More Canadians To Open Businesses

Synergy Merchant Services proudly works with small and mid-sized business owners all over Canada. These entrepreneurs have been the lifeblood of the Canadian economy in the wake of the recent economic downturn. Media outlets everywhere have said so, it isn’t just our opinion.

Sadly, many business owners have expressed great concern about continuing to run their businesses following the recession for fear that they cannot afford to do so. Today, however, we are happy to report that it appears as if optimism is increasing among business owners in Canada.

The news comes courtesy of a QMI Agency report that reveals that the number of entrepreneurs in Canada is on the rise. A new poll has found that entrepreneurial intentions have practically doubled over the past year. This is especially true in Alberta and British Columbia.

The survey, conducted by the Business Development Bank of Canada and the Fondation de l’entrepreneurship, found that the three of four entrepreneurial activity indicators rose since last year. They include “entrepreneurial intention, venture efforts and business ownership”.

This, obviously, is great news for the Canadian economy which saw the closing down of numerous businesses over the past year or so. In fact, QMI notes that the “number of Canadians involved in shuttered operations jumped to 6.7% in 2010, compared to 5.4% in 2009.”

That number, however, is bound to go in the opposite direction as more Canadians are planning to open businesses over the next year. As previously mentioned, the west coast of Canada is especially feeling the entrepreneurial spirit. QMI reports that 6 per cent of those polled in the west want to start a business compared to 4.6 per cent for the entire country.

Said Jerome Nyca of the Business Development Bank of Canada: “Rather than giving up, Canadians are showing a greater propensity to see the business opportunities generated by the economic recovery. They want to take advantage of them by starting their own businesses.”

The main culprit to those holding back on starting up a business is a lack of savings or financial support. As always, financing is a key to both starting and running a business, not to mention growing one into a major financial success. We wish all of our nation’s new entrepreneurs great success in the coming year.