The IT Nerd

Intuit Canada’s newest study reveals many Canadian small business owners (SBOs) aren’t looking before they take the entrepreneurial leap. That basically means that they’re set up for failure from the start. The study cites these stats to back that up:

• Three in five (62 per cent) small business owners (SBOs) started their companies without a business plan
• Millennial-age entrepreneurs were the least likely to have a plan (69 per cent launched without one)
• SBOs hold an average of three full-time jobs (3.24) before launching their businesses
• One quarter (24 per cent) of millennial-age entrepreneurs never held a full-time job prior to starting out on their own (nearly three times more than entrepreneurs aged 35-54)
• The majority of Canadian entrepreneurs start up quickly, with 69 per cent launching their business within six months
• One third (33 per cent) of millennial entrepreneurs launched within one month vs. 27 per cent of those aged 35+

To further illustrate this, the study shows the positive impact of having a plan prior to kicking off a new venture:

• The SBOs who developed a business plan before launching demonstrate how essential this is to long-term growth: 52 per cent of SBOs with five or more employees developed a business plan before starting out
  • Compared to the 71 per cent of sole proprietorships that were started without a business plan
• About two thirds (64 per cent) of SBOs with companies that generated $250K or more in revenue last year check their financials at least weekly
• 29 per cent of SBOs with companies that generated more than $250K in revenue last year consulted an accountant before starting out
• 30 per cent of entrepreneurs with five or more employees consulted an accountant before starting out, compared to only 17 per cent of sole proprietors

Finally, the study highlights the impact of using technology like mobile apps to run a business:

• More than half (56 per cent) of Canada’s most successful SBOs use up to five mobile apps to run their businesses
• On average, one in five Canadian SBOs (19 per cent) is now 100 per cent reliant on a mobile device to run their business
  • 29 per cent of millennial-age entrepreneurs are 100 per cent reliant on a mobile device
• In particular, millennial SBOs rely on mobile technology to run their businesses:
  • 71 per cent run their business from a smartphone (vs. overall average of 55 per cent)
  • Four in five (79 per cent) use mobile apps to run their business (vs. overall average of 55 per cent)
  • Plan to spend an average of $2,233 on software solutions in the next five years

This last part reminds me of another Intuit study that said that over half of business were run from a smartphone.

The clear messages here are that you need to have a plan before you jump into your own business, and technology can help you to run your business. That’s good advice from Intuit.

This entry was posted on October 8, 2015 at 9:43 am and is filed under Commentary with tags Intuit. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.