Wednesday, April 21, 2004

Small businesses often yearn for the same volume discounts that bigger companies enjoy. Ken Wells, President of Small Business Big Savings in Markham, believes he can help.

The company's new web portal, www.smallbusinessbigsavings.com , was developed to offer large-volume buying power via direct access to major Canadian suppliers.

"We've created a portal to access the products and services needed to operate a small business at substantial savings. Our members pay less for some items than companies five times their size," explains Wells.

The company negotiates contracts on behalf of members. In the process, Wells coordinates a network of vendors while skipping the middleman. Small Business Big Savings has partnered with suppliers such as Dye & Durham, Purolator, Accerta, VuBiz, and Compusmart to offer brand name products like IBM, HP, Lexmark, Canon, Microsoft, and Weyerhaeuser. Companies can buy everything from bulk copy paper and cartridges, to affordable health plans for small businesses, plus on-line software instruction for Excel, Word, Access, and more. They even offer reductions of 25% on a worldwide courier service.

For example, the company promises a 50% savings on most office supplies…and that includes free next day delivery to most Canadian centres.

"It's so cost effective", says Wells, "that our members see a return on their membership usually with their first purchase".

Membership is based on a monthly access fee.

Interested businesses can sign up for the service at

www.smallbusinessbigsavings.com