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The Business Researcher Newsletter |
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March 31, 2006 Volume 9 Number 3 |
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Hello, Welcome to the March issue of the BR Newsletter. Statistics Canada released their December 2005 business counts a couple of weeks ago so our Canadian Industry Profiles have been updated with the new data. For more information see: http://www.gdsourcing.com /SBDC.htm#CIP Statistics Canada undertook a "deathing project" prior to releasing the new data to "clean up" their database. While the process sounds menacing, the aim was only to eliminate inactive establishments. No civil servants were hurt in the process! The result was that there was a noticeable drop in the number of businesses identified in many industry sectors. This decline in counts is due primarily to methodology and not to any economic factors and affects mostly small non-complex businesses in the indeterminate and 1 to 4 employee-range. In our next newsletter we will examine the issue more closely and will provide guidance on year to year comparisons. In the meantime just remember this discrepancy exists before jumping to any conclusions about "lost" businesses. I hope you find this issue helpful.
John White
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What's New at www.gdsourcing.com - Students, Antibiotics, Asia Pacific |
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The following site summaries were added to the GDSourcing web site over the last month.
Canadian Federation of Students
Site Summary:
http://www.gdsourcing.com
/works/CFS.htm
National Information Program on Antibiotics
Site Summary:
http://www.gdsourcing.com
/works/NIPA.htm
Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada
Site Summary:
http://www.gdsourcing.com
/works/Asiapacific.htm
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The following statistics were released by Statistics Canada over the last month. 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: 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
Poultry and eggs 2005 http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/060302/d060302b.htm
Farm operating revenues and expenses 2004 http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/060314/d060314f.htm
ARTS & CULTURE
Profile of Selected Culture Industries in Ontario http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/060308/d060308a.htm
International trade in culture services 2003 http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/060328/d060328b.htm
BUSINESS SERVICES
Automotive equipment rental and leasing 2004 http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/060307/d060307c.htm
Specialized design services 2004 http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/060301/d060301d.htm
Language Industry Survey 2004 http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/060303/d060303a.htm
Accounting services price indexes http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/060309/d060309d.htm
Survey of Suppliers of Business Financing 2004 http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/060313/d060313b.htm
Annual Survey of Commercial and Industrial Machinery and Equipment Rental and Leasing 2004 http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/060314/d060314c.htm
Geomatics Industry Survey 2004 http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/060315/d060315e.htm
Employment services industry 2004 http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/060317/d060317c.htm
Survey on Financing of Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises 2004 http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/060323/d060323b.htm
Management, scientific and technical consulting services 2004 http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/060324/d060324d.htm
CONSTRUCTION & REAL ESTATE
Residential construction investment Fourth quarter of 2005 and annual 2005 http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/060301/d060301c.htm
Real estate rental and leasing and property management industries 2004 http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/060315/d060315d.htm
DEMOGRAPHICS
Immigrants who leave Canada 1980 to 2000
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Salaries and wages are not usually at the top of an entrepreneur's "to research" list. Yet it is an important consideration whether you are intending to hire employees or not.
First of all it is a useful "reality check". Aspiring entrepreneurs can often let their enthusiasm cloud their performance expectations. Typically the primary advantages of self-employment, especially in the first years of business, are not financial.
According to an RBC Financial survey nearly half (42%) of new entrepreneurs expect their income situation to improve in their first year of business while in reality only 34% of business owners actual experience this growth. In fact just as many business owners see a decrease in income. Most new entrepreneurs do not even anticipate this possibility. In most cases they are overly optimistic. One quarter of new entrepreneurs expect their new venture to provide 100% of their household income yet in reality less one in six business owners (16%) achieve this level.
Click here to view more information about this Stats Link Canada reference
The harsh reality is that overall the average self-employed income is consistently lower than the overall average full-time employee income. In 2001 the difference was nearly $1000 (Self-employed $42,639 vs. Employed $43,450). By 2004 it has grown to an estimated $5000 discrepancy (Self-employed: $38,000 vs. Employed $43,000).
Of course the immediate objection among entrepreneurs is that these figures are averages that do not apply to their specific venture. It is a good point so it is wise to use detailed results from the 2001 Census to establish an appropriate realistic benchmark. Through the Census you can compare employee income with self-employed income by occupation, by industry, by province and metropolitan area and by the presence of paid help.
For example self-employed Dieticians & nutritionists with employees working in Alberta made on average $65,068 in 2000 while their colleagues without employees made $18,321.
Unfortunately there is not a more current resource that provides the same level of detail for the self-employed. 2006 is a Census year but salary and wage results will not be available until the end of 2007 at the very earliest. Make no mistake however the underlying reality of the 2001 Census data - the discrepancy in income among employees, self-employed with employees and self-employed without employees - still exists. Use the data as a benchmark to ground your expectations and refine the cash flow portion of your business plan.
To look up your own occupation and industry see the following links:
2001 Census Income Data by Province http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/shared/redirectproduct.cfm?ips=97F0012XIE2001049
2001 Census Income Data by Metropolitan Area
Some may find this whole process a bit depressing. While it is helpful to know ahead of time, people are generally reluctant to know how much less they will make when they set out on their own. Don't let it get you down. Remember "independence" and "sense of accomplishment" are "priceless" attributes of being your own boss! Besides, if the prospect of lower than expected income significantly dampens your enthusiasm perhaps you need to reconsider your entrepreneurial goals.
Salary research is also an excellent tool for determining pricing especially if you are providing a consulting service or a service that is essentially an outsourced occupation (e.g. virtual assistant). By knowing the "going rate" for full-time employees in your occupation, you can ensure that your prices are in-line with industry realities. As an outsourced occupation your rates should match employee wages plus a premium since the employer will have no training expenses or employer costs related to your specialized services.
Salary research also helps you to ensure you are compensating your employees according to industry standards. 66% of small businesses indicate that they have trouble finding qualified staff so you want to make sure you are competitive with your employee wages.
The above Census data provides a valuable baseline but clearly average wages have changed since 2000 (the salary reference year for the 2001 Census).
There are a number of online resources that can assist you on accessing more current employee wage information. These include:
Also of interest will be negotiated wage settlements. These help to determine current wage increases by province and sector. You can review these in the publication:
Your "to research" list is likely already quite lengthy. Nevertheless add this one item. Do not guess at your own and your employee's wages. Find out ahead of time and eliminate one more uncertainty from your business venture.
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It is easy to become lazy while researching on the Internet. If you do not immediately see the detail you are looking you for there is the urge to abandon the current site in your rush to click on the next one from your search results list. It is important to remember that "humans" are a vital part of any online research strategy. Use the Internet as a filter as opposed to a bucket. It is not simply a tool to collect information but rather one that effectively separates useless resources from those with greater potential Once your "filter" identifies all the resources that are closely related to your research needs, follow up with any contacts that are listed. These "human resources" can often provide either further information beyond what is identified at their web site or provide guidance to other online and/or offline resources. In many cases there are no charges involved. This is especially true when researching on the Statistics Canada web site. The Daily is the simplest and most effective way to locate data at the Stats Can web site. Its releases are dense with highlight information and consequently with keywords that are in context. Each release also contains information on how you can access more details. These include related publications as well as CANSIM tables where you can purchase specific variables. There are also names, e-mail addresses and telephone numbers of "real live human beings." It is crucial to your research success that you follow up with these individuals to find out what additional information is available. In some cases further details will involved custom orders and research fees. But often you will be e-mailed free information or even full "data release packages". These hidden resources do not bear Stats Can publication numbers nor are they listed in the Statistics Canada online catalogue. The only way to access them is to ask. An example of a data release package is for the survey of Specialized Design Services 2004. The Daily release is located here: http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/060301/d060301d.htm If we were interested in Interior Design the release would tell us the following limited highlights:
If we follow up with the CANSIM table reference we could then purchase the following details for Interior Design firms by province covering the years 1998-2004 for $3.00 per time series:
If however we request the data release package from the contact listed we are provided with all of the CANSIM information free of charge as well as additional detailed tables:
By simply e-mailing the contact listed we were able to get a wide variety of additional data for free. In fact we even saved $150 - the CANSIM charge for the summary data for all provinces. Don't be shy. Ask for the data your need. You may be pleasantly surprised!
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Each Business Researcher Newsletter ends with a collection of five statistics related to Canadian small businesses.
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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, 2006 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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