About half of small business owners in Canada see government regulations as their most common day-to-day challenge, according to a survey commissioned by Sage Canada.
As Sage kicks off its summit in Toronto, it’s releasing survey results of small business owners that show they are generally not thrilled with their interactions with government. For example, Sage is highlighting that 72 per cent of business owners say they know little to nothing about government intiatives to help small business at the federal or provincial level. Only one-quarter of entrepreneurs found government initiatives were actively helpful to their business.
The accounting software firm worked with Maru/Matchbox to conduct an online survey of 505 small business owners across Canada. The margin of error is within 4.36 per cent, 19 times out of 20.
Despite the general malaise about government interactions, small business owners are an optimistic bunch in Canada. Not only are they optimistic about their own business (85 per cent), but they’re optimistic about small business in general across the country (74 per cent.) Indeed, despite their daily struggles with government, 85 per cent also say they’d still open a small business if they could “do it over again.”
“It is encouraging to hear that Canadian business builders are feeling much more optimistic than last year when we conducted our global survey,” Stephen Kelly, CEO of Sage Group, says in a press release. “We are working with governments and local business communities to make sure Canadian small businesses are heard at the highest levels.”
Small business owners that are looking to learn more about government programs should visit the Concierge Service, designed to aggregate all relevant government programs and services to help businesses and arrange one-on-one meetings with advisers knowledgeable of government programs in their sector.