Do the titles of Founder, Entrepreneur, Self-Employed, Boss and CEO sound appealing to you? Have you considered starting your own business but not sure if it’s right for you? In Canada, according to StatsCan, about 7.5% of tax filers are primarily self-employed while the rate for immigrants in Canada more than 6 years is about 11%. For private incorporated businesses, the rate is 4.8% for born-Canadians and 5.3% for immigrant Canadians. Therefore you are certainly not alone in thinking being your own boss is a good option!
BrightGo Solutions typically works with immigrant entrepreneurs and the Chief Representative or Country Manager of ventures starting in Canada. Our team of specialists is also mostly self-employed individuals and entrepreneurs. So, we have a fair bit of experience working with entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs! In part 1 of this article, we share some ways to work that entrepreneur muscle and tips on making it work.
Have a novel solution that customers are willing to pay for to meet their needs? Maybe starting a new venture is right for you. Entrepreneurs have the initiative, energy, foresight and stomach to take on the risks and rewards of running their own venture. Intrapreneurs are similar in nature though are running a “business within a business” as they work for a company but are starting up a new business line, product or entering a new market. It is an excellent way to try out being an entrepreneur but with the resources and reduced risk of being part of a larger organization. Sometimes spin-offs and divestitures start this way.
There are other ways to be your own boss too. Today, many people are joining the Gig-Economy in roles like Airbnb host, Lyft Driver, and UpWork freelancer which they can do part-time and with minimal start up costs. Opening a Franchise comes with a proven business model and in many cases training and marketing support.
In Canada, many provinces have entrepreneurship and business ownership as special routes to citizenship. For example, in BC the Provincial Nominee Program’s Immigrant Entrepreneur stream, Manitoba’s Business Investor stream, and the federal Start-Up Visa program.
The Business Development Bank of Canada (Canada’s crown corporation bank focused on small-medium sized businesses and entrepreneurs) has a self-assessment quiz to help you decide if entrepreneurship is right for you. And government organizations like Futurpreneur, Entrepreneurship Manitoba and Small Business BC are excellent places to look for templates and tools.A quick way to test your idea could be through entering a hackathon - Manitoba based individuals could join one of North Forge’s Ramp Up Weekends or those in BC and elsewhere could look to Protohack’s one day events - or joining an incubator program such as SpringU. BrightGo’s founder has previously placed 1st in a Protohack and is a mentor with SpringU - feel free to contact her directly if those are of interest!
Ready to get started on your entrepreneurial journey? Have an idea you need to vet? Contact BrightGo Solutions today and see how we can partner for your success. Next month, we will share part 2 of this article which focuses on challenges and the first few steps on your entrepreneur journey.