The Operator’s Guide is a reference site for Canadian small business owners and not-for-profit board members navigating finance, governance, and operational tools.
The site exists because finance and governance decisions move quickly, and you need credible information without a sales pitch. Four content areas cover the ground: small business finance, not-for-profit governance and finance, practical tech and AI tools for operators, and calculators that solve real problems.
Who writes it
I’m Jamie.
I spent 15 years in corporate finance, including senior roles in commercial real estate lending, asset-based lending, and technology banking. I worked on deals ranging from a few million dollars to more than a billion. That taught me how to read risk, how lenders think, and how quickly bad decisions compound when no one is asking hard questions.
I no longer work on Bay Street, but I still work at the intersection of money, governance, and accountability.
I am the Executive Director of Friends of Bon Echo, where I helped lead a multi-year turnaround from near-insolvency to a position where the organisation has contributed more than $1 million in value to Bon Echo Provincial Park. That work has included strategy, budgeting, grant funding, operations, capital planning, retail, staffing, and board reporting.
I also serve as Finance Chair and Treasurer at Lennox and Addington County General Hospital, where I sit at the board table dealing with budgets, audit, governance, risk, and the gap between theory and real institutional responsibility.
Outside that world, I co-own Black Kraken K9, a working-dog training and breeding business that has bred, trained, and sold police and protection dogs across North America
That unique mix of experience is what shapes this site.
Process first; not theory.
No motivational bullshit. Just decision-useful content.
How this site makes money
The site is funded through affiliate links and display advertising. All affiliate relationships and sponsored content are disclosed transparently. The goal is to avoid the trap of content shaped by product marketing.
You’re here because you have limited time and need to make a decision or understand a problem. The content is written to deliver that information directly.