The Local Entrepreneurial Economy

There has been significant growth in the number of Canadian start-ups over the last few years. Blame the economic downturn for sending a bunch of former workers to entrepreneur-land if you wish, but I believe it has never been easier for someone with a great idea to hang out their own shingle – and it has never been more straightforward to keep a small business sustainable.

Ten years ago, a company like Sociable would have required a physical office, an office manager, an in-house creative director, office supplies, and even a sign on the door. This would have carried a price tag of at least $100,000 per year – with no guarantee of customers.

Now, my entire business infrastructure is plug-and-play, and it travels with me, including all partners and client services. I conduct real-time meetings with partners and clients regardless of their location (or mine): my “physical location” is stitched together between online meeting rooms, partner spaces, and a variety of low-cost (usually free) web tools that make face-to-face meetings a pleasant luxury, rather than a day-to-day necessity.

Does this mean it’s easier to do business? Absolutely not: now more than ever, innovation and ideas have the opportunity to flourish on the open market – but you have to fight for them, and availability of distribution does not guarantee ease. It takes a lot of hard work. That hasn’t changed regardless of evolving business models. Independence comes with a heavy price in terms of effort and engagement, and while affordable technology makes it easier to work, you still have to do the actual work to earn any results.

The key element that an entrepreneur needs to cultivate is respect, and respect is granted to independent entrepreneurs now more than ever: no longer derided as a basement-dwelling wanna-be, an independent entrepreneur can command respect as a savvy, efficient and agile results-generator. The trick is that you need to provide evidence of results – not BS on a website, but real, measurable, repeatable results – and that means good ol’ fashioned effort, by bringing your ideas to life.

Finally, even the most locally-focused business or organization can benefit from global reach, which is now readily available. It’s not just that you need to engage a new global customer base these days – far from it. Rather, your local customers can reap the huge benefits that your global networks can provide: distribution and supply-chain logistics, lightweight technologies, production, muted trade barriers of language and culture, and even foreign market knowledge and shared best-practices will benefit even the most local of businesses.

Self-employment is not easier than it used to be, but it is more sustainable, and the tools exist to make your customers more satisfied - with less time required, and a much better cost for the services they require.