Now Is The Time To Start Your Small Business

At the beginning of 2009, most of Canada's small business owners found themselves in a bind. With the recession taking its grip on the global economy, merchants were suffering through decreasing sales and even fewer opportunities to receive loans from banks.

However, even with both 2009 and the recession not yet being over, it still appears as if now is the best time for starting up a small business. At least that is the case, according to Philip Demont in an article posted today on CBC News' website.

Says Don Bradley III, the executive director and professor of marketing at the Small Business Advancement National Center at the University of Central Arkansas, in Conway, Arkansas: “I think it's the greatest time we've ever had for small companies…A lot of these (business owners) are engaged in a bit of self-pity. They need to start looking around at what people want.”

Believing that the development of new communications services and technologies will allow start-up companies the ability to “carve our their niche”, Bradley insists that new businesses can take advantage of the economy's impending improvement.

Unlike bigger corporations, small businesses tend to sell to a small geographic area and are not generally required to export goods to other countries. As a result, notes Demont, disposable incomes and household net worth are more important factors than gross domestic product or GDP, which is usually the key signifier of economic success.

Demont goes on to reveal that both Canada's household incomes and personal disposable incomes increased in the first half of 2009. The increase is seen as especially significant in comparison to that of the United States. As well, the Canadian economy is expected to experience a growth in the latter half of this year, according to BMO.

“In addition, BMO believes that Canadians' real disposable income will grow 1.1 per cent in the third quarter and 1.0 per cent in the fourth quarter. Some of that economic improvement is already being reflected in how small businesses view the upcoming year,” writes Demont.

Good news is starting to filter through the bad with a bit more consistency as of late. With the economy beginning to strengthen, perhaps now is as good a time as any to begin your small business.