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Are Small Businesses Being Ignored?

Did you know it’s Small Business Week in Canada?

This annual event has been supported by BDC (Business Development Bank of Canada) for 45 years.

When I was first running my own business 20 years ago this was a big event in the entrepreneur calendar.

Now it almost seems an afterthought at best.

What’s happened?

My guess is that 20 years ago we were very much more focused on ‘traditional networking’.  Going to events, speaking to people, joining like-minded groups.

Now small business owners can go weeks, months, and perhaps even years without ever having to physically meet anyone.

BDC has pivoted and offers a mix of in-person and online events, but I don’t see the local small business community embracing the idea of a week dedicated to celebrating and supporting small businesses.

But small businesses are not small when it comes to impacting the Canadian economy;

  • As of 2022, small businesses employed 5.7 million individuals in Canada or 46.8% of the total private labour force.
  • Over the 2016−2020 period, SME contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) was 50.3%, on average, in the goods-producing sector, compared with 47.0% in the services-producing sector.
  • In 2022, SMEs contributed 40.8% of the total value of exported goods.

Perhaps we shouldn’t be ignoring this.

Image courtesy of Alexas_Fotas on Pixabay

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