Dan Kelly (CFIB)
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On this episode of Marketing News Canada, Ted Lau interviews Dan Kelly, the President and CEO of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.
Dan is the lead spokesperson and advocate for the federation’s 95,000 small and medium member businesses. He studied business at the University of Manitoba, where he grew up. He has always been engaged in politics. In the 80’s it was Canada signing the Free Trade agreement that got him interested in politics.
Something the company did during the pandemic was wave member fees for businesses that could no longer afford it. They also welcomed new businesses during this time, and provided them with services and gave them the option to pay at a later time, post pandemic.
Businesses have been faced with a great challenge during this past year. Many business owners are not only struggling financially, but also mentally. Dan said, “I had a business owner call me as they were contemplating taking their own life, and that has been the toughest part of this all.”
The most important thing to tell business owners during this time is, they are not alone and they did not make a mistake. A lot of business owners during this time are feeling as if it is their fault they are in this situation, when it is not. During this time, it is only the big corporations that are not struggling financially.
Something that is important to businesses is seeing their return on investment. A membership for CFIB may cost a few hundred dollars a year, they want to see what they are getting for this investment. So CFIB has had to position themselves in a way that business counselling is a greatly offered service they have.
A small firm often cannot hire a human resources employee, so they need advice on topics such as paying employees and leaves of absence. This is some of the advice they can receive from the business counselling services offered.
Savings and benefits programs are offered by CFIB that presents businesses with a dollar amount back on their investment at the end of the year. This establishes a sense of trust since businesses that are members have an incentive to join along with all the other benefits.
Something Matthew wanted to say during the episode was a thank you to small businesses. He congratulates them for making it through the pandemic and not giving up. He encourages listeners to do what they can to help small businesses during these times. His dedication to helping small to medium sized businesses grow and see profit is what makes him the ideal President and CEO of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.
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