Hi all,

I will be getting my immigration by early next year and coming to Toronto, in July first week.

I am working in Gulf and my age is 35 years. I am a Mechanical engineer working as a Sales and marketing manager. I have savings of CAD $ 250,000 and wish to start self business in canada.

Can some one provide their valuable experiences regarding startup of new business in Canada, franchising etc. I am a HVAC professional and have good knowledge in this field but can change field for growth. I am looking for an avaerage income of CAD $ 35000 per annum.

While it will take me some time to give a detailed sketch of various possible businesses that you might be able to do, I should comment that this is one of the best posts I have come across when someone is putting forward his question. You have described very well you present situation, both in terms of age and profession, and you have very clearly mentioned your objectives and financial capabilities and minimum expectations.

And that is why you deserve a well thought out reply.

I would request other members to put forward their enquiries in similar fashion. Such posts not only make it easy for person who wishes to guide, but also the person making an enquiry is assured of replies/suggestions more suitable to his situation.

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Chandresh

Advice is free – lessons I charge for!!

Hi MNR
Its good to know that you have savings and you want to have your own business in Canada but my experience says that do not rush to that. First you come here, understand the whole system, look for options, be a part of the society first, plan your's and your family's future and then think about any business. There are so many businesses in which you can make money without investing large capital otherwise the moment you will come here people would start telling you: Take a tim horton's franchise or take a coffeetime franchise, buy a grocery store, start a dollar store or buck or two, buy gas station etc..etc.....typical Desi businesses but you gotta be smart!

why dont you consider importing garments from india and bangladesh lot of big companies are sourcing products from india and south east asia .

i have contacts in india in garments and have recently moved to canada .

please e-mail me at if you are intrested.

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Sucess is not an accident it is a result of hardwork with intelligence.

I absolutely agree with UDHAM. You have to live in Canada first to get "the feel" for culture and lifestyles here. Most of all, I would recommend that it is not necessary to BUY franchise - on contrary it is very expensive and extremely risky, especially for one who is new in Canada. Country is full of shaisters who are just waiting to rip you off.

After you live here for a while, you can think of starting your own business and spend as little money on it as possible - definitely not paying somebody else for their ideas and set ups. Last Spring my daughter and son-in-law rented small empty shop ($650/month with two first months free for renovations) in small town, but in good area, renovated it all by themselves - except for electrician and plumber. As he is well employed they were able to take a loan for renovations. They bought appliances, small tables and chairs, built counters and whatever was necessary. Two months later they started their own bakery/coffee shop. My daughter is managing it and working there, son-in-law is still working in his full time job. They have number of employees from the beginning as shop is busy and open from 6:30 till 9 p.m. Now they are looking to rent the shop next door to extend their space. They are doing well and it will be even better when teir two children go school full day so they don't have to pay nanny.

So, from the above example what you need here first is decent full time job, house to live in and car. That you can do with help of your savings and your smarts. If you are looking for creating business for your own employment and not your spouse and extra income, invest in small house first for security and use just small part for creating your business. Quite often you need more smarts then money.

But, please, please be careful in trusting anybody who will try to help you buy into any franchise or joint business. The best way is to depend only on yourself and your spouse.

Good luck,

And I in turn agree with Magan. I would also stress the fact that if one of you(if you have a spouse) has a steady income...it can be an added advantage. The other can start small and ideally(not necessarily) grow his/her passion as a business. However, give it time...look around. Find out about your market first hand.

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I too like MNR was planning to start a business and was looking at the possibilities, while this was still in mind, I had a lot of doubts and this forum answered many of them. I really appreciate all of you who have posted replies. but I wonder why no one else has come up with any other postings in this regards since long. Anyways, So the bottom line is that we have to wait till we get the feel of it and then plan ahead.
Thanks once again.
God Bless all of you.