SEVEN QUESTIONS

ANSWERS TO SEVEN QUESTIONS ENTREPRENEURS WILL LIKELY FACE BEFORE THEIR BUSINESSES CAN BE CONSIDERED A SUCCESS

Entrepreneurs face a number of hurdles in launching and growing their businesses, but here are seven of the most common ones they should be prepared for.

Hugely successful throughout his career, and now the owner of the NHL’s Ottawa Senators, Eugene Melnyk started his first business more than 30 years ago and he remembers it well. The son of a doctor, Melnyk saw all the medical journals that arrived at his father’s office, but that his dad had little time for. As a result, and after working in the pharmaceutical business, Melynk devised a publishing company called Trimel Corp. that created condensed versions of these journals. It was the start of his entrepreneurial education. He’d gone to school hoping to learn more about how to build your own business, but found that initial real-world experience was the key.

“Translating a concept to commercial success is the lifeblood of every entrepreneur,” Melnyk says. “The tipping point on when you are ready to take it to market is different for all entrepreneurs and is predicated on your tolerance for risk.”

Melnyk drew upon his experiences at Trimel when creating Biovail Corp., one of the great Canadian success stories of the

1990s, but the questions he faced are still important: How do you know when to move forward with an idea? How do you know when to swing for the fences? When do you turn to the pros for help?

These are questions facing everyone who starts a business in Canada. And they are important questions considering the country’s reliance on growing businesses to drive the economy. According to Statistics Canada, as of 2012 there were just over 1.1 million employer businesses in Canada, 98.2% of them were small businesses, with

1.6% considered mid-sized. That means there are lots of Canadian companies led by entrepreneurs seeking a way forward.

To get them on their way, here are seven questions they will likely have to have answers for, preferably before they arise.