ATB BUSINESS BEAT€¦ · ATB BUSINESS BEAT: The pulse on business in Alberta Volume 7, October...
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ATB BUSINESS BEAT: The pulse on business in Alberta Volume 7, October 2014 For the most part, SMEs tend not to go it alone. > On average, only 17% answered that they do not seek help from outside their business. That means the vast majority do—and the sources they seek out are wide and varied. > When asked about the one source of business advice they cannot live without, 27% of SMEs named their accountant as their go to resource. Second at 12% was other business owners or business mentor. > 70% of SMEs say the advice they received from their accountant/ bookkeeper is somewhat or very helpful. MY ACCOUNTANT. THEY SORT OF STEER THE DIRECTION OF THE COMPANY, AND HELP ME FIGURE OUT THE FEDERAL AND PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT AND HOW THAT WHOLE STRUCTURE WORKS. – Owner/Operator, Manufacturing 27 years in business, 1-4 employees, $250,000 to less than $500,000 in revenues “ ” It takes a village to raise a business Running a business can be tough—especially if you try to go it alone—with the long hours, hard work and the need to take on many roles and multi-task. In this issue, we probe the topics of support, advice and networking. Who do business owners turn to for help? Which tasks do they seek expertise on, and from where? How often do they network and why? As well, finding and retaining employees in this province can be challenging. We dive in to understand how recent changes to the Temporary Foreign Workers program may impact Alberta small and mid-sized enterprise (SMEs) businesses. NO ENTREPRENEUR IS AN ISLAND 27 % NAMED THEIR ACCOUNTANT AS THE SOURCE OF BUSINESS ADVICE THEY COULDN'T LIVE WITHOUT 24% 24% 26% 32% 33% 36% 39% 58% 70% Government Online sources (Such as business blogs) Trade associations Financial advisor Family or friends Lawyer Bank or banker Accountant/Bookkeeper Other business owners or business mentor We asked SMEs “How helpful do you find the following sources to be when it comes to advice for your business?”
Transcript of ATB BUSINESS BEAT€¦ · ATB BUSINESS BEAT: The pulse on business in Alberta Volume 7, October...
ATB BUSINESS BEAT:The pulse on business in Alberta
Volume 7, October 2014
For the most part, SMEs tend not to go it alone. > On average, only 17% answered that they do not seek help from outside
their business. That means the vast majority do—and the sources they seek out are wide and varied.
> When asked about the one source of business advice they cannot live without, 27% of SMEs named their accountant as their go to resource. Second at 12% was other business owners or business mentor.
> 70% of SMEs say the advice they received from their accountant/bookkeeper is somewhat or very helpful.
MY ACCOUNTANT. THEY SORT OF STEER THE DIRECTION
OF THE COMPANY, AND HELP ME FIGURE OUT THE FEDERAL AND PROVINCIAL
GOVERNMENT AND HOW THAT WHOLE STRUCTURE WORKS.
– Owner/Operator, Manufacturing
27 years in business, 1-4 employees, $250,000 to less than $500,000 in revenues
“
”
It takes a village to raise a businessRunning a business can be tough—especially if you try to go it alone—with the long hours, hard work and the need to take on many roles and multi-task. In this issue, we probe the topics of support, advice and networking. Who do business owners turn to for help? Which tasks do they seek expertise on, and from where? How often do they network and why? As well, finding and retaining employees in this province can be challenging. We dive in to understand how recent changes to the Temporary Foreign Workers program may impact Alberta small and mid-sized enterprise (SMEs) businesses.
NO ENTREPRENEUR IS AN ISLAND
27%NAMED THEIR ACCOUNTANT
AS THE SOURCE OF BUSINESS ADVICE THEY
COULDN'T LIVE WITHOUT
24%
24%
26%
32%
33%
36%
39%
58%
70%
Government
Online sources(Such as business blogs)
Trade associations
Financial advisor
Family or friends
Lawyer
Bank or banker
Accountant/Bookkeeper
Other business owners or business mentor
We asked SMEs “How helpful do you find the following sources to be when it comes to advice for your business?”
THE BANK, BECAUSE WITHOUT THE BANK YOU CAN'T OPERATE. YOU KNOW ANY
BUSINESSES THAT OPERATE WITHOUT A BANK?
– Owner/Operator, Oil and Gas
18 years in business, 20 to 49 employees, $5 Million to less than $10 Million in revenues
TOP SOURCES FOR ADVICE
ROOM TO IMPROVE
When asked, “Who is the first person or group you would go to for advice on?”, here at ATB we're happy to see bank or bankers pop up when the subjects turned to money managing.
When asked, “How important is the advice your bank gives you about your business' finances?”, 40% answered they value the advice and 33% do not. That’s something ATB is working to improve.
> Younger entrepreneurs are more likely to look to their peers for help with creating strategic plans (33% of 18-34 year olds versus 15% of 35+).
> Businesses with borrowing needs (33%) are more likely to rely on other business owners for advice on managing supply chain versus those with no borrowing needs (22%).
> The energy industry (31%) looks for advice online when it comes to hiring employees far more than the construction (16%) or retail (7%) sectors.
> Entrepreneurs younger than 35 are less reliant (11%) than older entrepreneurs (19%) on their bank’s advice on managing their business’ finances.
> Only 10% of SMEs who never network rely on advice from other business owners about selling their products and services (vs. 30% of SMEs that do network).
“How important is the advice your bank gives you about your business’ finances?”
18% 22% 22% 13% 20%
Extremely Important Somewhat Important Neither Somewhat Unimportant Extremely Unimportant
20%
6%
9%
9% 18%
14%
18%
Don't know/ Prefer not to answer
Not applicable
HR/recruiting agency
Trade associations
Online sources
Other business owners or business mentor
“Who is the first person or group you would go to outside of your business for advice on hiring employees?”
7%
3%
19%
5%
5%
54%
“Who is the first person or group you would go to outside of your business for advice on managing your business’ finances?”
Accountant or bookkeeper
Other business owners or business mentor
Bank or banker
Financial advisor
Not applicable
Don’t know/Prefer not to answer
7%
10%
10%
14%
28%
“Who is the first person or group you would go to outside of your business for advice on selling your products or service?”
Other business owners or business mentor
Trade associations
Online sources
Not applicable
Don't know/Prefer not to answer
22%
5%
5%
13%
44%
“Who is the first person or group you would go to outside of your business for advice on managing your day-to-day cash flow?”
Accountant or bookkeeper
Other business ownersor business mentor
Bank or banker
Not applicable
Don't know/Prefer not to answer
Hiring Employees
Selling Products & Services Managing Cash Flow
Managing Business Finances
BUSINESS CONNECTIONS
TEMPORARY FOREIGN WORKERS
Networking helps SMEs connect with potential clients, suppliers and peers, and almost half (49%) find time for formal networking at least once a quarter. And with time being a precious commodity for SMEs, it is no surprise that online communities have become a key method to connect, with 46% of business owners using online services such as LinkedIn to stay in touch. Key reasons for networking are to connect with:
5%
Not applicable; I don't network
Telephone
Word of mouth
Formal business associations (such as the chamber of commerce)
Networking events speci�cally for your industry
Online communities (such as LinkedIn)
11%
11%
18%
21%
46%
Don't know
Never
Less than once a year
Yearly
Quarterly
Monthly
Weekly
1%
8%
22%
20%
31%
15%
3% 49% of SMEs attend formal
business networking
events at least quarterly
"On average, how often do you attend formal business networking events?"
"What methods do you use to connect and network?"
35%28%16%11%
EXISTING OR POTENTIALCUSTOMERS
OTHER BUSINESS OWNERS
EXISTING OR POTENTIAL SUPPLIERS
INDUSTRY INFLUENCERS
WHY NOT NETWORK? Of the 9% of SMEs who indicated that they never network or don't know, over 44% said they simply don’t need to, while another 19%
either don’t have time or find it a waste of time.
Given that hiring and retaining employees remains a top issue for Alberta SMEs, we wanted a greater understanding of the impact of the federal government’s changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) program. Of the Alberta SME business owners we asked, 74% are aware of the changes to the program. While one-third (33%) of SME owners surveyed believe the TWF program takes jobs away from Albertans, 72% feel it is necessary to combat the labour shortage.
Not all SMEs in Alberta are impacted by the changes to the TFW—18% say they either use (9%) or have used (9%) the program. Of those businesses, 36% say they were negatively impacted, while 52% were not impacted. As well, of those who have used the program, when asked if their business would be financially impacted if the program were to cease today, the results were evenly split, with 48% both agreeing and disagreeing.
49% of SME attend formal
business networking
events at least quarterly
36%
14%
23%
83%
12%
63%
79%
52%
44%
44%
70%
38%
57%
60%It is di�cult to hire Albertans
into unskilled positions
SMEs who used the TFW program
SMEs who did not usethe TFW program
% Agree
It is di�cult to hire Albertans into skilled positions
The TFW program takes jobsaway from Albertans
Alberta employers are abusing the program to hire cheap labour
The changes will be e�ectivein stopping abuse of the
TFW program
I agree with the recent federal government changes to the
TFW program
The TFW program is necessary to combat the labour shortage
in Alberta
OPTIMISM CONTINUESAlberta SMEs remain optimistic about their own success and the Alberta economy. In fact, 92% believe their business will be better off or the same six months from now. While this number is extremely positive, it is slightly down from last quarter.
The outlook on the overall Alberta economy rose by one percent to 88% of business owners who believe it will be the same or better than past years.
The ATB Business Beat Index allows us to compare responses over time. To determine the indexes, we remove any ‘don’t know’ answers and then take the percentage of better (somewhat/much) minus the worse (somewhat/much worse) and re-scale the number to range from zero to 100. This gives us a good indication of optimism over a time period.
About NRG Research GroupNRG Research Group (www.nrgresearchgroup.com) is a leading Canadian public affairs and market research company with offices in Calgary, Vancouver and Winnipeg.
Who did we talk to? These findings are from an ATB Business telephone survey conducted during August 11-22, 2014, with 300 randomly selected Alberta SMEs owners/operators.
Study exclusions: agriculture (farms or ranches), government, financial institutions and large businesses (500+ employees).
Business size definitions: small (0 to 49 full-time employees) and medium-sized (50 to 499 full-time employees).
About This ReportFor more information on this report or the next ATB Business Beat, please email [email protected] or visit atb.com/businessbeat to be put on the mail list.
About ATB FinancialATB Financial (atb.com) is the largest Alberta-based financial institution, with assets of $37.7 billion. ATB offers retail financial services, business and agricultural financial services, corporate financial services and investor services to more than 676,000 Albertans and Alberta-based businesses in 242 communities in our province.
ATB Business and Agriculture provides services to Alberta’s small and mid-sized businesses, farmers and other agriculture customers.
To find out how ATB Financial can help your business grow, please contact: Wellington Holbrook, Executive Vice-President, Business & Agriculture, ATB Financial at [email protected]
Over the last quarter1%+
Alberta Economy
88% will be better o�
or the same
Your Company
Over the last quarter
2%-
92% will be better o�
or the same
Over the last quarter1%+
Alberta Economy
88% will be better o�
or the same
Your Company
Over the last quarter
2%-
92% will be better o�
or the same
Alberta EconomyYour Company
40 Q1 2013 Q2 2013 Q3 2013 Q4 2013 Q1 2014 Q2 2014 Q3 2014
More optimistic about future performance
Less optimistic about future performance
70.2 69.8 69.8 70.4
68.6
72.3 75.1
73.1
55.4
59.8
66.2 66.8 68.8
70.9
40
45
50
55
60
65
70
75
80 ATB Business Index
ATB Economy Index
Data time periods: Q1 2013= Jan 2013, Q2 2013 = May 2013, Q3 2013 = Aug/Sept 2013, Q4 2013 = Dec 2013, Q1 2014= Mar 2014., Q2 2014 = June 2014, Q3 2014 = August, 2014
Index (0-100) ATB Business Beat Index ATB Business Beat Index
