18 October 2010
Parksville # 8 in Canada for Entrepreneurs
Starting a new business? Go west
Entrepreneurs go to where the money is, Western Canada
By Eric Lam, Financial Post October 19, 2010
It is not easy starting a business at the best of times, but Benjamin Dalziel and Joseph Facciola picked just about the worst time possible when they left Ontario to open up a food-and-wine tour business in the ritzy resort town of Whistler in September 2008.
The concept, a guided three-hour walking tour that includes a four-course dinner spread across four restaurants, seems like a good one, but a risky tourism venture from two guys with little business experience at the apex of global economic armageddon? Seriously?
"Well, I was looking for work in Toronto right as the economy was starting to crumble, and nobody was hiring," Dalziel said. "Definitely, we were worried [about things like financing and people not vacationing] but we figured if we couldn't pull it off when we're young and motivated, we wouldn't be able to do it later in life."
The enthusiasm and optimism of Dalziel and other independent business owners for their prospects moving forward is a major reason why cities and regions in Western Canada continue to hold most of the top spots of the third annual FP/CFIB ranking of Canada's top 100 entrepreneurial cities.
Cities from Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia account for nine of the Top 10, with Grande Prairie, Alta., at No. 1. The only eastern city in the Top 10 is Saint-Georges, Que., which came in ninth. Parksville ranks eighth overall and Kelowna is fifth.
The highest-ranked region in Ontario is the Greater Toronto Area at a disappointing 20th.
"There are still some challenges in some of the major industrial areas (in Ontario and Quebec). Many small firms are doing quite well, but for those dependent on major supply chains in the industries that can be a problem," he said. "I'd put Quebec at the level next to the west," Mallett said.
David Simpson, a professor with the Richard Ivey School of Business and a local entrepreneur in London, Ont., for 20 years, said he was not surprised by the survey results. "Entrepreneurs 'go where the money is' so it should be no surprise that Western Canada shows great success rates for entrepreneurs," he said. "Capital sourcing is the most important way to encourage entrepreneurship. An entrepreneur friend of mine from Calgary always said that you can test your business plan quite quickly out West by finding out if money will follow the idea. If you can't raise $1 million in two weeks -- that project isn't going to fly."
By contrast, Simpson has always found both high taxes and government red tape to be particularly frustrating in London (ranked 77th), but chose to see it as a challenge.
"I viewed it as a competitive advantage because very few people would put up with how difficult it was to do business here," he said. "Not surprisingly, Ontario is disadvantaged today relative to Alberta and Saskatchewan."
Some of the hardest-hit cities in the recession, such as the auto-manufacturing centre Windsor, Ont. -- which ranked 82nd -- need a culture change if they want to attract entrepreneurs back to their shores.
"I think we've already hit rock bottom, so there are opportunities here," said a small business owner in the service sector who has lived and worked in Windsor all her life. "There are people who want it back, and the auto industry was wonderful for us, but we have to look at it as a thing of the past."
TOP CITIES
FP/CFIB ranking of Canada's top 100 entrepreneurial cities.
1. Grande Prairie, Alta.
2. Lloydminster, Alta./Sask.
3. Saskatoon
4. Prince Albert, Sask.
5. Kelowna
6. Edmonton
7. Red Deer, Alta.
8. Parksville
9. St. Georges, Que.
10. Wood Buffalo, Alta.
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