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Entrepreneurialism North and South of the Border

By crooky | April 18, 2008

There is no doubt in the minds of most Canadians that the last 15-20 years has seen a radical shift in the cultures and economies of Canada and the US - a shift away from one another. To the north, Canada is seen by the US as a largely Socialist enclave (not really true) and the US is seen by Canada to be a Conservative, Right-Wing enclave (not entirely true either). One thing that is true is that the environment for the self-employed is completely different in both countries.

I met with my good friend Brendon Wilson (who has has been writing about his recent return to Vancouver from Silicon Valley over at Tech Vibes) the other day and we were waxing philosophical on the differences between working here and working in the Silicon Valley.

The conclusion that we came to is that the social safety net is so good here that you’d be crazy not to be an entrepreneur in Canada. There are literally dozens of granting programs and preferred loan programs that you can apply for here in Canada - especially if your business has a research component to it.

Besides the grants, there is the medicare program and there are HRSDC programs to help entrepreneurs get started. Overall - it’s very difficult to starve to death as an entrepreneur in Canada unless you work really hard at failing.

The US is a much more punitive environment for entrepreneurs. You’re really sticking your neck out down there when you leave the warm embrace of that job you hate. If your business fails and you loose everything - you could literally end up on the streets.

At the same time, people work harder in the Silicon Valley. It’s true. Unless you consider an 80 hour workweek normal, you are a slacker by Silicon Valley standards.

Sometimes the potential payouts are higher in the US. Sure, there’s more risk but if you build up a company, there’s a good chance that you will be able to exit from that company long-term with a substantial payout. That doesn’t happen very often up here. A lot of companies here are happy with moderate growth.

Admittedly, neither country is a perfect environment for entrepreneurs but I believe we have it lucky in Canada in that regard - you’d be hard pressed to find a more forgiving business environment.

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Aaron “Crooky” Cruikshank is the Principal and Founder of Friuch Consulting. He has written professionally about science and technology for ten years.

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Topics: Business of Consulting |

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