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The Business Researcher Newsletter |
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June 18, 2005 Volume 8 Number 4 |
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Hello, Welcome to the June issue of the BR Newsletter. Our efforts to update and upgrade our web site continue. We have now added a subject index to a newsletter archives to help people find relevant information from past issues: http://www.gdsourcing.com /newsletterIndex.htm We have also updated our Library of Links for Canadian Entrepreneurs: http://www.gdsourcing.com /gds6.htm Finally, thanks to the efforts of Statistics Canada (see article below) our Canadian Industry Profiles are now updated with 2003 financial ratios. For more information see our web site: http://www.gdsourcing.com /SBDC.htm#CIP I hope everyone has a happy and safe summer and that you find this issue helpful.
John White
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What's New at www.gdsourcing.com - Inspectors, Gambling & Adoption |
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The following site summaries were added to the GDSourcing web site over the last 6 weeks.
Canadian Association of Home & Property
Inspectors
Canadian Pari-Mutuel Agency
Adoption Council of Canada
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The following statistics were released by Statistics Canada over the last 6 weeks. We have listed those releases we feel are of the most interest to Canadian entrepreneurs. Very few of these statistics are available on-line. The URL listed is a direct link to the press release associated with the data. It provides contact and ordering information. If you want to purchase any publication related to these releases please see our web site: http://www.gdsourcing.com/works/StatCan.htm We offer a 20% discount on most Stats Can publications and a 10% discount on Stats Can electronic products. For more information you can reach us at contact@gdsourcing.com. Put "StatsCan" in the subject line of your e-mail.
AGRICULTURE
Greenhouse, sod and nursery industries 2004
Study: Organic fruit and vegetable production 2000 to 2003
Stocks of grain March 31, 2005
Net farm income 2004
Study: Urban-rural clash: Environmental management on farms 2001
Food consumption 2004
Poultry and eggs 2004
Farm Input Price Index 2004 (preliminary)
Fruit and vegetable production Spring 2005
ARTS & CULTURE
Arts, entertainment and recreation services 2003
International trade in culture goods 2004
Newspaper publishers 2003
Television broadcasting 2004
Periodical publishing 2003
BUSINESS SERVICES
Access to financing capital by Canadian innovative biotechnology firms
2001
Study: Research and development personnel 1993 to 2002
Foreign direct investment 2004
Study: Who's calling at dinner time? 1987 to 2004
COMMUNICATIONS
Telecommunications statistics 2004 and fourth quarter 2004
CONSTRUCTION AND REAL ESTATE
Electric utility construction price indexes 2003 (final)
and 2004 (preliminary)
Flows and stocks of fixed residential capital
2004 (revised)
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
Provincial and territorial economic accounts 2004
Study: Is inflation higher for seniors? 1992 to 2004
EDUCATION
Education Matters http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/050427/b050427a.htm
School libraries and teacher-librarians 2003/04
Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey 2003
National Graduates Survey: Manitoba graduates Class of 2000
Impact of compulsory school laws on educational attainment and earnings
1920 to 1990
Financial Information of Universities and Colleges Survey 2003/04
Salary and salary scales of full-time teaching staff at
Canadian universities 2004/05 (preliminary)
GOVERNMENT
Study: Federal Personal Income Tax: Slicing the Pie 1990 to 2002
Biotechnology spending by the federal government 2003/04
Public sector employment 2000 to 2004 (revised) and first
quarter 2005 (preliminary)
HEALTH
Early sexual intercourse, condom use and sexually transmitted diseases
1998/99 to 2000/01 and 2003
National Population Health Survey: Healthy aging 1994/95 to 2002/03
National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth: Cycle 5 — Custody
File 2002/03
INTERNET
Electronic commerce and technology 2004
JUSTICE
Children and youth as victims of violent crime 2003
Readmission to Saskatchewan correctional services among
Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal adults 1999/2000 to 2003/2004
MANUFACTURING
Study: Provincial year-end review of manufacturing shipments 2004
Annual Survey of Manufactures: Products shipped by Canadian
manufacturers 2002
Study: Plant closures and capital retirement 1960 to 1999
Consumption of purchased fuel and electricity by Canadian manufacturers
2003
Industrial concentration in the manufacturing sector 2003
Annual Survey of Manufactures 2003 (revised)
Bioproducts Development Survey 2003 (preliminary)
Study: Impact of foreign ownership on head office
employment in manufacturing 1973 to1999
MARKET - DEMOGRAPHICS & INCOME
Income of individuals 2003
Family income 2003
Family income 2003 (Metropolitan
Area Highlights)
Study: Demographic trends in Canada's communities 1981 to 2001
Study: Mature singles who don't expect to marry 2001
OTHER SERVICES
Annual Survey of Consumer Goods Rental 2003
SOCIAL STATISTICS
Study: Low-paid work and economically vulnerable families 1980 to 2004
Study: Income
inequality and working-age mortality
Study: Food insecurity in Canadian households 2000/01
TRADE
Quarterly Retail Commodity Survey Fourth quarter 2004
Study: Wholesalers a key link in the economy 1997 to 2004
Study: Gift cards 2002 to 2005
Foreign affiliate trade statistics 2003
Profile of Canadian importers: Textile and apparel commodities 2002
TRANSPORTATION
Aircraft movement statistics 2004
Study: Too many trucks on the road? 2000 to 2003
Characteristics of international travellers Fourth quarter and
annual 2004 (preliminary)
Domestic travel Fourth quarter 2004 and annual 2004
Rail in Canada 2003
WORKPLACE
Study: Diverging trends in unionization 1981 to 2004
Study: Labour markets, business activity and mobility in urban centres
1981 to 2003
Employer pension plans: Trusteed pension funds 1992 to 2002
Study: Work and commuting in urban centres 1996 to 2001
British Columbia Aboriginal Labour Force Survey
April 2004 to April 2005
Labour Force Survey: Western Canada's off-reserve
Aboriginal population April 2004 to March 2005
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One source of market and industry data often overlooked by researchers is other companies. If a company is publicly traded you can access not only their financial information but management commentary and analysis. This data "from the trenches" can often provide you with insights you would not find from other government and private research sources. Find out how companies located in your target industry are performing and what success strategies they have developed. For example in the 2005 Annual Report
for La Senza it was reported that: "The key to success in the lingerie
business is largely tied to the sale of bras. Satisfying customers bra
requirements as to styling, color and size is the driver that leads the
customer to also buy panties and giftware. Thus, bra sales are an
important element in building customer loyalty. La Senza's share of the
total Canadian bra market (all ages) was 14.9% compared to 9.7% of the
total market during the previous year. In our target age group
(15-29 years), La Senza achieved a 39.0% market share in Canada compared to
31.4% last year. In its quest to be the destination lingerie store in
Canada, La Senza featured bra launches and bra events in 2004 which
brought excitement and innovation to consumer bra shopping... Market share information was obtained from the Canadian Soft Goods Index
published by Trendex, dated February 2005." This kind
of information could take a great deal of time to compile on your own and in
the case of market share information could be quite expensive to purchase.
As we always recommend to new entrepreneurs, whenever possible, let someone
else do the research for you. Certainly, an Annual Report is not going
to give you all the information you need to assess how best to establish
your own business, but it will give you insights often unavailable
elsewhere. Another
example of the type of data available is from the Alarm Force 2005 Annual
Report:
"The residential alarm industry is continuing to
do well, and based on industry estimates, the compound annual growth rate
for total revenues in North America over the past five years is
approximately 8.4%..." It
is expected that industry fragmentation will continue in the North American
alarm industry, with the estimated market share of the top three companies
in terms of recurring monthly revenue having decreased from 45% to 41% since
2002. In the meantime, the estimated market share of the rest of the top
100 companies has remained virtually unchanged in that period. The net
internal growth estimated for the industry was between 3% and 6% per annum in
the eight year period including 2004..." Even better
than a corporate annual report is an Initial Public Offering (IPO). When a
company first goes public it must produce a prospectus which basically
explains why someone should invest in the company. It is similar to a business
plan in that it describes the company's business, it financial performance
and projections. Even more vital to the subject at hand is that it includes a
profile of the company's market and the opportunities available there.
Third party research is often quoted which provides a source you can
follow up on for further details. For example
the Dexit IPO prospectus discusses Canadian use of ATMs and the
resulting opportunity identified for their electronic payment facilitation
service that provides an alternative for low-value-payment transactions.
The source cited for electronic payment use in Canada is The Bank for
International Settlements. By searching on this organization's name in
Google we located their annual statistical report (http://www.bis.org/publ/cpss66.htm) which includes additional
more up-to-date information such as value of transactions as well as
international comparisons. When you are using annual reports and IPOs make
sure that you are not too specific in your search. If you are providing
mobile pet grooming services, look at the annual reports of
pet stores and pet food manufacturers. Both can provide you with market
insights whether they be actual
statistics or sources to follow up on for further details. You can
access documents from publicly traded Canadian companies at the SEDAR web
site: http://www.sedar.com.
This site is primarily organized alphabetically by company legal name. Unfortunately, if you do not already know of a company the site is not
particularly helpful. You can search by broad industry sector but most researchers will find the sector
headings too vague (e.g. "Merchandising -
Specialty Stores" or "Other"). Moreover the resulting company
legal names is not
always recognizable. For example on a first glance you may not
realize that "The Forzani Group" is a sporting goods retailer that operates the specialty stores
Sport Chek, Sport Mart, Coast Mountain Sports. A good way to
identify companies in your industry is to keyword search newswires.
The top two in Canada are: Canada Newswire:
http://www.newswire.ca/
and CCN Matthews: http://www.cdn-news.com.
Most publicly traded companies release their financial information through
one of these media outlets. Each release is accompanied by a brief description of
the business and the industry and market it is involved in. It is this part
of the news release that you are searching for a keyword match. For example
if we search on "sporting goods" in CCN Matthews we will locate the
following company description: You can
then follow up at the SEDAR site to access annual reports. Simply look under
the first letter of the company's legal name. (e.g. "F" for Forzani). Make sure you search both newswires as companies are usually only listed in
one of them.
While I am very adamant that entrepreneurs
researching the Canadian
market should use Canadian specific data, American annual reports can be
instructive. They tend to be more detailed than their Canadian
counterparts. Extreme caution should be used when consulting financial
information since labour conditions, supply channels and regulations between
Canada and the United States are quite distinct. Market
conditions and business insights however can be very helpful. For example data from a U.S. annual report
(Family Golf Centers) profiled the typical golf range user as male, 37.1 years
old, with 46% of all users having a household income between $40,000 and
$75,000. It further identified that those with an income over $75,000,
while representing a smaller share of the overall market (36%) tended to
visit a range 1.5 more times than those in the lower income grouping. In order to ensure this data is appropriate to
the Canadian market, you will need to compare profiles of golfers in
general between the two countries. If it is determined that there are many close
similarities, this golf range profile could be considered a reasonable
representation of the Canadian market as well. You can access American annual reports free of
charge at the US Securities and Exchange Commission web site:
http://www.sec.gov/edgar/searchedgar/webusers.htm Learn
from the experience of companies already active in your industry and market. Annual reports and IPO prospecti are easily accessible research resources.
Do not overlook them. |
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Statistics Canada has been very busy over the last few months. First of all they have redesigned the Canadian Statistics section of their web site so that it is more comprehensive, up-to-date and user friendly (http://www40.statcan.ca/l01/cst01/). You can now search by keyword or browse tables by subject, province/territory, metropolitan area or alphabetical list. The tables themselves are more usable. You can choose to increase or decrease the font size and/or highlight your search terms in the table. You can also send it to your printer by using the print icon. Selected tables even include a feature which allows you to rank all the data by an individual column. Another handy feature is a link found at the bottom of each table:
This link provides you with a list of free and fee resources so that you can identify where to access related information that is more detailed. Keep in mind however that the data included in the Canadian Statistics section of the web site is highlight in nature and by no means indicative of all the information available from Statistics Canada or indeed from the Statistics Canada web site for that matter. We still recommend that researchers start their search of the Stat Can site by using the Daily: http://www.statcan.ca/english/dai-quo/ You will not miss out on any available tables from the Canadian Statistics section since all Daily releases now include direct links to relevant tables. Another upgrade at the Stats Can web site is the availability of Rich Site Summary/Really Simple Syndication feeds. To help keep up-to-date on relevant Daily releases you can now monitor the Daily through these RSS feeds. Simply subscribe to the topic heading related to your business and you will be notified as soon as new data is released. For a list of available topics and/or to subscribe see: http://www.statcan.ca/english/dai-quo/rss.htm You will need a news reader program to view these feeds. You can find links to free downloads and more information about RSS from the Government of Canada Newsroom (www.news.gc.ca). Under Choose Your News click on News aggregators/News readers. Finally, Statistics Canada has redoubled their effort to release timely information. This year they have released their industry financial ratios three months earlier than the previous year's release. The 2003 data was available June 8th 2005. This is a dramatic leap forward over the 2002 data release date (September 23, 2004) as well as that of the 2001 data (October 31, 2003). GDSourcing is now able to provide updated financial information in all of our Canadian Industry Profiles. This is three months ahead of last year's update! See: http://www.gdsourcing.com /SBDC.htm#CIP There are still areas that need improvement but Statistics Canada is definitely heading in the right direction. Keep up the good work!
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Each Business Researcher Newsletter ends with a collection of five statistics related to Canadian small businesses.
1. What % of Canada Small & Medium-sized business owners are planning for their future succession? Source: CFIB (2005)
2. How long before Canadian SME Owners plan to exit their current business? Source: CFIB (2005)
3. What % of Canadian Small Business owners aged 55-64 plan to pass their business on to family members (usually their children)?
Source: CIBC (2005)
4. How many Canadian small business owners plan to retire in the next 5 years?
5. When do Canadian entrepreneurs plan to retire?
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G D S O U R C I N G - R E S E A
R C H & R E T R I E V A L |
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Copyright 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 GDSourcing - Research & Retrieval. All rights reserved. You may circulate this newsletter freely as long as GDSourcing is clearly credited as the source. We encourage people to subscribe directly. There is no charge for this newsletter. A subscription form is available at http://www.gdsourcing.com /newsletter.htm
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