Until recently, small business had tremendous opportunities for growth and success in communities across British Columbia. The Roundtable’s recommendations in previous years were made in the context of this positive business climate in the province.
The second half of 2008 brought a sudden economic shift, with sizable job losses, a sharp downturn in retail sales, fewer housing starts, and falling prices for the province’s key commodity exports. Last year, the value of B.C.’s exports of goods and services fell sharply.4 This decline is largely due to the lack of demand for lumber products and has had a severe effect on B.C. forest companies and workers.
The Roundtable has tailored its recommendations to align with the current economic climate. For business sectors experiencing the greatest impact, it is hoped that these recommendations will be useful in developing business strategies under the current economic conditions and assist with recovery. For businesses in sectors experiencing economic improvements, these recommendations are aimed at highlighting opportunities for growth.
The Roundtable makes recommendations and suggestions for possible actions in six key areas.
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1. Leverage government’s resources; communicate to government
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2. Human resources
- Where a business has gone from “not enough staff for business” to “not enough business for staff,” consider options such as job sharing instead of laying off employees.
- Focus on creative employee retention programs. For ideas, visit Work BC.
- Where regionally viable, look to the Aboriginal community for potential employees. There are many provincial and federal programs available.
- Work BC - Tools to Find Workers
- Aboriginal Job Centre (federal)
- Discover ways to market your business to the young workforce.
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3. Get involved
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4. Develop your leadership skills and knowledge
- Identify your strengths and areas of improvement and decide what training would be of greatest benefit to you. Take the HR Quiz.
- Invest in finding the right marketing solutions for your business.
- Take advantage of information and training programs through websites - such as Small Business BC, and WorkBC.
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5. Leverage new technologies
- Learn how to use new technologies to attract and retain customers.
- Take advantage of business process improvement training to increase your productivity. The Business Development Bank of Canada has a lot of ideas on how to get started.
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6. Take advantage of green initiatives
- Look to online services such as Live Smart BC to see how green initiatives can provide a competitive advantage and increase revenues for your business.
- Take advantage of programs that assess business operations to determine the most efficient uses of resources.
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