Time to start your own business?

One of my biggest goals after graduating from Sauder is to eventually start my own business. In the first class of Comm 101 I was introduced to Nolan Watson, a fellow Sauder alumnus and the CEO of Sandstorm Gold. Throughout Comm 101 classes, I was exposed constantly to many names of successful graduated Sauder entrepreneurs. The big question is, whether to start my business after graduating, working, or better yet, next year? Timing must be impeccable in today’s fast-paced, competitive business world. In the entrepreneurship class in Comm 101 the i-clicker survey showed most people finding themselves wanting to work for a big company after graduation. In a perfect world, it is nice to have to work for a company to gain some experience then to start my own business. Nolan Watson is an epitome of this scenario, working with Deloitte and Silver Wheaton before starting Sandstorm Gold. However, time and tides tarry for no one, and business opportunities doesn’t either. On October 27, Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) hit an all-time high of 15953.51 points. My classmate Jason Quan wrote his blog about in the south of the border, Utah transformed into a hub for young entrepreneurs to start-up their tech businesses. I wondered if such opportunities exist in Vancouver. Just last week, Hootsuite, a company based on Vancouver, founded a new charity firm for young entrepreneurs. The wind of change for youth entrepreneurship is blowing in Canada. In 2016, 15.4% of start-up firms in developing countries were owned by young adults aged 18-24. However, in the developed countries such as Canada, the number falls to about 7%. Canadian youth start-up programs now exist to close that gap. The biggest risk for starting a business from scratch is financial instability and an infeasible business model. Previously, lack of credit history and harder to secure a loan is a big problem for youths in developed countries. Nowadays, programs such as Futurpreneur and Youth Social Innovation provides loans to young entrepreneurs and even mentorship to secure the success of the business model. Looking at other sources of financing, many sources exist in BC such as crowdfunding and private offerings. The proliferation of e-commerce also offers other sources online such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo can also help young entrepreneurs excel their business without giving up shares. While the top companies do dominate the market with many advantages, the global hegemony of corporations is never set. In 2004-2007 Apple spent 9 times less than Nokia in R&D yet still won the smartphone battle. The status quo is a rare time of history where the risk is less than the reward for entrepreneurship, it is best to take a leap of faith and start now.