Looking up to small business

More and more Canadians are breaking the shackles of working for someone else and striking out on their own in small business enterprises. The latest Statistics Canada survey pegs the number of self-employed Canadians at 2.7 million, or 16 percent of the entire workforce. The impact on the overall economy is staggering.

• Businesses with fewer than 500 employees account for 54.2 percent of gross domestic product.
• Businesses with fewer than 50 employees represent 97.8 percent of all businesses in Canada.

That freedom, however, has its price. Small business owners and employees put in far longer hours on average and are more vulnerable to the whims of the economy. Economies of scale make it more difficult for small businesses to access services that would be a fraction of the cost for larger companies with larger budgets.

But there are services available to help small businesses grow relating to financing, tax and legal advice, and even retirement and succession planning. On today's portfolio builder Mike Mitchell, director of small business with RBC gives advice on how small business owners can meet those challenges and grow their businesses to compete on a global level

February is Your Money Month on BNN. Don’t miss an episode of BNN’s Portfolio Builder where our experts help you sort through your options for investing. The BNN Portfolio Builder brings you everything you need to know about RRSPs and TFSAs, as well as tips on sorting through mutual funds, ETFs, stocks and bonds.