Canadian Small Business contributes to growth in Service Industry
The definition of small business is a company with less than 50 employees or $5 million in revenues. More than half (55 per cent) of all businesses in the province were run by self-employed individuals with no paid help.
As of December 2007, there were more than 2.3 million business establishments in Canada compared with 2.4 million establishments in December 2006.
In 2008, there are a total of 391,300 businesses operating in British Columbia. Of those, 98 per cent (384,300), were small businesses. British Columbia leads the country in the number of new business start-ups. This trend can be attributed to the growth of immigration which favors big cities. It is estimated that 20% of new immigrants are self-employed.
The current recession is sparking a new wave of small business startups in Canada as more and more Canadians who were laid-off from work are taking pro-active steps in reorganizing their affairs. These new businesses are usually run by one or two persons commonly known as “microbusiness” or “Mom and Pop” operations.
These microbusinesses and small business cannot afford the services of a full time employee. They usually turn to part-time consultants for help. As a result, there are many opportunities opened for Biz-to-Biz service operations such as Accounting, Web Design, Graphics Design, Sign making, Marketing, virtual assistants…
Biz-to-Biz Professional services fall under the North American Industry Classification System definition of the Professional, Scientific and Technical Services (NAICS 54) sector. The main components of this sector are legal services industries, accounting and related services industries, architectural, engineering and related services industries, surveying and mapping services industries, design services industries, management, scientific and technical consulting services industries, scientific research and development services industries, and advertising services industries.
GDP in the Professional, Scientific and Technical Services sector increased from from $41.8 billion in 1999 to $58.5 billion in 2008. The increase in GDP reported between 1999 and 2008 represented a compound annual rate of 3.4%. Between 2007 and 2008, the total value-added of the Professional, Scientific and Technical Services sector increased by 1.1%.
