New survey report presents snapshot of business owners’ experiences and outlook as they navigate towards revival
While many are passionate and excited about the future, Canadian entrepreneurs face a challenging and uncertain road out of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis.
In its Entrepreneurship Revival Report 2021, Ownr interviewed 806 Canadian entrepreneurs or soon-to-be entrepreneurs aged 19 years old to over 70 years old. Among the entrepreneurs surveyed, 54.6% held corporate jobs before launching their own business; 17.5% were former consultants or freelancers; 11.8% were formerly unemployed; and 7.2% were stay-at-home parents.
Despite the prohibitive conditions of the pandemic, two thirds (65.3%) of entrepreneurs in the survey said they registered their business or incorporated in the past year, including 48.3% who did so in the past six months.
Respondents’ reasons for getting into entrepreneurship were fairly evenly mixed across several categories, including gaining more purpose (37.6%), having greater control over career development (34.6%), wanting a flexible schedule (33.7%), looking for creative freedom (32.5%), and having an additional source of revenue (29.3%).
A little more than one third of entrepreneurs in the survey (36.9%) said they were excited about the future, with 16.9% saying they plan to hire new employees in the next six months. While 17% said finding the right people to hire can be a source of worry, around three times as many (51.3%) reported feeling confident about skilled workers within their industries.
In a testament to the digital acceleration spurred by the pandemic, 76.9% of polled entrepreneurs said their business has an online process, including 46.6% that operate both online and in person. When asked to share their plans for the future, 46.1% said they don’t plan to establish a physical retail location when the pandemic is over, while 31.6% said they would decide based on company’s growth later on.
Among would-be entrepreneurs, 34.4% said COVID-19 restrictions throw up roadblocks to their launching a business. That’s not to say that the pandemic was wholly detrimental; while 27.3% of entrepreneurs said they lost customers because of the crisis, nearly an equal number (26.7%) said they’ve gained new ones.
Among gainers, 27.6% have focused on investing in tech over the last six months; 23.8% in professional services; and 19.3% in advertising and marketing. On the other hand, respondents who lost customers plan to win back market share by expanding into new markets (43.1%) and hiring new employees to help them scale (19%).
Among entrepreneurs who lost customers, 92.1% shared a real concern that further lockdowns and economic uncertainty will present challenges. Inadequate funding also emerged as a difficult reality for 45.9% of all entrepreneurs.
Looking ahead, the survey found the biggest worry among all business owners was the notion that they’d run out of money (43.2%). Other sources of concern were the possibility of another COVID lockdown (26%); lack of skills and acumen among prospective and new hires (23.5%); and supply chain problems and inflation (20.8%).
