Hi everybody,

I'm a new member and planning to land in June. I have already read about the people discussing the problems in getting jobs in canada. I thought that as an alternative, one can try to start a new business rather than going to the employers and begging for jobs. Now I know this is not an original thought and many people who are there must have considered this option at some point of time and must be knowing better about the advantages and disadvantages of having own business or being self employed in the current market scenario. So would really appreciate if those people can share their views and experiences.
I obviously refer to people like us who don't have lot of money but something like CAD20k for initail investment and small businesses could be like a retail outlet, a small restaurant/grocery, or a franchise business.

dear ,

friend...

I am very well experienced in small scale business development , according to the amount you have 20k its quite hard or may be impossible to start a small business here unless u have some savings left for ur future use like for eg. once u start lets say a retail outlet u will start paying rent for that place which is around 2000$ and above for a place around 500sq feet in a good location+ other expenses like light /water //telephone/tax/accountant fee/other fees. Again u will be having house expenses like ur house rent/tele/ basic expenses .
Again what i am trying to clarify is ur total sales may not be enough in the beginning to support u stand the competitive business here , and since ur business will be new it will be difficult to attaract customers , as people are used to going at the usual stores they visit daily.
So what i suggest is that if u have enough income to support u and family members behind that its ok , otherwise i still suggest that u go for the job stuffs first and get to know this country well and then if u are in a better position u can always start a business.
Again there are so many jobs avaliable , may be not in the field u want or educated in , but there are plenty of general jobs which are adv in the papers here , u can try with those ones at the beginning while u find ur definate stand.

I hope u will think about it again...
bye

You are on the right track. My advise will be to first land in Canada and get a sense of the environment.

If you already decided that you are going to do retail, restaurant, franchise busineses in near future (remember 99% dream, only 0.1% do something), I will suggest that you find job in that sector irrespective of what does it pay.

You will learn the ropes of the business. Once settled, start exploring the options of buying or establishing a business. Nothing beats on-the-job training. Give yourself two years worth of on-the-job training in your chosen field in Canada before jumping into business in that field.

BTW, by that time you will also have figured out how to get money from govt., financial institutions, friends and family, etc.

Quote:

---

Orginally posted by vishalk

Hi everybody,

I'm a new member and planning to land in June. I have already read about the people discussing the problems in getting jobs in canada. I thought that as an alternative, one can try to start a new business rather than going to the employers and begging for jobs. Now I know this is not an original thought and many people who are there must have considered this option at some point of time and must be knowing better about the advantages and disadvantages of having own business or being self employed in the current market scenario. So would really appreciate if those people can share their views and experiences.
I obviously refer to people like us who don't have lot of money but something like CAD20k for initail investment and small businesses could be like a retail outlet, a small restaurant/grocery, or a franchise business.

---

First land here and tryto understand the environment economically, socially, commercially. How the businesses are earned. The questions you should address are

Where to have business
What business
what size of busienss
What finance required
What about purchasing of merchandize
what about customers base
How you will market
What legal formalties to comply
What should be form of business
What benefits and schemes are available to you for business
What government and fiscal benefits are there for you
How you will survive with your family
What is Plan B if A does not succeed

Answers to these questions can not be found sitting in India. You have to physically be present in Canada unless you are havng sufficient money to start business right away on landing here

Hi guys,
I shall be moving to Canada soon. I would really appreciate if any one has experience of running or owning a restaurant or motel or a gas station, please do give me ur inputs as regards to the business model and inflow/outflows.
I am also considering these options and would appreciate if anyone can share their experiences.
Thanks

Kudos for Vishalk & Prats 1234 for your positive attitude in terms of starting your own business. This is only way out for you to succeed in Canada.

But....., remember there are umpteen others who have done the same and gone back to employment. Hence the best way for you is to land and test the waters as mentioned by all the other thread contributors. In regards to franchises it costs money. A Tim Horton franchise might burn a hole in your pocket upto a Million Dollars to start with at the onset. The other issue also here is the concept of customer service, customer satisfaction and handling returns. Unlike back home where once the goods leave your premises, you do not take it back. Here in most of the reputed chains, goods are taken back without questions with original packing and receipt with in a certain time.

Handling the bureacracy is also another issue. Here every establishment has its own set of rules, codes of business, safety, health and other related issues. You need to be very clear about those, adhere to those and go by the law for most part. You need to learn these and the only way you would do it is by working here in a similar establishment and that is only way of picking up valuable Canadian Business Experience.

There are plenty of brokers who handle transfer/sale of businesses and there are many advertisements in leading desi newspapers for the sale of the same. Please try to log onto the Canadian editions of the same and look under classified. If you drive down many of the major streets in Toronto and suburbs you would find many of the businesses closing down. It could be either due to bad location,not the right target audience or many other reasons. The best way is to come down here study the situation and then come up with a plan. The typical situation in some communities is to arrive on family based immigration. Pick up some Fork Lift certificate and work in a factory for the first year while sharing accomodation and saving money with others in the family. Next they start driving a truck as a second driver. They learn the ropes and then they buy their own truck. By this time his wife is also established and he has brought in his family members from back home for sharing his responsibility. This time as he has 3 to 4 trucks, he thinks about getting into aGas Station. He buys up a Gas station, establishes it and then moves for a motel or a Desi restaurant. He isa multi millionaire by now and half his village back home has moved and planted itself in Canada. He needs social recognition and he starts a Newspaper. This is a typical set of growth happening in Canada.

If you see the chain, your objective is slightly up in the value chain. You could contact Petro-Canada or Sunoco or Shell and explain your interest and they would send to you all the details up front.

The choices you have are Manufacturing or in Service industry. In regards to Service you could have your own business as food franchise, small restaurant, take out, Dollar Store, being your own independant Insurance Agent, Real Estate Agent, Mortgage broker or even be a Financial Consultant. There is not much manufacturing going in Canada. You have plenty of imports coming here. If you are coming into Manufacturing you need to consider the high cost of labor vis-a-vis India and more so with China. The other alternative for you is to get into Imports/Exports. Whenever you are going to attempt Imports from any country, always compare the prices for the same with CHINA. I dabble in imports of Chemicals and Plastics from around the world. Every time I try to get something from any other part of the world, I compare the price with China and 98% of the time you cannot match their prices. The only hope is for some small quantity, high valued pharmaceutical intermediates. Once again here extensive quality standards, paper work, FDA related certification and committment to date of delivery is required. With my experience with many major manufacturers in India I feel there is a large lacunae in terms of understanding the business methods in West by people back home. Just to give an example a few months we had imported a major plastic resin from a major manufacturer in India, with the clear purchase order that the bags have to be MT bags, with sturdy handles for transfer using cranes and fork lifts and bags have to be unmarked as we want to sell it under our brand. The Letter of Credit was established and when we opened the container to our amazement we found that the bags were 25 Kg bags with the source company Logo proudly smiling at us. Here we need to pay labor to unload the container with 25 Kgs bags and think of the time and cost involved in repacking those bags unlike transfer and repacking the bags with MT bags as we have automated set ups for the same. About a couple of years ago, when we imported a certain plastic resin from India which is used in packaging, we sold it very high quality converters here in North America. When they started processing it they found tonnes of metallic contamination and when we complained to Indian source it took them 15 days to react to the situation and come back to us with a response. By this time this high valued customer had lost interest and hit us with a damage claim for machine down time, loss in labor costs, loss in production blah blah blah and the claim started at 1.5 million US which was settled atlast at 7,50,000 US. How many Indian manufacturers would be able to bear this claim. Many times the sourcing process is not just buying a product but involves inspection by the sourcing team and also periodic checks on adherence to quality checks. How many companies would be interested in opening up their manufacturing set up to a foreign company as many times the process used is from a pirated or a stolen process which would come under IPR scrutiny.

Hence the best way is to land here and spend atleast one year understanding the business methods here and then plan your own. It might be that you would change your business plan itself and move from a restaurant to a boutique. You never know and hence give it a shot and learn from your mistakes.

Good Luck and God Bless !

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Speech by Thomas Friedman of The New York Times....

"When we were young kids growing up in America, we were told to eat our
vegetables at dinner and not leave them. Mothers said, 'think of the
starving children in India and finish the dinner.' And now I tell my
children: 'Finish your maths homework. Think of the children in India
who would make you starve, if you don't.'"

Sankaracharya,
Good analysis of Canadian business senario. You know a lot.
Have you tried using OPM (other peoples money) to further your investment/ business ? I am sure that you will do well.
Just an example : Get loan from 1%-2.9% credit card (special offers) and then save in ICICI bank (3.5%) or save in indian post office schemes (6% to 8%)
Just curious!
TK
Disclaimer : Other than Sankaracharya, please donot attempt to do what i said. It may not turn beneficial to you. I shall not be obligated to anyone except sankaracharya for my idea.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
I am a Gents and not a Ladies.