Category: blog

Congratulations to our Medicine Hat, Alberta, owners for winning the Postcard Portables “Franchise of the Year” award for 2016. Hard work, dedication to the business, and taking care of their customers has made all the difference for Dustin Turcotte and Robert Campbell, and has resulted in them claiming the prestigious national title for the second year in a row.

As Dustin puts it…

“2016 was a very interesting year for our City and a struggle for many with the strange Alberta economy. Our role in this community is to support local businesses and we knew there would be all kinds of challenges to overcome this past year. We have always tried to make sure that our business is evolving to meet the demands of business owners in our City and this year was maybe the best example of that. With numerous re-investments into our business medhatFOTY2016this year and some critical planning that has allowed us to make one of the biggest evolutions in our business yet to kick off 2017, we are extremely proud of what we have accomplished over the last 10 years but we are looking ahead to the next 10 years and finding new and better ways to support the local business community.

The most important thing to us is making sure we can provide a level of service to our clients that is second-to-none. We understand that each business is unique and has it’s own specific challenges and goals. We enjoy learning about different businesses and their industries, which often helps us find the best solutions and ways to support them. We are truly grateful for the support our local business community has given us over the years and we are dedicated to making sure that we do right by them and continue our goal of providing excellent products, services and support.”

Thank you to the City of Medicine Hat for your tremendous support of Postcard Portables, and to all of our clients across Canada for allowing us to serve you in 2016. Congratulations again, Rob and Dustin!

For more information on how Postcard Portables Medicine Hat can help with your next marketing campaign, call 403-977-7446 or visit: https://www.postcardportables.com/medicine-hat-ab/

If you fly for business, you may see it as an inconvenience that eats up your time. However, flying doesn’t have to equate to wasted hours–you could be working on things for your business while you’re in the air. Here are five ways business owners can stay productive while on an airplane.

Use the time to plan your week

A few hours on a plane is plenty of time to plan out your week or even your month. Use this time to set some goals for your business, brainstorm some potential ideas, or determine what tasks you need to do in order to grow your business.

Catch up on your reading

Skip the in flight movie and crack open a book, preferably one that will help you with your business. Reading titles related to your industry can help give you knowledge and insight into your own company. You can download titles on your phone or other mobile device, then read them while you travel. If you don’t have time to grab a book, you can pick up business magazines at most airports or download digital copies on your mobile device.

Work on your marketing plan

Downtime is the perfect time to work on ideas for your marketing plan, so be sure to bring a pen, some paper, and all your best ideas when you fly. Jot down whatever comes to mind, then you can sift through the ideas once you land and can bounce them off your employees.

Do some networking

Nothing beats a friendly chat during a boring flight, so don’t be afraid to talk to your fellow passengers. You may find that some of them are fellow business travelers who may just benefit from meeting you and your business. Or, you could meet someone who could become a potential client or even a valuable associate later on.

Get organized

Are you drowning in your overflowing inbox? Maybe your digital devices could use a cleanup. Use your time during your flight to do a little digital ‘housekeeping’.

Visit the Postcard Portables website often for more great tips and advice for businesses, or to get assistance with your marketing initiatives.

Postcard Portables’ fresh take on signage is providing an innovative solution for business owners who want to make a big impact, but with less advertising space, and a smaller investment.

“We specialize in mini-billboards, which are smaller billboards than the ones you see on the side of highways, for example. We make them a bit smaller so we can put them in front of businesses like fast food chains and car dealerships. They find it really effective to have professional billboard advertising, right on their location,” says Aubrey Huber, Chief Operating Officer, adding that the signage is also useful for businesses without a physical location, or looking to promote another location.

The company’s President and CEO, Jerred Huber, founded the mini-billboard advertising company in 2002, which set the stage for the success of Postcard Portables. The company opened its first franchise in Edmonton in 2005, and has now expanded into 6 provinces, spanning the country from Alberta to Nova Scotia.

“We’ve grown pretty organically as a franchise system, and have noticed tremendous growth within our units over the last 10 years. It’s been a great business – advertising in general has been very robust through the North American recession, and we’ve never really experienced any downturn,” says Aubrey.

Aubrey says since the model requires minimal staffing and low overhead, Postcard Portables is an attractive franchising option for prospective franchisees. “We’re home-based, so in the beginning, it’s pretty easy to put all of the initial investment into building your inventory, versus building a storefront. With online marketing and direct sales, as long as you put the effort in, the business will grow.”

“The advantage for new franchisees is that we have a proven product lineup and many established systems in place, so it’s a turnkey operation,” adds Jerred. “On day one, franchisees are able to go out and promote the products we offer. It’s a very simple business to start up and maintain when our corporate systems are followed properly.”

Jerred says franchisee candidates need to have a strong thirst for success, especially when they’re going to be working from home. “We’re looking for that individual who is disciplined, with some sales and managerial experience, and the foresight to look forward and realize they’re in control of their own destiny with a lot of opportunity in front of them. We’re talking about advertising, where The Statistics Portal reports$14.6 billion was spent in Canada in 2015 and they forecast that number to exceed $15.5 billion in 2017. That’s a huge opportunity for anybody to come into, but we need that person with big goals, with big ambition.”

The tremendous opportunity, says Aubrey, definitely isn’t going anywhere, either. “Advertising will always be around: we will always need to advertise, businesses will always have the need to generate more customers and clients. As long as businesses exist, we will exist in some form.”

The opportunity is particularly great for Postcard Portables, because franchisees can easily meet the needs of their clients. “It’s a really great way for even small businesses to look professional without a lot of time, effort or money. They can scale it as much as they want,or they can start very small with us, whereas with a lot of other types of advertising, that option doesn’t exist,” explains Aubrey.

This article was published in the January/February 2017 edition of FranchiseCanada Magazine, a publication put out by the Canadian Franchise Association

Running a business can be exhausting, time-consuming, and stressful, but if you learn the art of delegation, you can avoid burnout. Not sure how to delegate your daily tasks? Here’s how business owners can learn to delegate to make running a business easier.

Figure out what you can delegate

You won’t be able–or willing–to delegate every task, but there are some that naturally lend themselves to delegation. Tackling social media, making sales calls, and working on your website are all jobs that are fairly simple to delegate and that will free up time for you to do other crucial things for your business.

Consider who you can delegate to

Ideally, you want someone who knows your business really well and who can handle working independently. Look for someone with a proven track record of completing tasks successfully, not just someone who has the free time to take on the jobs. Look for an employee who has the skills needed to do the job, or train someone specifically for the task.

Be clear with your instructions

Be as clear as possible with your instructions and make sure your employee knows when to expect you to follow up. If your employee needs to learn how to do the task, now is the time to clarify all the steps. Make sure they know exactly what you expect from them and how they can get help if they need it. Put instructions in writing, even if you think they can figure out the task on their own. This will also help you make sure that you’re communicating clearly–it’s easy to overlook part of an instruction when they’re given verbally, so writing them down will help.

Praise and give credit

Nobody wants to do extra work for nothing, especially not if they think you’ll get the credit for it. Be sure to praise and reward work well-done, and don’t forget to credit your delegated employee for the things they do. You can’t have a successful business without them, so make sure they know you appreciate their hard work.

For more tips on advertising and marketing your business, visit Postcard Portablestoday.

If you haven’t reviewed your business plan in a while, you might want to. A business plan isn’t really a ‘set and forget’ kind of tool–it pays to review and update your plan regularly. Many different factors can influence whether you need to update your business plan or not. Here are some reasons why you may want to update your business plan today.

You’ve gone through some major changes in your business

Has your business grown or shrunk in the past year? Maybe you’ve introduced new products or services, but you haven’t updated your business plan accordingly. If your business has seen any large changes (and most do see these types of changes often), you should update your company’s business plan.

It’s time to start a new financial period

If you didn’t do as well as you liked in the last quarter, or if you did far better than you expected to, take the time to review and update your business plan for the next quarter. Being prepared means knowing where you stand right now, then planning how you’ll get to the next level in the months to come. Do you need to change up your advertising to boost sales? Would cutting back on some marketing tools help you cut losses in certain markets in the next few months? There’s no time like the beginning of a new financial period to update your business plan.

You need to apply for a loan

Most banks want to see a current business plan before they’ll give you any money. They want to be sure that you know what you’re doing before they hand over their money. This is also a good time to make sure that, along with all the necessary tax returns and profit/loss statements you produce, you can add an updated business plan to your records.

Your competition heats up

If a new competitor hits the scene, or if a current competitor sees a sudden growth surge, you may want to review your own business plan to see if there’s anything you need to change in order to remain competitive.

For more great tips on advertising and marketing your business, visit the Postcard Portables blog.

Life doesn’t always go as planned. Some might say that life rarely goes as planned. Kyle Moffatt from the Regina franchise location can certainly relate. Although, Kyle would add that sometimes the outcomes of the opportunities that were not originally part of the plan, can end up being even better than once imagined.

Unique to Kyle’s story is the fact that Kyle actually never really set out to become a franchise owner. Kyle’s father, Wade, a VP at CTV Canada and in the advertising industry for 25 years, is to credit for the preliminary success of the Postcard Portables Regina location. When Wade discovered the opportunity to become a franchisee it seemed like a logical next step, especially since he was also looking to travel and create his office on the go. As Wade was busy building his franchise, Kyle was a student at the University of Regina studying microbiology, and also working in the Neuro-Physiology lab researching spinal cord injuries. During this time, Kyle also worked part-time for his Dad, supporting the growth of the Regina franchise as he could between classes.

When Wade became ill, Kyle stepped in to support the business as well as his family in a much more active role, and by June 2015 he had all but taken over the business completely. When Wade passed away later that year, Kyle knew that he had an opportunity to continue on with his father’s business that just could not be passed up. While Kyle held (and still holds) his love of Science, he recognized that Postcard Portables would afford a chance to support his family and also become very involved in his community. Kyle quickly understood that, through this business, he would be able to touch many lives. He also knew that few businesses have as much reach and ability to connect with the city and what is going on in and around it as his does.

Kyle’s favourite thing about being part of a franchise system is that there are support networks in place that help prevent failure. The franchisor team is just as interested in your success as you are and they work to help you achieve your business goals.

What is Kyle’s favourite thing about being part of the Postcard Portables team? He says “I truly feel that I am a part of a community amongst the other franchisees. Though the organization is growing across the country, the team still finds ways to have the ‘small team’ feeling where everyone works together.” Kyle also notes that, in his experience, everyone who joins the team is eager to be there, they have goals that extend beyond “simply owning a business” which helps provide a family-like dynamic where each member of the family is keen to make an impact.

If you’re considering joining a franchise, Kyle has this advice for you: “Owning a business may seem glamorous, and it can be, but it is also a lot of hard work. With a franchise, you get the best of both worlds – the freedom to run your own business, but also a set of systems and expectations to help keep you accountable.” The lesson to be learned from Kyle is that not everything can, or should be planned in life. For now, with just 3 credits remaining, the degree in microbiology is yet to come, but it will! (Or, so goes the plan.)

The Wade Moffatt Memorial Gala 2017 is on May 5 and is held to raise support, awareness, and funds for mental health services in Saskatchewan. For more details, please visit the Facebook event here, or click here to purchase your tickets.

It is such an honour to be recognized as a recipient of the Canadian Franchise Association’s Franchisee Choice Designation for the third year in a row!

Here is a press release highlighting the details as presented at the Annual CFA Convention this past weekend, originally posted on prlog.org:

POSTCARD PORTABLES RECOGNIZED WITH FRANCHISEES’ CHOICE DESIGNATION FOR THIRD CONSECUTIVE YEAR

Postcard Portables has been recognized for the third year in a row with the Franchisees’ Choice Designation by the Canadian Franchise Association.

Postcard Portables Canada
Awards
REGINA, Saskatchewan – April 5, 2017 – PRLog— Postcard Portables was recognized with the Franchisees’ Choice Designation at the Gala Awards Ceremony of the Canadian Franchise Association’s Annual Convention. The event, which was held at the Sheraton on the Falls in Niagara Falls, was part of the 50th year celebration of the Canadian Franchise Association.

The Franchisees’ Choice Designation is awarded to those franchises that have exceptional rankings when it comes to franchisee satisfaction. Those rankings are identified through scores achieved when franchisees voluntarily participate in the CFA Awards Program survey, which allows franchisees to assess their franchisors in areas such as business planning, leadership, marketing, training, operations, and relationship management. Recipients of this designation all receive scores that exceed the benchmark of franchise performance standards.

For Postcard Portables CEO and COO Jerred and Aubrey Huber, this designation is very meaningful because it shows them the level of support that they have from their franchisees and the level of cooperation that exists within their franchise overall.

They respond to the recognition by saying, “We are incredibly honoured to receive the Franchisees’ Choice designation from the Canadian Franchise Association for the third consecutive year. It is both a privilege and a pleasure to work with such capable and committed Postcard Portables franchise owners. It is undoubtedly their hard work that has been the cornerstone of success for this brand.”

About Postcard Portables

As Canada’s Original Mini-Billboard Company, Postcard Portables has been providing outdoor business signs to clients since 2002. The company has franchise locations nationwide and offers a wide variety of custom signage options for many different types of campaigns. Postcard Portables has a team that offers national and locall-owned companies the advertising expertise they need to effectively market themselves by utilizing their unique concept of outdoor full-color mini-billboards. They are committed to becoming the leader in every market they serve by offering exceptional advertising products and outstanding customer experiences. Find out more about Postcard Portables by visiting their website (http://webresellerscanada.com/postcardportables).

About the Canadian Franchise Association

The Canadian Franchise Association (CFA) is the recognized authority on franchising in Canada. With almost 600 corporate members nation-wide, representing many of Canada’s best-known brands, CFA is the indispensable resource for the franchise community and advocates on behalf of franchisors and franchisees in Canada to enhance and protect the franchise business model. CFA promotes excellence in franchising and educates Canadians about franchising, specific franchise opportunities and proper due diligence through its many events, programs, publications, and website (http://www.cfa.ca).

Contact
Jerred Huber, CEO Postcard Portables
******@postcardportables.com

This designation means so much to us and we feel so fortunate to have such an incredible team!

Behind every successful business lies a strong company culture. Happy, engaged employees create a strong, functional business. If you’re struggling to find ways to strengthen your own company culture, use these simple, effective tips.

Set goals and share them with your employees

Employees who feel they are working together to achieve a goal will be happier and more productive. Let your employees own the goal as much as you do–it will help fire them up to achieve success when things get tough.

Include employees in decision-making

As much as possible, include everyone in the decision-making process. Even if you can’t or won’t use their suggestions and ideas, letting every person contribute to the discussion makes for a more even playing field. When your employees feel like their ideas and opinions are valued, even when they aren’t used, your employees will have more job satisfaction.

Hire your employees for their attitudes as much as their abilities

A set of skills can always be learned, but a good attitude is impossible to teach and priceless when you’re building your business. Take a little extra time to get to know your potential employees so you can weed out the non-team players. Your business needs people who will be willing to go the extra mile when you need them to, and you can always teach them how to get there once they’re hired.

Never stop teaching and training

Employees who are constantly learning new skills are more likely to be satisfied with their jobs. Give your employees as much room to grow as you can–you may feel like you’re training them to replace you, and in a way, you are. At some point, the idea is for you to be able to be ‘hands-off’ with your business, so the more able bodies you create to take on your tasks, the better.

Have more fun, but know when to stop

If you look at companies like Google and Toms, you’ll see that their corporate culture is very ‘fun-oriented.’ Employees at these companies have perks like free massages and afternoon volleyball games, but they also get the job done. Your business culture doesn’t have to be so dramatically entertaining, but you should work to provide a good balance between fun and productivity. This will keep employees happy and raring to come into work every day.

For more great advertising tips and advice for growing your business,visit Postcard Portables today.

Our London Ontario franchisee, Dan Jenken, is a true entrepreneur at heart. Along with his title of the owner of Postcard Portables, London, Dan is a co-owner of the London Line-X truck accessories and coatings. Line-X started humbly on the family farm with his brother as his partner, the business moved to a new location in London in 2000 and has been growing rapidly ever since.

Through the “6 degrees of separation” theory, Dan acquired a business mentor, Dave Wasser, who was enlisted to help with the growth of Line-X, and also happens to be related to Postcard Portables Founder, Jerred Huber. Dave presented the franchise opportunity to Dan, who soon realized that the new venture would be a great fit. Dan had been considering taking on another franchise business, and liked the Postcard Portables franchise model right away.

Having an extensive background in the franchise system, Dan describes the best part of being a franchisee as “having constant access to technical support as well as the support from other franchisees in other regions. We are often on the phone with each other looking for some insight to a particular situation. We get to learn what others have done along the way, and what they would do differently having gone through it.” He adds, “A good network of franchisees is key!”

What does Dan love about being part of the Postcard Portables team? “A unique product, and a team of internal mentors who are all great people, and hard workers” he says. Dan ads that “the team members all have a lot in common, they are all driven to succeed and they get to do so together.”

Being a franchise has also afforded Dan the opportunity to involve those in his personal life to share in his success as well. As an example. his wife, who also works in the business, is able to spend more time with their children as the hours are quite flexible.

If you’ve been thinking about purchasing a franchise of your own, Dan has some advice for you: “Do your homework! Ask, lots and lots of questions. Then ask some more. Never assume anything, or pretend to know everything.” Dan also notes how rewarding entrepreneurship can be, and how many opportunities are available and says “you have to remember to enjoy the ride. Be prepared for the ups and downs.” And, maybe most importantly, Dan reminds us that “great employees make all the difference. I’d like to give a shout out to Tim who works hard and makes life that much easier.”

If you’d like to discuss your marketing initiatives with Dan or anyone on the Postcard Portables London team, call 519-521-9694 or email dan@postcardportables.com

Business cards can be great networking tools, but how many times have you lost someone’s card before you ever get the chance to call them? If keeping track of your stack of incoming business cards seems impossible, fear not. These three organizational tips will help you keep your business cards under control once and for all.

Hi-tech

For some people, business cards are just too old school to bother with. If you hate the idea of keeping up with actual business cards, you could just create a database on your computer and enter the information from each card individually (or have someone do it for you). Or, you could take advantage of the camera on your smartphone and photograph the business cards. There are several apps on most app stores that will do just this so you can keep the photo and toss the cards.

Reliable Rolodex

If you thought you’d never need your Rolodex again, you’re wrong. A Rolodex-style spinning organizer is perfect for storing and organizing business cards–just staple each card to a card in the Rolodex and write the name of the business or contact person on the tab at the top of the file card. This method works best if you don’t have tons of cards to organize, as the Rolodex can fill up quickly, especially if the business cards are printed on thick cardstock. Still, it’s easy, inexpensive, and puts that old Rolodex to great use.

Binder method

Binders are useful for so many different storage uses, but storing business cards has to be one the most practical of all. Purchase sleeves designed specifically to hold business cards, or, in a pinch, use the ones designed to hold collectible cards. Place them in a binder and organize every business card you have. Most sleeves hold eight or more business cards and you can see the front and back of each one at a glance. This method can be annoying if you like to keep all of your cards in alphabetical order, but it’s still an easy, practical method of organizing the cards.

Follow Postcard Portables for more great business and marketing tips and ideas.