Entrepreneurship on Ontario Initiative Network

Why did you become an Entrepreneur?

Tue, 30 Sep 2014 13:37:39 +0000

This is a guest post.

Why did you take the plunge?

I often get asked why I became an entrepreneur? Why did I start my own company? I could answer that I grew up in an entrepreneurial home, with a father who ran his own business for years. I could answer, that the *change agent * in me did not like working for large corporations and instead wanted to build my own business and make things happen. However, neither of these reflect reality. My answer, much to the surprise of most, is that I became an entrepreneur out of necessity.

The Geography of Funding Inequality

Sat, 30 Nov 2013 13:31:03 +0000

Around the country, incubators are popping up. Tech incubators, health incubators, manufacturing incubators. Venture capitalists continue to create to new opportunities to attract the next big tech company and angel investors sit poised, ready to be mentors and investors to new entrepreneurs.

Every start-up at some point in their existence, considers chasing venture capital. The funding may be a life-line to emerging companies, who have been boot-strapping to just get by. Location plays an irrefutable role in the ability of these firms to get funding. Location determines both the likelihood and the amount that start ups are likely to receive. Consider that start-ups in Vancouver typically receive 80% less funding than start-ups in silicon Valley?

The Value of Incubators

Fri, 30 Aug 2013 13:32:15 +0000

What is the value-add of incubators?

Over the last decade, incubators have been popping up all over the country. There are economic development incubators, venture capital incubators and industry specific. On the tech side, Accelerators are the newest label to be put onto incubators. Despite all of this growth, one question that seldom appears to emerge, is “What value does your incubator add”?

The concept of “value added” is one that rarely emerges in the ever changing world of technology. Value added is no longer “trending” in this world of “build it and they will come”, yet the concept of value add is one that all companies, regardless of industry, company age or experience need to maintain to ensure their long-term success.

Innovation and the Aging Population

Tue, 30 Jul 2013 13:34:29 +0000

There is a lot written these days about innovation, competitiveness and intellectual capital. I hear the banter of politicians, the monologues from leading Venture Capitalists and Investment firms, and I sit back and think about how they have it all wrong.

Our society is aging. David Foot in his ground-breaking work, “Boom, Bust and Echo” discusses the impact of the aging population on everything from Baseball to Housing Markets. As people age, we generally become more conservative. Be honest with yourself, do you find yourself thinking, “how can kids do that”, or even worse looking at your own kids and forgetting what it was like to be that age?

Entrepreneurship Challenges: Financing

Fri, 03 May 2013 19:00:25 +0000

For any business owner, the challenges are many – marketing, business growth, profitability and (amongst others) the ever-present challenge of financing. While financing can be a challenge to existing businesses, particularly those looking to expand, in this blog entry I’d like to examine how it impacts start-ups.

Prior to coming to OIN, I spent nearly 7 years in the financial services industry. While I focused heavily on insurance and investments, I did spend a significant amount of time with mortgages and leasing. I was in the industry during a very interesting time, the beginning of this economic shift or recession. All throughout I also managed to see how financing has changed and what it means for business owners.

Why SMEs Will Continue to Grow.

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 20:44:46 +0000

The current state of the economy has driven many to entrepreneurship. In the wake of massive lay-offs in the manufacturing sector, downsizing across all industries and renewed vows to create sustainability, SMEs are a powerful way to create diverse, real, and sustainable communities. Although entrepreneurship is not all rewards, here are 5 reasons why SMEs will continue to grow.

1. Generation Y

Brought up to value their own individuality, talents and skills, research has shown that as this generation matures they are more entrepreneurial than those before them. They value the flexibility of entrepreneurship and bring passion and tech skills that allow them to work anywhere at anytime. In addition, this generation has lived at home longer, and has been less likely to purchase major assets (from cars to homes) permitting them to bootstrap and live on less income than generations before. In pure numbers, they represent a major “wave” of demographics, and the impact of their generation is just beginning to be felt.

So, what is Digital Napkin?

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 19:29:45 +0000

Digital Napkin

Digital Napkin is a web site set up to encourage up-and-coming entrepreneurs in Sarnia Lambton to share their ideas, strategies and wisdom with others who might be thinking about going into business for themselves. The site offers a wealth of knowledge and pointers from people who have actually experienced the pitfalls of self-employment as well as motivational strategies to keep others on course.

Many find the resources on the site useful, including grant and funding programs and contact information about the municipal, provincial and Federal agencies plus other on-line sites that can assist entrepreneurs.

Business Library: Driven (Kobo)

Mon, 05 Nov 2012 01:58:37 +0000

Price Paid: $11.99

Bottom line

A great read for any immigrant entrepreneur, and especially anyone who is a fan of Dragon’s Den. Some great advice, and not what I expected. Herjavec has a nice guy image, and after reading this it’s clear to him that friends and business are two very separate things. Definitely some good advice tidbits in here!

Digital Napkin: Sarnia-Lambton’s Entrepreneur Community

Fri, 19 Oct 2012 19:25:13 +0000

From Digital Napkin

Entrepreneurship in Sarnia Lambton is booming. The area has thousands of entrepreneurial businesses. This is something that we in Sarnia Lambton often forget and something that those outside the area simply don’t know about. Entrepreneurs are everywhere in Sarnia Lambton. They are in agriculture and industry. They are in services and sales. They are young and old. They are creative. The diversity of the entrepreneur community reflects the diversity of the Sarnia Lambton economy.

OIN Pilot

Tue, 19 Jun 2012 18:05:40 +0000

Our inaugural conference was a great success, and I really would like to take the opportunity to thank everyone involved, and outline how important their participation was to our overall project.

Based on the feedback that we received during our conference, we generated 10 key recommendations that form the basis of our pilot. This is an exciting time for OIN, as we have moved from research to action!

We are now working actively with our key partners, especially those in Sarnia-Lambton. Through their innovative ihatetraffic.ca website, we will work to launch content targeted specifically towards immigrant entrepreneurs.

Reflections on our Inaugural Conference

Wed, 02 May 2012 19:26:33 +0000

On April 24th, 2012, OIN held its inaugural conference on immigrants and business succession. This innovative session brought together stakeholders from all over Southwestern Ontario and allowed them the opportunity to review our strategic recommendations, see how they could work in their communities and gave them the opportunity to commit to helping our project move ahead.

The conference flyer is still available.

Rodolfo Martinez Project Manager, Ontario Immigrant Network

OIN Whitepaper: Immigrants and Business Succession

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 16:35:06 +0000

this blog was written as an introduction to our most recent whitepaper, which is available here

It has been awhile since I’ve blogged, and I’d like to touch on the core of our work to date: entrepreneurship, immigrants and the importance of SMEs to our local economies.

For a little over a year, and with the support of the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities (MTCU), as well as our partners, we have been working to develop strategies to attract and retain immigrants to smaller communities. From our research, we found a very narrow focus: solving business succession issues in second-tier and rural areas by connecting disenchanted immigrants to entrepreneurship.

OIN Whitepaper: The Use of GIS in Immigration Studies

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 01:44:44 +0000

This is the first in a new series of whitepapers that Ontario Immigrant Network will be publishing about our research expertise and experiences. Please feel free to leave comments via Twitter: @rodolfo_oin!

Immigrant Entrepreneurship – A Boost for Our Communities

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 19:15:27 +0000

Last year, over 250,000 newcomers chose Canada as their new home. Often these newcomers flock to centres such as Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto. While these cities certainly offer diverse communities and a multitude of newcomer services, they may also be contributing to a substandard experience.

A recent study showed that Toronto was the most miserable city in Canada, and this was due in large part to the high proportion of immigrants. This is not to say that immigrants make others and themselves miserable, but rather that there is a mismatch between immigrant expectations and outcomes, particularly in larger centres. Each year, we actively seek the best and brightest from developing nations, and only a small percentage are able to find opportunities that match their skill sets.