“I didn’t want to lose my home for my family. “It was my limit,” admits Newspaper Entrepreneur Marie-Josianne Séguin, who reluctantly closed her swimsuit business last week after years of effort.
“It took off after In the Eye of the Dragon, but then orders dropped,” Marie-Josianne Séguin, founder and founder of Quebec swimwear company SegSea, which is made from ocean plastic, tells the Journal.
“The debt cycle has begun. I closed the store last week,” she says. The competition coupled with the slowdown in orders made his dream come true.
Like them, our entrepreneurs today are struggling, if we rely on Le Journal Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) research published today.
A surprising decline
A hundred thousand fewer entrepreneurs than 20 years ago, a third of companies close five years ago, large skills gaps… According to the BDC’s detailed analysis, entrepreneurship in the country is actually going badly.
“The magnitude of the decline surprises me,” admits BDC chief economist Pierre Cléroux in an interview with the Journal.
“There are fewer and fewer people who decide to become entrepreneurs,” continues the man, who is also vice president of research. Last year only 1.3 in 1,000 people started a business, compared to 3 in 1,000 in 2000.
Aging populations, strength of the labor market, complex business environment… Our entrepreneurs no longer know where to turn.
“This is worrying because start-ups are important in an economy. You are responsible for innovation. They are pushing more mature companies,” he analyzes.
“The results may be grim, but they will help us train a better generation,” said Marie-Claude Lemire, executive director of the Innovation Center at the University of Montreal and Millénium Québecor.
“Women, ethnic minorities and First Nations face greater challenges in obtaining funding. We need to better equip them to become entrepreneurs,” she continues.
In the BDC study, the rector of the University of Montreal (UdeM), Daniel Jutras, even goes so far as to speak of “significant skills gaps among young and experienced entrepreneurs”.
New program
In response to this harsh observation, UdeM launched Millénium Québecor, an entrepreneurship program to support the next generation of Quebecers.
“The idea of making money is not what motivates entrepreneurs,” notes Marie-Claude Lemire, CEO (see table).
And the most important thing to make up for this delay is to promote careers and provide students with choices, even though the business environment is often rocky.
“The pressure is great. The challenges came one after another (pandemic, shortages, inflation and lending rates),” concludes François Vincent, vice-president for Quebec at the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB).
Why become an entrepreneur?
- Independence and autonomy (52%)
- Pursuing a passion (42%)
- Flexibility (39%)
- High income (37%)
- Personal growth (36%)
Skills for business success
-Toughness and relationship skills
-Marketing and finance
-Leadership and human relationships
-Operational management
Source: BDC study – October 2023