Toronto has significantly more business activity than other places in Canada. The number of active startups in 2017 reached well over two thousand, almost 1,000 higher than in other Canadian cities. Playing host to some of the largest and most successful businesses in the world, office space is in very high demand. 

Canadians, especially those living in Toronto and Vancouver, enjoy most space per person and lowest rates of office space on the continent. Last year, rent for office space in Downtown Toronto was 30.75 Canadian dollars per square foot. And while the small business tax rate has gone down from 10 to 9 percent in 2019, this year’s new regulation on passive income means that if a business’s passive income exceeds $50,000, it will be taxed at a much higher rate, depending on the amount over the cut-off point.

Therefore, many small businesses might find themselves in real need of cutting costs. One way of doing this could be eliminating the need for office space by moving the business online.

How could moving online benefit your business?

Bringing your business online can not only cut the costs of renting a physical space, but it can also increase your business operations to 356 days a year, 24 hours a day, and grant you access to customers worldwide no matter where you are operating from. One good example of this is in retail. Significantly more sales are now taking place online, compared to only a few years ago. The most successful companies include Amazon, Alibaba or E-bay. Similarly, many land-based businesses are making the change into the online realm. For example, land-based Hardrock casino until recently operating only out of Atlantic City, launched online gambling last year.

With such a wide variety of online services springing up, competition is high. The twenty-first-century customer has access to an infinite number of possibilities and it is imperative to let your customers know that the service you offer is the best. One way to do this is to gather customer reviews and allow other sites to list the great things about your business online - this way customers will know what to expect from your business, and more importantly, why they should choose your service. Places like this include review websites such as Best online clothes shopping sites in Canada or best Canadian travel sites.

Another big advantage of moving online is that without a physical office, the number of staff goes down drastically, contributing to the overall reduction in expenses. As an example, 29 casinos in Mississippi employ more or less 23,000 staff, including blackjack dealers, slot technicians, and law enforcement officers. In 2013, the state, which ranks third in casino employment after Nevada and New Jersey, paid casino employees $830 million, thus bringing home the argument that the fewer people needed to run a business, the better and cheaper. This year, already we’ve seen three casinos worldwide closing, including Phoenix International club in Vietnam, Casino di Campione in Italy, and Monticello Casino and raceway in New York.

Closer to home, late last year we saw the Closure of Caesars Windsor Casino in Ontario. Similarly, major retailers in Canada filed for bankruptcy last year, including Sears, Nine West, and Jean Machine.

In this climate, the promise of countrywide high-speed internet access in Canada by 2030, might just be what businesses need to tap into new market niches. Small businesses, in particular, especially those in rural areas, might take this opportunity to open up to the e-commerce sector and access a greater pool of customers.