“From paying our bills to collecting money, Interac<\/em> e-Transfer has been a game changer for us.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since the pandemic arrived in Canada in early 2020, businesses across the country have shown their resilience by pivoting in response. Many have survived thanks to improvisation and creative adaptation \u2014 not to mention digital payment tools from Interac that have given them a lifeline during the transition<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For Saunders Farm, the transition to a COVID-friendly business model had to happen quickly. \u201cOvernight all of our weddings cancelled,\u201d Mark says, \u201cand all of our corporate picnics and company retreats and things like that also cancelled. We do many that are three and four thousand people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mark and his year-round staff of nine managers started thinking up some new income streams. \u201cWe\u2019re in a rural community and you can\u2019t get grocery delivery and a few other things like that. So, we started up an online grocery store,\u201d he says. It accepts money transfers via the Interac<\/em> e-Transfer platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another idea was physically distanced campfires on the grounds during the summer. Groups sat 30 metres apart. \u201cPeople could bring their own camp chairs and sit around the campfire and have hot dogs and s\u2019mores and some drinks. Everything is contactless and you sit there and enjoy a beautiful evening outside,\u201d Mark says. And if patrons wanted to keep sitting past their scheduled slots? They could simply pay via an Interac <\/em>e-Transfer <\/a>transaction for more fireside time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mark says the simplicity of the Interac<\/em> e-Transfer service helped with setting up experiments like these. Because it doesn\u2019t require any complicated steps to start accepting payments \u2014 all you need is an email address or phone number and a Canadian bank account, and you\u2019re set \u2014 the platform enables small businesses to accept money for new products and services instantly. \u201c[Interac <\/em>e-Transfer] has made it a lot easier to pivot,\u201d Mark says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And the money flows without delay. \u201cWe don\u2019t have to wait for money to come in,\u201d Mark says. \u201cIt literally gets put in your account right away.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the other side of the country, the mass cancellation of weddings in March also dealt a blow for Joyce Ng\u2019s Vancouver one-woman cake-making business, Cakes in a Box<\/a>, which specializes in unique-looking and great-tasting creations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPeople were cancelling their orders, and I understand that it\u2019s kind of a tough time,\u201d Joyce says. She estimates that 80 per cent of her business vanished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How did she respond? She kept baking, hoping that posting attractive cake photos on social media would win new customers. \u201cWith social media, consistency is king. I try to post every other day, but that means I need fresh content.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s working. Now Joyce finds herself baking a lot of smaller cakes for smaller gatherings. \u201cI didn\u2019t realize this, but people hate making four-inch cakes.\u201d She\u2019s found a niche as one of a few bakers in Vancouver who offer them. (How many people will a four-inch cake feed? \u201cUp to six, but if you\u2019re ambitious? Two.\u201d)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like Saunders Farm, Cakes in a Box has gone cashless for business payments. To offer contactless payment when she delivers the baked goods, she has customers send her a money transfer via an Interac<\/em> e-Transfer transaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPeople are just extra careful now with contact. Pretty much everything I accept now is through Interac <\/em>e-Transfer,\u201d Joyce says. \u201cThat\u2019s 100 per cent how I get my funds. So, I rely on it, to say the least.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The smaller-cakes strategy has succeeded, and orders are rolling in again. When they do, the money goes right into Joyce\u2019s bank account because she has enabled Interac<\/em> e-Transfer Autodeposit<\/a>. It\u2019s quicker, and it helps her deal with a \u201cproblem\u201d that all small-business owners would like to have: being busy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf I had to accept the payment and type in my security answer for the Interac<\/em> e-Transfer transaction, there\u2019s a potential for me to forget,\u201d Joyce says. \u201cThe fact that Interac offers the Autodeposit function is great for me because I have such a crazy schedule.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n For many businesses across Canada, responding to the demands of the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated a shift to digital transactions<\/a>. Owners and managers are finding they appreciate the ease and convenience: payroll without cheques, sales without cash, and bookkeeping without paper invoices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Montreal\u2019s Atelier Color\u00e9<\/a> creates statement fashion items and accessories using colourful textiles. The business also runs an event space \u2014 or at least it did. \u201cI opened and launched the new space on Feb. 29. The pandemic totally changed our plan for 2020 and forced us to close our doors for six whole months,\u201d says owner D\u00e9borah Cherenfant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With that side of the business on hold, D\u00e9borah started another: making masks. It was a natural transition for a business that\u2019s all about fabrics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s also been easy to use the Interac <\/em>e-Transfer product more often, and in more contexts \u2014 such as paying suppliers. \u201cI was doing this before the pandemic but it\u2019s more frequent now, especially with suppliers who want to avoid dealing with cash,\u201d D\u00e9borah says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt was necessary,\u201d D\u00e9borah says about her shift to paying staff via Interac <\/em>e-Transfer transactions. \u201cGoing to the bank to do simple transactions was becoming complicated.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tom Hawks, Centre Director and owner of two tutoring centres \u2014 Oxford Learning<\/a> franchises in Pickering and Ajax, Ontario \u2014 has also adopted the Interac <\/em>e-Transfer service for payroll.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first weeks after COVID-19 hit Canada were chaotic for Oxford Learning: Schools closed, families locked down and a curriculum built on face-to-face coaching had to be rebuilt for online teaching (and eventually small-group teaching in classrooms retrofitted for physical distancing).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Accounting and payment processing practices changed quickly as well. For payroll, Tom used to issue cheques himself \u2014 but that was before the pandemic, when his employees all did their tutoring face-to-face at the learning centres. Now that many teachers no longer physically come to the centre, Tom has used Interac <\/em>e-Transfer transactions to pay them instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before the pandemic, many parents paid for their children\u2019s tutoring with cash and cheques. Now, Hawks isn\u2019t accepting cash and isn\u2019t sure whether he will again after the pandemic is over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cInterac <\/em>e-Transfer has replaced handling cash, which is cleaner. There\u2019s a record. It doesn\u2019t interfere with the business flow. When a client came in and wanted to sit down and pay cash, we\u2019d have to sit down, we\u2019d have to count it, we\u2019d have to write a receipt,\u201d Hawks says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When paying with an Interac <\/em>e-Transfer transaction, the money transfer is instant and the \u201cpaper\u201d trail is all digital \u2014 clean and orderly, like a well-run classroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And as for cheques? \u201cNobody\u2019s offered in the last five months,\u201d Hawks says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n For some small businesses, the unexpected challenges of pandemic lockdowns, closures and physical distancing have prompted them to embrace new, delivery-driven business models. On opposite sides of the country, Les Jardins Lakou and One Arrow Meats have two things in common: Both are startup food-oriented small businesses that satisfy a particular craving, and both have shifted to direct-to-consumer delivery in recent months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And by accepting Interac <\/em>e-Transfer transactions for contactless payments, both have been able to stay connected to their most loyal customers in a way that was comfortable and easy to implement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Opened for business just last year and inspired by Haitian cultural traditions, Les Jardins Lakou<\/a> is an eco-friendly farm in Dunham, Quebec (about 90 kilometres outside of Montreal), that specializes in fruits and vegetables for Afro-Caribbean cuisine. \u201cOkra, sweet potato, chayote, callaloo \u2014 these are some examples of market products that clients of Jardins Lakou can find in their dishes,\u201d says owner Jean-Philippe V\u00e9zina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The pandemic meant loss of revenue because important clients, including restaurants and daycares, were forced to close. But Les Jardins Lakou also had a following in Montreal through its presence at farmers\u2019 markets. Staying connected to those clients meant the business would still have an income stream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe focused mainly on memberships for our vegetable delivery baskets,\u201d Jean-Philippe says, which are available for home delivery throughout the Montreal area.Les Jardins Lakou accepts Interac <\/em>e-Transfer contactless payment transactions in part because a lot of clients don\u2019t have credit cards. Jean-Philippe says he has also been paying suppliers, employees and making other digital payments via the Interac <\/em>e-Transfer service. \u201cIt\u2019s really advantageous in terms of fees for both the client and the entrepreneur.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Heat Laliberte\u2019s small business is also quite new (and delicious). Having formerly worked in some of Vancouver\u2019s most famous high-end kitchens, he took an Indigenous entrepreneur program in 2017 and traded his chef\u2019s whites for a butcher\u2019s apron. \u201cI came up with the idea to make bacon because I love making charcuterie so much,\u201d Heat says.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHow Interac provides support for small businesses as they adapt<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Small business idea: Go even smaller<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Interac<\/em> e-Transfer Autodeposit \u2014 for busy small business owners<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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