According to an Ipsos-Reid/RBC Royal Bank survey conducted last year, some 3.2 million Canadians would like to start their own business and approximately 950,000 of them hope to do so within one year.

For many of Canada's estimated 2.8 million existing small-and-medium-size business owners, money is definitely a motive but it isn't the only reason for going it alone in business. In fact, many aspiring entrepreneurs say they want more control. Eighty-one per cent of Canadians who plan to start a business in the next five years say they want to be their own boss. This compares to 68 per cent who cite income as an important motive. Additionally, 22 per cent think they will be able to take more vacation time.

Small business employs six out of every 10 Canadians making it key to the country's future prosperity. It's extremely important for aspiring entrepreneurs to seek the advice of current business owners, professionals and financial institutions before getting started.
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After almost 140 years of continuous business in Hamilton, the owners had thoughts of moving the G.T. French Paper Company to a new location. Options included Burlington and Stoney Creek, still in the Golden Horseshoe yet representing a break in tradition.

In 1867 the J.R. McKichan Company was founded to sell paper and paper products to local shopkeepers and stall owners at the nearby Farmers' Market. The company was later bought by George French and throughout the years the company expanded its offerings to include a wider range of paper and packaging supplies. In 1990, the management team, who were also the company shareholders, moved the rapidly expanding business up to the Mountain to increase warehouse capacity for the 7,000 products the company carried and to take advantage of a proposed new highway. (for more)

The glossy brochure arrives filled with bright pictures, smiling faces, an artist's rendering of a gleaming new condominium in a magnificent setting, and throughout the brochure are words like luxurious, ultimate, ideal, and affordable. You are intrigued.

Later, when you stroll past the planned site, merely a cleared patch of land and a mobile trailer sales office, billboards offer more glamorous lifestyle images and the declaration 'Occupancy Soon'. You walk inside to learn more.

But wait! Are you ready to take the plunge into 'the biggest purchase decision of your life'? As a first-time homebuyer, itching to get out from under a rental lease, to finally start building some equity, is the condo lifestyle right for you? (for more)