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RBC Poll Gets Business Advice From Canadian Entrepreneurs

RBC [1]According to the 2011 RBC [1] Small Business Survey conducted by RBC and Ipsos Reid, Canadian entrepreneurs say the most important pieces of advice that they would give to other entrepreneurs to help them grow their businesses are:

1) develop an effective business plan – 44%
2) manage your time well – 43%
3) engage in networking – 38%

“With many competing priorities, it can be challenging for any small business owner to know where to focus their attention,” said Mike Michell, national director, Small Business, RBC [2]. “These survey results tell us loud and clear that planning, networking, and managing your time should be at the top of every entrepreneur’s agenda.”

Entrepreneurs suggest that other business owners who want to grow their businesses should also:

“This is great advice coming from small business owners considering the challenges that they expect to face over the next year,” said Michell. “The expertise of peers and professionals can help take your business to the next level.”

The study also found that the top three challenges business owners say that they will face over the next year are:

“Lessons can be learned from these challenges,” adds Michell. “Finding clients, as well as retaining them, is an ongoing challenge for business owners at every stage, and critical to the life and success of any business.”

RBC Business Success Tips

These are some of the findings of an RBC/Ipsos Reid survey conducted from July 29 to August 8. This online survey of 1,400 entrepreneurs, who were either self-employed or owned their own small business, was conducted via the Ipsos I-Say Online Panel, Ipsos Reid’s national online panel.

The results are based on a sample where quota sampling and weighting are employed to balance demographics and ensure that the sample’s composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to Census data. Quota samples with weighting from the Ipsos online panel provide results that are intended to approximate a probability sample. An unweighted, probability sample of this size, with 100 per cent response rate would have an estimated margin of error of ±3 per cent, 19 times out of 20.