CanadianSME Small Business Magazine interviewed Faye Pang, the Country Manager for Canada at Xero, to delve into the details of the newly announced Xero Beautiful Business Fund. This initiative offers a significant financial boost to small businesses in several countries, including Canada. During the conversation, Faye explained the different categories of the fund such as Innovating for Sustainability and Trailblazing with Technology, as well as the criteria for judging and the process for Canadian businesses to apply. She also spoke about the regional and global prizes, and how this fund, announced on Xero Day 2023, reflects Xero’s commitment to celebrating small businesses. Lastly, Faye shared her long-term vision for the fund and how it will evolve to empower small businesses worldwide.
Faye Pang is the Canada Country Manager for Xero, the global small business platform dedicated to making business beautiful. Prior to joining Xero, Faye helped launch the Uber Eats app in Toronto in December 2015, scaling the business from 80 restaurants on launch day to 20,000 partners by the end of her tenure.
Xero recently announced the Xero Beautiful Business Fund, offering a significant injection of cash to small businesses in several countries, including Canada. Can you tell us more about this fund and how it presents an opportunity for Canadian small businesses?
On Xero Day (July 6), a day that marked the 17th anniversary of Xero’s founding, we announced the Xero Beautiful Business Fund, a program to support small businesses across the world, including here in Canada.
Globally, the total combined prize money for all countries is approximately $600,000 CAD, meaning the winning small businesses will be able to put a significant injection of cash toward accelerating the growth of their business, something we’re extremely passionate about.
Through the Xero Beautiful Business Fund, we’re excited to support Canadian small businesses as they continue to scale their growth and take the next step in their evolution, whether that’s expanding their team, introducing new services, or reaching a larger group of customers. At Xero, we know the tremendous value that small businesses play in our economy and understand how important it is that they receive support. Through the Xero Beautiful Business Fund, we want to equip Canadian small businesses with the financial means to access more tools and support to keep growing.
The Xero Beautiful Business Fund is open to all small businesses using Xero, as well as the business clients of Xero accounting and bookkeeping partners. How can small businesses in Canada participate in this fund, and what are the key dates and deadlines they should be aware of?
Open to all small businesses in Canada that use Xero, applications will open on August 23rd, and close on October 6th, 2023. Canadian winners, along with the other winners from each country, will be announced in November.
The application includes a written form and a short video submission. For small businesses who want to learn more and receive updates on the Xero Beautiful Business Fund, information, including key dates, application requirements, and more can be found on our website at xero.com/beautiful-business-fund.Full terms and conditions including eligibility will be available when entries open.
The fund is structured around different categories, such as Innovating for Sustainability, Trailblazing with Technology, Strengthening Community Connection, and Upskilling for the Future. Can you elaborate on the significance of these categories and how they reflect Xero’s values and goals?
These categories reflect the values that we at Xero celebrate in small businesses and are the same ones that we know can make a world of difference when it comes to engaging with customers and employees in a meaningful way. Sustainable innovation, tech adoption, an organic connection to the community, and forward-looking growth are areas that we know are essential to success.
The categories that we’ve chosen to evaluate businesses on were selected because they are areas we feel define the small business of the future. For example, we want to celebrate businesses who are innovating in their sustainability journey by finding greener ways to package products or reduce emissions because the net impact they have will be even more positive.
The Beautiful Business Fund is also for you if your small business is looking to supercharge operations by digitizing and embracing emerging technology.
We are equally excited to see how Canadian small businesses are striving towards fostering stronger connections to their local communities, through philanthropy and social good.
Finally, we’re eager to recognize small businesses who are upskilling for the future and are looking to deepen their access to training and development for themselves or their employees as they look to grow.
How will the judging process work for the Xero Beautiful Business Fund? Can you explain the selection of regional winners and the subsequent evaluation by a global judging panel?
For each of the four categories, there will be a Canadian winner identified by a judging panel of five Canadian judges. In addition, these Canadian winners from each category will then be evaluated by a global judging panel and the winner from each globally judged category will receive an additional prize!
It’s a fantastic opportunity for local small businesses to get well-deserved recognition from both local and global judging panels.
Apart from the regional prizes, there will be one global winner selected for each category. What additional benefits or opportunities will the global winners receive?
Recognized for their excellence, regional winners in the four categories will be evaluated by a global judging panel, with the winner from each category receiving a substantial additional global prize.
The announcement of the Xero Beautiful Business Fund coincided with Xero Day 2023, which marked the 17th anniversary of Xero’s founding. How does this fund reflect Xero’s commitment to celebrating and supporting the success of small businesses?
The anniversary of Xero Day marks when it all started for us. It’s our opportunity to connect with and celebrate our small business customers in Canada and around the world. We chose to launch the Beautiful Business Fund on Xero Day this year because our goal of allocating funds to support small businesses in their future aspirations is a reflection of what Xero is all about, and why it started.
Our Xero community thrives on the success of small businesses and we love having the opportunity to champion these small businesses as they look to achieve success and grow. We endeavour to provide them with the tools they need to get the most out of their business and are always looking to give them as much of a streamlined process as possible, so they can spend more time doing what they love.
Looking ahead, what are your long-term goals for the Xero Beautiful Business Fund, and how do you envision it evolving to further support and empower small businesses not just in Canada, but globally?
What’s really exciting about this Fund is that it’s open to businesses in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, the US, Singapore, and South Africa. We’re going to be able to spotlight various small businesses that are doing big things around the world. Our long-term goal is to continue building awareness about the impact these organizations are having in their communities and seek to further their reach. The louder we can make the voices of small businesses, the more we can show the world the importance of their contribution to society.
