Jun. 14, 2022 "Pandemic spurs entrepreneurial boom in Canada: Poll": Today I found this article by Brett Bundale on BNN Bloomberg. This article is about people starting small businesses:
A downturn seems like the worst time to start a business.
But just as the pandemic was upending the economy and forcing many small businesses to close, Carter Sullivan launched a startup.
Now the 24-year-old digital content creator and lifestyle influencer is on track to earn a six-figure salary.
"Everyone was trapped at home and I saw that my channel was growing and starting to become profitable," the Ottawa resident said in an interview.
"I figured it was a good time to see if I could grow a hobby into a business."
She's not alone.
New research indicates the pandemic spurred an entrepreneurial boom in Canada.
A survey by Intuit, a global tech firm that makes software like TurboTax and QuickBooks, shows nearly a quarter of small businesses in Canada were started in the last two years.
The poll, conducted by Angus Reid, also found that new entrepreneurs are almost twice as likely to have multiple businesses.
While half the small business owners surveyed said rising costs and inflation are a challenge, 90 per cent of new entrepreneurs said they still feel optimistic about the future.
"It's no secret there's been a lot of hardship and disruption since COVID,” said David Marquis, vice-president and country manager of Intuit Canada.
"But underneath that context, we're seeing business trends that are encouraging. Innovation and entrepreneurship in Canada is quite healthy."
The survey found generation Zs and millennials (roughly speaking, adults aged 40 and younger) make up more than half the entrepreneurs that started new businesses.
The flurry of entrepreneurial activity among younger Canadians during the pandemic reflects in part how technology is helping lower barriers to entry, Marquis said.
"Entrepreneurship is alive and well in that younger age cohort and a lot of their success may stem from the fact that they're more digitally savvy," he said.
"Technology democratizes the ability of smaller enterprises to compete because it levels the playing field."
Meanwhile, the survey also found 25 per cent of Canadian entrepreneurs polled consider their business to be a side hustle.
Sullivan, for example, started her business while working a full-time job in the health care field.
As her business grew though, she was able to reduce her hours in the corporate world. She now calls her part-time office job — not her startup — her "side hustle."
"I want to still have that steady source of income," Sullivan said of her day job, noting that brands she works with sometimes pay quickly and at other times take months to pay an invoice.
"I'm just someone who personally believes in multiple streams of income. I want to keep my foot in the door of the corporate world but also grow my own dreams."
The survey found that 63 per cent of new entrepreneurs earn more money as a small business owner than they did at their previous job.
"Money is a motivator," Marquis said. "But it's also a desire to be your own boss."
The Intuit research, included in a new report released Tuesday entitled The New Generation of Entrepreneurship in Canada, was based off two surveys.
The first was a two-question survey of 1,503 people across Canada, while the second was a 10-minute online survey among 645 Canadian small business owners.
Both surveys were conducted in English and French between April 26 and May 4.
The polling industry's professional body, the Canadian Research Insights Council, says online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they do not randomly sample the population.
Pandemic spurs entrepreneurial boom in Canada: Poll - BNN Bloomberg
Aug. 9, 2022 "Canadians seeking side hustles amid cooling jobs market: Nextdoor CEO": Today I found this article by Jon Erlichman on BNN Bloomberg. This is about Nextdoor:
Canadians are increasingly pitching their neighbors on side hustles to offset the high cost of living and an increasingly uncertain jobs market, according to the head of Nextdoor Holdings Inc.
“In tougher economic times, local can be incredibly helpful,” Sarah Friar, chief executive officer of Nextdoor, told BNN Bloomberg during a media call with journalists on Tuesday.
Nextdoor, a hyperlocal social networking platform that helps connect neighbourhoods, delivered a weaker-than-expected sales outlook in its latest quarter amid a pullback in advertising revenue.
However, its Canadian user base has grown at a steady clip since Nextdoor launched here in 2019.
“Canada continues to be our fastest growing international market,” Friar said. She noted the platform now reaches nearly one in every six Canadian households. Nextdoor estimated that number could be closer to one in four by year’s end.
The economy is undoubtedly a driver of some conversations taking place amongst users on the platform.
In June, Canadian inflation surged 8.1 per cent — the highest rate in nearly four decades.
Meanwhile, the economy has shed jobs for two straight months, suggesting the employment boom might have levelled off.
Friar highlighted various ways neighbors connect around money issues such as group conversations
on cost-friendly recipes,
where to find the cheapest gas,
and possible garage sale items.
“These are the moments when Nextdoor tends to rise,” Friar said. “If you need to find a side hustle, you often do that locally.”
“It can certainly be a place to find money in your closet, in your garage,” she added.
While Nextdoor itself is being more cost conscious due the economic slowdown, Friar remains focused on growing the brand as it did in 2020 during the COVID-related uncertainty.
“We see too much longer-term opportunity to start cutting back.”
Canadians seeking side hustles amid cooling jobs market: Nextdoor CEO - BNN Bloomberg
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