In the past few years there has been a constant rhetoric of entrepreneurship in the Canadian media. As many larger businesses suffered a downturn in the recession and its aftermath, many people turned to smaller businesses to continue to economic drive. But this respect for entrepreneurship is not new within Canada, or North America. The entire “American Dream” is based on people being able to draw themselves up by their shoestrings and become successful through entrepreneurship. As our economy continues to develop and change to being a tertiary economy, entrepreneurship will continue to prosper to help facilitate that change. How does this compare to the other countries rapidly moving towards a tertiary economy? Where does Canada stand in entrepreneurship? How can we use this data to continue aiding entrepreneurship in Canada?
In the past few years there has been a constant rhetoric of entrepreneurship in the Canadian media. As many larger businesses suffered a downturn in the recession and its aftermath, many people turned to smaller businesses to continue to economic drive. But this respect for entrepreneurship is not new within Canada, or North America. The entire “American Dream” is based on people being able to draw themselves up by their shoestrings and become successful through entrepreneurship. As our economy continues to develop and change to being a tertiary economy, entrepreneurship will continue to prosper to help facilitate that change. How does this compare to the other countries rapidly moving towards a tertiary economy? Where does Canada stand in entrepreneurship? How can we use this data to continue aiding entrepreneurship in Canada?
The G7 countries, US, Canada, Germany, Italy, France, Japan and UK, share approximately 50% of Global GDP. These are the largest economies, and represent the largest global influencers. By studying different metrics of entrepreneurship in these countries (metrics such as business ownership rates over a range of time frames, judged abilities, attitudes and perceptions of entrepreneurship), a clearer picture of where Canada stands in terms of entrepreneurship will be uncovered. Besides the comparative rankings of Canada’s ability, these metrics are also an example of big data capabilities, and serve as an example of how big data can help make wiser decisions in the future.
Data used in this article is from Global Entrepreneurship Research Association (GERA) who have been conducting surveys for the last 15 years among about 200 countries to measure and monitor about 20 entrepreneurship metrics divided into three categories of “Activity”, “Aspirations” and “Attitudes and Perceptions”. The google data portal was used to access the information, and prepare the comparative graphs.
Established business Ownership Rate
The first metric studied is the rate of established business ownership rate. This rate measures the percentage of 18-64 population who are currently an owner-manager of an established business, i.e., owning and managing a running business that has paid salaries, wages, or any other payments to the owners for more than 42 months. The results are very interesting as not only does Canada stand way above any other countries in the G7, the growth rate for Canada in the past 10 years seems to be steady and consistent. This steady increase in established business ownership rate in Canada was not seen in any other countries. The USA has had rapid increases and rapid declines in entrepreneurship which fully align with the banking bust, and subsequent recession of 2008. Interestingly, the established business ownership rate stayed steady in the countries least affected by the recession. Germany, and the United Kingdom who both reasonable survived the recession have had mostly increasing rates of established business ownership. This compared to highly afflicted countries, such as Japan, Italy and the USA which all have huge fluctuations over the last 10 years. The established business ownership rate is a fantastic sign for Canada. It shows people are not only able to start their own businesses but are also able to have them be successful for many years. This is a huge plus not only to the overall GDP of the country, but these established business owners can provide a source of information and inspiration to new business owners.
In a series of posts we will look at other metrics in this study.