Helping small businesses is a winning economic development strategy

Studies have consistently shown that building businesses from the ground up and supporting the growth of existing small businesses produce

the majority of economic growth in our communities, rather than recruitment or attraction of businesses from outside through incentives.

According to the International Economic Development Council, entrepreneurs and small businesses stimulate job creation, develop crucial

innovations and promote the diversification of local economies.

Every community in Alberta should have economic development strategies and tools in place that encourages entrepreneurial

and small-business development.

Small businesses and entrepreneurs

need your help

Sources: Key Small Business Statistics, January 2019, Innovation, Science and Economic Development CanadaCanadian New Firms: Birth and Survival Rates over the Period 2002–2014, May 2018, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

poor business planning

insufficient market research

lack of customers

ran out of cash

bad management

competition

pricing and cost issues

poor product offering

inadequate marketing

Small businesses and entrepreneurs are vital to your local economy, but sometimes

they need a helping hand.

How you can help small businesses and entrepreneurs

If your municipality, county, chamber or organization is involved in economic development, you can help small businesses and entrepreneurs by making it easier for them to find

the information they need when starting, growing, struggling and so on.

The right kind of information can help a business ask better strategic questions, understand their market, avoid costly mistakes, create a more resilient and successful enterprise.

Providing this information on your website ensures businesses can get instant and consistent answers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Responding to common business questions online

also helps to reduce demands on your staff.

What type of information you should provide for businesses on your website, and how to do it quickly and affordably, are the topics of other articles by the Localintel team.

For more information about Localintel and how our catalog of online economic development tools are helping communities of all sizes across Canada support local business growth, go to:

www.localintel.co

STOP

Everyone loves headlines with big job numbers: “Google Adds 1,000 jobs”; “New Manufacturing Facility Creates 300 Jobs.” But, in reality, small business

is the main engine of economic development in Alberta, creating two out of every three new jobs in the province.

98%of all business

in Albertaare small

160,200 small businesses

in Alberta

1,087,100 people in Alberta

are employed by small business

67% of all private sector jobs

in Canada are generated by small business

(2013-2017) 19,100 additional jobs were created

by small businesses in Alberta (2013-2017)

74% of all new private sector jobs

in Alberta were generated by small business (2013-2017)

Written by:

Dave Parsell, Co-founder & CEOdave@localintel.co

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dave-parsell-10b2481b/https://www.linkedin.com/in/dave-parsell-10b2481b/https://www.linkedin.com/in/dave-parsell-10b2481b/https://www.linkedin.com/in/dave-parsell-10b2481b/https://www.linkedin.com/in/dave-parsell-10b2481b/https://www.linkedin.com/in/dave-parsell-10b2481b/https://www.linkedin.com/in/dave-parsell-10b2481b/https://www.linkedin.com/in/dave-parsell-10b2481b/https://www.linkedin.com/in/dave-parsell-10b2481b/https://www.linkedin.com/in/dave-parsell-10b2481b/https://www.linkedin.com/in/dave-parsell-10b2481b/https://www.linkedin.com/in/dave-parsell-10b2481b/https://www.linkedin.com/in/dave-parsell-10b2481b/https://www.linkedin.com/in/dave-parsell-10b2481b/

Ottawa