that you might not be able to fullfill !

(advice someone gave me when we came to canada : it's better to crawl first and start walking thereafter , rather than to walk first and finding out later that you have to crawl - or more simply : NICE AND EASY DOES IT !
wishing you all the best as an up-and-coming entrepreneur !!!
hbg

ps. don't forget us ordinary a2k members when you are at the top looking down :wink:

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Everything is different here and I'm still researching all the time trying to get a grasp on the Canadian way.
From the research I've done on business tax, there seems to be a reasonable amount of deductables for me to work with.
Since it's going to be a home based business, I save money all over the place and I can deduct a % of my utilities, along with car expenses.

Still need to read up more on GST/HST and import/export, but I'm getting there.
Fortunately, through this program, the government goes all out to help and inform you on everything you need to know. I have lists of websites and phone #s for absolutely everything and anything I need to know, which is awesome.

They will provide me with advisers who I can contact if ever I have any questions and all that fun stuff.

I've done a ton of research already and I hope I'm as ahead of the game as I think I am :-)

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Quote:

They will provide me with advisers who I can contact if ever I have any questions and all that fun stuff.

I've done a ton of research already and I hope I'm as ahead of the game as I think I am

that sounds really great ! whatever FREE help you can get : GRAB IT !
keep hitting the right keys and you'll be making beautiful music :wink:
hbg

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Butrflynet wrote:

Montana, please take the precautions necessary to verify the caller was from your bank and that it is a legitimate invitation from them.

There are lots of schemes out there that do things like this and people fall for them because they happen to coincide with some banking issue they've recently had.

Call the phone number on your bank statement and ask them to verify the call was made by them and the bank agent's name you will be meeting with.

No worries Butrflynet. I know all about those scams. In fact, just last week, someone posing as my bank sent me an email asking me to update my info. I deleteted right away.

The woman I spoke with never asked me for any information and if she did, I would have told her that I don't give that information out over the phone.
She just wanted to set up an appointment with me at my bank.

Also, she talked about a few things my bank would only know, like a meeting I had with them previuosly and mentioned my previous place of employment by name, etc..

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Hamburger, Wow!!! I didn't know all that stuff about you and I can't express my appreciation enough for your advice!

Thank you so much :-D

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giving advice is the easy thing , montana :wink: !
actually doing the work is the difficult stuff - as you no doubt have already found out .
if you really want to start your own business , i have no doubt that you'll do allright - you are on the right way already !
hbg

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Thanks so much Hamburger! Your faith in me is very much appreciate :-D

I know it's a lot of work, but what isn't ;-)

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No, they are probably trying to sell you stuff - they probably want you to get some mutual funds, CDs or other types of vehicles. Financial Advisors (I've dated one before) are basically salesmen that passed some tests. The advisor probably got your name from customer list and is cold calling.

Although if you think it is something more - you can always ask what it is in regard to. But I think it is a sales call.

Most financial advisers I know work on commission so they don't directly make money from you. They make money from whatever you buy or invest in. That is what the front end sales charge on mutual funds or other fees pays for in part and in some cases the management fee/distribution fees charged to the funds.

It may not be a bad thing to meet with her/him - it depends on your situation. Often times financial advisors will not charge you as they are making commissions from the investments. And there should be no obligation to invest. Believe me, dating a financial planner they are used to going on many client calls and getting nothing for their efforts. I would just make sure you know in advance if and what any potential costs/fees are.

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Thank you Linkat :-D

After others responses, I figured as much. Bought my car a year and a half ago and the agent at the dealership is still calling me trying to get me to trade it in for another, regardless of the fact that I've told him several times that I'll be driving this baby into retirement Laughing

The bank is the same thing. They call me on average of once a year wanting to offer me something.

After giving the call plenty of thought, I believe that you guys are right. It's a sales call. Either way, I had to meet up with the bank eventually to talk with them about my business plans (my bank sponsers the program I'm signing up for), so I guess now is as good a time as any. At the very least, I can prepare them for my venture.

Thanks again. All advice is truly welcome and appreciated :-D

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Montana wrote:

They will provide me with advisers who I can contact if ever I have any questions and all that fun stuff.

With any luck you'll get someone like hamburger (who did small business advising/teaching for the Feds for some years) who is really interested in what his students/clients are doing and really wants them to succeed. He and mrs. hamburger seemed to always enjoy going out to visit the businesses.