Small businesses are often lauded for being the backbone of the Canadian economy.
To mark the Oct. 20 start of small business week in the NWT, NNSL Media asked Northern entrepreneurs for tips on how to grow a successful enterprise.
Bill Kellett:
Have a mentor. Don't try and do it all yourself and wear it all yourself. Being a small business owner can be a very isolating experience because if you keep it all on your shoulders then the burden can be heavy because there are a lot of things that are quite stressful.
Money is a big one but also managing staff, HR issues, learning about paycheques, knowing where the next dollar is going to come from. There are things like the Chamber of Commerce where you can actually meet and find other entrepreneurs and learn from them so that you don't feel isolated and get the benefit of their experience.
Personally I'm a part of a small advertising business network and it organizes agencies across Canada. They put on an annual gathering conference once a year and while the content is really nice, inevitably it's the comradery and peer network who gets your problems more than anyone else.
Your network doesn't just have to be about building your business, it could be about running your business, owning your business and some small businesses have advisors or participate in advisory boards which are awesome.
Dave Connelly:
Consider very carefully what the economy will look like once the diamond sector has been removed and what discretionary spending and what sources of spending would be available to purchase your product. For the most part, the biggest purchasing sector after the diamond industry would be the government and the aging economy.
So is the service or product you're offering resilient to the shrinking of the economy that will happen with the closing of the diamond industry? Or can you think of a product or service that will flourish as the economy shrinks?
I would read or educate myself and find the projections from the Conference Board of Canada or the Canadian Home and Mortgage report or any of the other organizations that are projecting a 20-year decline. If my product or service is not one that would flourish in a shrinking economy or it would not be adaptable to climate change and I was young, I would consider finding a market which allows me to live where I enjoy the work and where I would thrive. I would think, 'what makes me happy and where in the world can I offer that product or service.'
consider finding a market which allows me to live and enjoy and I would thrive in.
The exception to that may be if my product or service is one that I can offer using the internet and social media and then therefore is much less impacted by the economy where I live.
Alex Lowe:
There's an ever-increasing opportunity to get into export markets, to get into international markets, and to export your products beyond Canada into bigger markets in Europe and Asia.
The boom in E-Commerce and the way people are shopping, (presents) a pretty interesting opportunity for small businesses to not just consider their local market or their domestic market but to consider if they have something that might be attractive in another country.
If you look at Canada, with a population of roughly 36 million people, it's fairly limiting.
It's not a lot of people and it's a lot of logistics to cover. It's a great market, it's a great place to do business, but if a company wants to potentially scale-up and get to a larger potential client base, a larger demand, then there's countries in the world that offer much bigger populations and potentially a bigger demand.
In the old days, it was start local, sell in Alberta or the NWT, and then sell it in the neighbouring province, and then sell it all over Canada and then sell it in the U.S. There was kind of a progression.
Now that's all changed. I think the opportunities don't have to go in any kind of order. I think a small business with the right sort of product can export to China or Japan or England or Germany of the Netherlands almost right away.
Jeff Chase:
My advice is look for supports that are available to help you, rely on your community and don't give up.
I think it depends on what city or community you're in. There's lots of programs from different levels of government to support entrepreneurs. Sometimes people don't even know those exist. So it's important to take the time to do some research to find what supports are available.
A lot of time there's so much going on that people don't always know and government isn't always the best at making sure it's accessible.
It's just taking the time to look at the grants and the programs. That's important.
Sometimes new small business owners will have a really great idea and they'll rush to implement that idea and sometimes, doing research ahead of time (helps.) For example, if you want to open up a restaurant, knowing what zoning and where it is and doing your market research really matters.
– with files from Nick Pearce and Brett McGarry