Here are some web sites which provide information to help entrepreneurs or independent contractors.
Finding New Sales Prospects (Bellzine.ca - June 4, 2003) 
Prospecting is crucial to small business survival. In order to grow, your small business will need to expand its customer base. But even loyal customers eventually use other suppliers, so you'll have to acquire new business just to maintain the status quo. That means expanding your sales prospects.
Improve your Office Prosperty - Office Feng Shui
How to improve your cash flow, how to get more clients?
By Rebecca Eckler - National Post - July 15-18, 2002
Small Business Outlook (article from BusinessWeek - June 5, 2002)
This is the twenty-first consecutive year D&B has conducted a small business survey (article from N&B Small Business Solutions web site - March/April 2002). The study is designed to give a broad overview of the issues and problems facing small businesses today as well as a brief look at expectations for the coming year. The 2002 survey continued to reflect the modifications made to the 2001 study, with a focus on small business outlook, use of the Internet, financing issues a small business faces and a glimpse into small business work life.
2001's Survey Results.
Special to the Gazette - Stephanie Whittaker (March 2002 - Business Section)
Ask 100 self-employed people why they choose to work for themselves and you'll probably get 100 different reasons. Joy Perkin's reason was simple.
"I was totally fed up with the corporate bureaucracy in which I worked," says the Pointe Claire graphics designer who, in1991 created Genesis Fontiers, a desktop publishing business that metamorphosed into a web designing firm. " I had to go through so many channels to get things done and the company wanted me to put in long hours and to be on call on weekends and evenings."
As someone who works at home, Perkins cannot imagine returning to the corporate milieu. And she's not alone. Those who successfully defect from a structured workplace often discover they love the autonomy of their new work lives. While some opt to work alone in home-based consultancies, other choose to establish companies that employ others.
"There's been a new interest in entrepreneurship in the past decade," says Louise Ann Cote, director of entrepreneurship programs at Montreal's Youth Employment Services (YES). "People are looking at this option now like never before."
Next Month, YES will hold it's fifth annual day long Entrepreneurship Conference, which yearly attracts a sold out crowd of wannabe entrepreneurs and those who've founded businesses.
Career experts who counsel people in the creation of their businesses say there are certain characteristics that make people well-suited to entrepreneurship.
"Entrepreneurs are people who are willing to take calculated risks," says Cote. "You're not relying on anyone else for your revenue and you have to go our and find the work yourself."
Successful entrepreneurs also display the following traits, according to Cote:
- They're goal oriented.
- Persistent.
- Passionate.
- Autonomous" They love being their own boss."
- They know what they are good at and hire others to do what they're not good at.
- They project confidence and are able to persuade others of their competence.
- They have the stamina and energy to sustain the business start-up phase of a business by working long hours.
- They have the vision to identify opportunities.
- They have skills, products or knowledge others are willing to pay for.
- They adapt well to change.
- They're effective communicators.
- They learn from their failures.
An independent spirt is common among the self-employed, says Tom Abbott of Busy Bodies, a Montreal career and personal planning company. " A lot of self employed people don't like the politics of the average workplace or they feel stifled by the infrastructure in which they work," he said.
Abbot, who counsels individuals and conducts workshops on entrepreneurship, says the other traits that's typical of the self-employed is "they have a passion or purpose. The other quality they possess is persistence. No matter what happens, they keep going."
He says would-be entrepreneurs who do not possess all the typical traits can certainly work to acquire them. "I advise people to take a fade-in rather than a sink-or-swim approach to entrepreneurship. You keep your full time job while you're growing your business."
Money tends not to be a major motivation for most self-employed people, he said. "Money cannot be the only motivator because it quickly becomes apparent, " he said. " Passion and vision need to be the motivation from the beginning."
Cote says YES gives a questionnaire to would-be entrepreneurs that ask them to analyze whether they have the necessary traits for self-employment. "Entrepreneurship is not for everyone," she said. "Our role is to make people understand what it takes to be successful at it."
Diana Halfpenny has what it takes to run a successful home-based translation service. Self employed since 1988, Halfpenny says one of the key traits self-employed people need is discipline. "You have no one imposing on you so you have to be disciplined and focused," she said.
Joy Perkins agrees. " I am disciplined. I treat my work as a job. It would be easy for me to go out for lunch several days each month and not return to the office. I have to stay focused."
Another necessary trait, says Halfpenny, is "deep-seated confidence."
"You have to know what your skills are and when to say 'no' to a particular assignment because of another commitments. And you need to be confident about what you do because people sense quickly if you're hesitant."
Halfpenny says one her two main reasons for choosing self-employment is it permits her to juggle work with rearing of her two children. " The other reason is that I'm a non-conformists. I'm a successful team worker but I don't think I could fit into a corporate milieu", she said.
Perkins says she has learned when to say 'no' to assignments. "I had a terrible experience with a client who wanted to micromanage me. You need to learn when to walk away."
Daryl Dagenais of Boisbriand hadn't contemplated self-employment until she was laid off from a management position at a large courier company in 1995 while on maternity leave. " I had hired a nanny, expecting to return to work", she said. "Suddenly, found myself home with my new son and I wanted to be home but I also wanted to work."
So Dagenais founded a business teaching English to corporate clients and using her background in human resource management to set up a career counseling service for job seekers. Her Boisbriand company, Vertex, has grown rapidly and she now also works as a human-resource consultant to 15 companies.
"I think there are certain personalities that seek out the entrepreneurial experience," she said. "You have to have a strong stomach to handle the ups and downs. You don't get any feedback so you have to be your own motivator. That means that with the least little thing, you congratulate yourself. Any goal that's reached, no matter how modest, is reason for celebration."
Finally, says Dagenais and Perkins, having a network of supportive friends and colleagues can help cut the isolation of self-employment.
The Montreal Entrepreneur's Guidebook (ISBN 0-9681946-1-3)
This comprehensive and user-friendly book maps out in detail the steps involved in business startup. The Guidebook also features an extensive list of organizations and a description of services they offer to Montreal Entrepreneurs. The Guidebook is the textbook of choice at several Montreal Colleges, Universities and entrepreneurship training centers.
Price: $30
The Guidebook can be purchased at Youth Employment Services (YES)
630 Rene Levesque Blvd. West,
Promenade Level, Suite 185,
Montreal, Quebec
514.878.9788
frdesk@yestmtl.org
www.yesmontreal.org
West Island Entrepreneurship Center
- For business start-ups.
- Do you want to start-up a business?
- Do you want to become self-employed?
- They provide strategic and financial support, training, coaching .
CLD West Island (Montreal, Quebec, Canada)
207 Place Frontenac
Pointe Claire, Quebec, H9R 4Z7
514.426.2888
cld@cldwi.com
www.cldwi.com
Please note that this CLD is for the West Island area (excludes St. Laurent) of Montreal. The following is a link to the CLDs in the Quebec - Assosciation centre local de développement du Québec.
Financial Programs to help you start your business
- If you are 35 years older and younger - consider the Young Entrepreneur Program. (CLD).
- Grants from $3K to $10K to cover the starting up costs.
- Coaching to help you prepare and validate your business plan.
- Guidance in obtaining additional financing.
- Business Startup training.
- Personalized coaching and follow up.
- Additional Grants of up to $1K to pay for business related training.
- If you are on Employment Insurance, have been on EI or about to go on EI consider the Self employment Support program. Where you can collection EI and work to start your business up.(Emploi-Quebec)
There are many more programs out there these are just a few of them. If you know of others and want to include them here, please let the Webmaster know.
There are restrictions and rules for each of these programs, please contact the program sponsors for more information.