2010 RBC Small Business Survey

Results
Media Roundtable

Mike Michell
National Director, Small Business Client, RBC

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2010 RBC Small Business Survey

Key Highlights…..

™Business owners are doing well, despite the recession

™Planning is the key to success for business owners

™Business owners are optimistic about the next year

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2010 RBC Small Business Survey

The Economy: Impact of the Recession

™ 56% reported either no impact or a positive impact on their

business, broken down as follows
ƒ 48 per cent reported no impact on their business from the recession
ƒ 8% reported a positive impact on their business

™ Only 36% reported a negative impact on their business

™ However, most business owners (58%) do not think the recession

is over

What does this mean moving forward?…

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2010 RBC Small Business Survey

The Economy: The next six months and over the next year

™ The majority of business owners are optimistic about the success

of their company over the next year
ƒ 72% are optimistic
ƒ 23% are not sure

™ Most entrepreneurs believe the outlook for the Canadian economy

over the next year to be ‘good’ or ‘very good’
ƒ 43% good
ƒ 19% very good
ƒ 3% excellent Entrepreneurs are saying it is a
good time to be in business for
yourself

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2010 RBC Small Business Survey

Biggest Challenge Now Facing Owners…..

…. finding clients, developing their market and

keeping a steady workload

• The challenge of finding clients is more significant in

2010 (22%) vs. 2007 (18%)

• The challenge of keeping a steady workload has

increased in importance (13%) since 2005 (9%)

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 2010 RBC Small Business Survey

If you could start a business all over again what would

you do differently…..?
1. 73% would do more networking

2. 67% would more aggressively solicit clients

3. 66% would seek more help/advice

4. 59% would conduct more market research

/planning
It is worth noting that points 1 to
4 and point 6 all form part of a
5. 54% Develop a better business plan
business plan

6. 49% Get more financial help in advance

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2010 RBC Small Business Survey

Where do business owners seek advice……?

™ The percentage of business owners who would not seek advice

regarding challenges they might face has increased since 2005
ƒ 2005 – 32%
ƒ 2010 – 37%

™ 15% would most likely seek advice from other business owners

™ 12% would most likely seek advice from family/friends

™ 9% are most likely to seek advice from websites

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2010 RBC Small Business Survey

Advice to other small business owners…….

Top advice to other small businesses includes networking,

knowing competition, market research and developing a
business plan

™Network, develop alliances – 50%

™Know your competition – 47%
™Research the market – 46%
™Develop a business plan – 46%
™Seek advice from bankers/accountants/lawyers/other – 22%
™Take time for marketing – 41%

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2010 RBC Small Business Survey

™ Study Methodology

ƒ Survey conducted September 7 - 15, 2010

ƒ Entrepreneurs were either self-employed or owned their own small business
ƒ Aspiring Entrepreneurs were not surveyed in 2010
ƒ Survey sample was selected from the Ipsos Reid online research panel
ƒ 1,273 completed interviews
ƒ The entrepreneurs surveyed reside primarily in urban centres and are over
the age of 35
ƒ The entrepreneurs surveyed are primarily English-speaking and married, with
household income of at least $45,000 per year
ƒ Margin of error ±3.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20

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QUESTIONS
ANSWERS

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