CH.4 ~ Interrelationship of small business

~4.1 Meaning and interrelationship of “small business”~

• Self-employed Canadians account for 15% of the workforce
• everyday, 380 new business are started
• new firms create the most jobs

~Small Business~

• Innovation, science, and economic development Canada is main federal agency responsible for small businesses
• for reporting small business statistics, gov’t relies on two sources of info provided by statistics Canada → Business register (tracks businesses) → Labour force survey (tracks individuals)
  • to be included in register, business must have one paid employee and revenues of $30,000.00+ or be incorporated
  • goods-producing business in register is considered small if it has >100 employess
  • services-producing business is small if it has >50 employees
  • Labour force survey: uses info to make estimates of (un)employment levels
• Self-employed: if they are working owners of a business that's inc. or not inc. // work for themselves but do not have a business (musicians) // work at a family business w/o pay
• SMALL BUSINESS: business with >100 employees
  • have contributed to 30% of canada’s GDP over past decade
  • BC has highest rate of GDP from small businesses at 33%

~The new venture/firm~

• Three pieces of criteria that can help us know that a new firm has been birthed
  • If it has been incorporated
  • if it sells goods or services
  • when it was formed
• Business is new if:
  • started within the last 12 months
  • adopts any of the main organizational forms
  • proprietorship
  • partnership
  • corporation
  • cooperative
  • if it sells goods or services
• New Venture can now be defined as a recently formed commercial organization that sells goods/services

~Entrepreneurship~

• process of identifying an opportunity in the marketplace and accessing resources needed to capitalize on it
• people who recognize and seize opportunities

~Entrepreneurial Characteristics~

• resourcefulness and a concern for good long-term customer relations
• strong desire to “be their own boss'“
• behavioural (taking the initiative)
• personality traits (independence)
• skills (problem-solving)
• “What is really important is not who the person is but what the person does”

~Intrapreneurs~

• People who exhibit entrepreneurial characteristics and create something new within existing firm/organization are intrapreneurs
• DIFFERENCE BETWEEN INTRA & ENTRE
  • Intra: do not have to concern themselves with getting resources needed to bring new product to market b/c big companies have the resources available

~4.2 role of small/new businesses~

• small/new businesses play a key role in canada’s economy
  • however, they were not acknowledged until the last 3 decades

~Small businesses~

• 97.9% of business in C. are small and more than half have >5 employees
• medium-sized businesses make up 1.9% of employer businesses
• large businesses represent 0.2%
• In 2020, there were 12M employees in private sector

~New Ventures~

• main source of job creation
• responsible for most new products and services
• women play prominent role in starting new ventures
  • account for half of all new businesses formed
  • lead only 14.8% of the small/medium businesses that export goods/services
  • want to break out of the “glass ceiling” they face at big companies

~key terms~

• small business: owner-managed business with fewer than 100 employees, some statistics do not include unincorporated businesses with one owner and no employees
• new venture: recently formed organization opened within the last 12 months, that sells goods and services
• entrepreneurship: the process of identifying and capitalizing on a marketplace opportunity
• entrepreneur: a person who recognizes and seizes opportunities
• intrapreneurs: create something new within an existing large organization
• role of small business: 98% of all employer businesses in Canada are small (fewer than 100 employees), main source of job creation, and leaders in innovation and new technology
• the increasing role of female entrepreneurs: women now account for approx. half of all new businesses, the rise of mompreneurs

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