Growing a Canadian Business: hiring, financing and structure

01

Growth is a set of decisions, not one big jump

In simple words

A small shop is like a small boat. To carry more people you need more hands, a bigger engine and maybe a bigger boat. But each upgrade costs money and brings new rules. Smart owners add one thing at a time and check the weather first.

Before this course: Running Your Canadian Business: GST/HST filing, payroll and records (course 2.1.2), which builds on Start a Small Business in Canada (course 2.1). You should already have a Business Number, a GST/HST routine, know how payroll deductions work, and keep the five record folders. If not, finish course 2.1.2 first.

Key facts

Growth decision	Question it answers	Lesson
Who does the work?	Employee or contractor?	2
What must I follow if I hire?	Pay, hours, safety, insurance	3 and 4
How do I pay for it?	Savings, loan, program, grant	5 and 6
What shape should the business have?	Stay sole proprietor or incorporate?	7

Growth adds fixed costs (wages, loan payments). Use the break-even idea from the pricing track (course 2.4.2): fixed costs divided by what one sale contributes.
Each decision has a cost you can calculate. If you cannot write the cost down, you are not ready to decide.
A professional (accountant, lawyer, lender) is cheapest before the decision, not after.

Step by step

Write the one growth goal you have in the next 12 months (for example "serve twice as many customers").
Under it, write what would have to be true: more hands? more equipment? more money?
Mark each item with one of the four decisions in the table.
For each, write one number you need to find out (a wage, a loan payment, a fee).
Write the sales you would need to cover the new costs.
Check: your goal has a number next to it and a list of at least three decisions.

LESSON 01Growth is a set of decisions, not one big jump

LESSON 01 / ANIMATED LESSON / AI VOICE00:00 / 01:00

Voice

Read the video script

[Host] "Growing a business is not one big leap. It is four decisions."
[Text on screen: Who? Rules? Money? Shape?] "Who does the work, what rules apply, how you pay for it, and what shape the business takes."
[Text on screen: Fixed costs go up] "Every upgrade adds a fixed cost, so know your numbers first."
[Host] "Today you write your goal. The next lessons help you decide."

Try it now

Complete the Step by step list for one real or practice growth goal. Keep it for your Growth Decision File.

ClaudeStuck? Copy a ready-made prompt for Claude

Copy this, open Claude, paste it, and Claude will walk you through the lesson step by step.

For a grown-up: Claude is for adults (18+). Copy this, paste it into Claude, and use the answer to explain the lesson to your child.

I'm learning "Growing a Canadian Business: hiring, financing and structure" on The Future Market. Lesson 1: "Growth is a set of decisions, not one big jump".

What the lesson teaches:
- Growth decision - Question it answers - Lesson
- Who does the work? - Employee or contractor? - 2
- What must I follow if I hire? - Pay, hours, safety, insurance - 3 and 4
- How do I pay for it? - Savings, loan, program, grant - 5 and 6
- What shape should the business have? - Stay sole proprietor or incorporate? - 7
- Growth adds fixed costs (wages, loan payments). Use the break-even idea from the pricing track (course 2.4.2): fixed costs divided by what one sale contributes.
- Each decision has a cost you can calculate. If you cannot write the cost down, you are not ready to decide.

The exercise I'm working on:
Complete the Step by step list for one real or practice growth goal. Keep it for your Growth Decision File. ---

I'm stuck. Please:
1. Explain the main idea in plain, simple words with one everyday example.
2. Walk me through the exercise one small step at a time. Ask me what I've done so far before giving the next step.
3. Don't just give me the final answer. Help me do it myself, and check my work when I share it.

I'm a parent helping my child (about 8 years old) with a lesson called "Growth is a set of decisions, not one big jump" from the course "Growing a Canadian Business: hiring, financing and structure".

Here's what the lesson says:
A small shop is like a small boat. To carry more people you need more hands, a bigger engine and maybe a bigger boat. But each upgrade costs money and brings new rules. Smart owners add one thing at a time and check the weather first.

The activity:
Complete the Step by step list for one real or practice growth goal. Keep it for your Growth Decision File. ---

Please explain this so an 8-year-old understands: short sentences, a fun everyday example, and no hard words.
Then give me 3 simple questions I can ask my child to check they understood, and a way to do the activity together, one tiny step at a time.

Open Claude

My notes

I learned this

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