Skip to main content
Open this photo in gallery:

Jason Boyne, owner of three Goodbye Graffiti franchises, poses for a photograph in Surrey, B.C., on June 4, 2018.DARRYL DYCK/The Globe and Mail

Small businesses feeling pinched by rising gas prices

The rising cost of gasoline is forcing small-business owners to cut costs in order to cope with what experts say will be the new normal for fuel prices.

Gasoline costs have risen by about 15 per cent year-over-year for Jason Boyne’s Goodbye Graffiti business. Mr. Boyne owns three of the franchises, including two in the Vancouver area and one in the Ottawa region.

His company uses gasoline to fuel his eight heavy-duty Ford F350 and Dodge 3500 trucks and the power washing equipment he uses to remove graffiti. The burner used to heat the water uses diesel, which has also risen in price. Full story

I was a workplace bully, until it cost me my job

My aggressive style served me well as a consultant. Four years ago, a project I was working on went sideways. We had an ad campaign live but our website was not behaving as promised. As I was walking into the office, I received an urgent e-mail from the client. He was more than upset. Full story

Squeezed by Liberal labour reforms, Ontario employers hope for stability under PCs

Ontario’s planned hike to a $15 minimum wage will likely soon be quashed as Doug Ford and his Progressive Conservatives get ready to run the country’s most-populous province. Full story

Fintech VC fund Luge Capital opens with $75-million backing from Caisse, other Quebec institutions

A new Canadian venture-capital fund focused on financial technology, and seeded by several top finance institutions operating in Quebec, has opened for business with $75-million in backing and two tech-sector veterans as partners. Full story

‘It’s a ball of yarn’: Small business owner detained at border amid border and visa confusion

When you’re on your way to a yarn festival, you don’t expect to have your mugshot and fingerprints taken while being detained by surly border guards. Full story

500 Startups is back in Canada with Neha Khera in charge

It’s been almost a year since 500 Canada announced to its portfolio via email the decision to terminate the fund’s investment period. Full story

‘Pretty insane’: Vegan protesters target London eatery -- for being vegetarian

A London restaurant owner believes vegan activists have targeted her, trolling the business online, vandalizing cars parked at the establishment and leaving a letter criticizing the business with its landlord. Full story

Non-cannabis companies bet on future growth in a budding industry

They don’t grow cannabis, they certainly don’t sell it, and they never had anything to do with weed in the past, but a growing array of businesses that sell products and services totally unrelated to marijuana are now making bets on cannabis legalization in Canada. Full story

Who wants to do business in North Korea?

North Korea is one of the world’s most isolated countries. It is ruled by an unpredictable dictator with his finger on the nuclear button. So, who’s ready to do business there? Well, basically nobody. Full story

Follow related authors and topics

Authors and topics you follow will be added to your personal news feed in Following.

Interact with The Globe