I’m a born entrepreneur and have been always doing my things my own way.
Most of my gigs are in the Asia, the great thing when you are in a developing country like : Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia there are tremendous business opportunities out there and you just have to tag along and go with the flow. The people i mentioned in those countries are homogeneous and usually it is easy to operate your business idea since the people there grew up with the same things and culture so it is very easy unlike if you are in a country where there is too much diversity.
It is very easy to impart your idea
in a homogeneous country and society. In Asia the economy is controlled by private companies and massive chain of small businesses. It is the heart of the country where there are a multitude of small businesses and there are a lot of population which supports the small business owners.
I grew up in a country where the small business
commercial license is just pennies to apply and you just have to have a good accounting to straighten your records to the Philippine tax agency, for the rent on the commercial property the tax being paid to the city government is very minimal and it keeps everyone happy even to the smallest grocery store which survives for so many generations on the same street.
I mentioned that i had 12 brick and mortar stores back then when i was still in the Philippines and the yearly rent increase is not very significant and commercial tax is not paid by the store keepers but by the landlords and owners of the premises. There a ton of businesses out there and many ideas every week every month and every year and it is very colorful and just an amazement in the small business landscape in the Philippines.
You just need $10,000 Canadian
to set up up a very attractive store in a good location and hire the local folks and run the business and try your luck and passion to work, normally it works even how small your kiosk or store there in Asia.
While i have been living here and doing business in Vancouver, i myself feels so bad when a small business goes down and now and then i hear news that a 20 years old or 30 year old business is closing down due to commercial tax or property valuation.
When i was still renting a small convenience store in Kitsilano
the first year was around $2,200 and 2nd year when up to 2,800 and the 3rd year was supposed to be around $3,500. This is very insane to me because whenever there was a change of hands on the landlord everything automatically goes up and the every year all the land value assessment dismally skyrocket. This city is not business friendly and it will only benefit the people who are changing hands on the real estate and developments. How can small businesses keep up with the ever-increasing rent and property tax increase very year ?
In most countries in Asia where i used to have several stores the rent increase is very minimal and the landlord normally do not make a drastic rent increase because it will hurt the small business owners, without the small business in place there will be no colorful shopping malls with different flavors.
I just don’t get it here in Vancouver
, why the government or the city doesn’t make proposition to facilitate and help out small business owners and make some subsidies on the property taxes. Drastic property hike will kill small businesses every year.
Small potatoes like me gets squashed and small business owners cannot do anything but fold up their businesses.
Maybe Vancouver just wanted the entire populace to work and get a job instead of using one’s creativity to create money and be self-sustaining and create a market to certain people who needs it.
The recent news regarding the closing down of the businesses in Robson Street is such a heartache and also what happens to new players in the market that just signed a lease for 3 years and spent like $100,000 + renovating a nice and plush restaurant and then suddenly was shocked to face a 92% increase of property tax to foot the bill ? This sounds ridiculous isn’t it ? High end shops are going down by the year, what is the trend going to ?
Back in Asia it is the reverse, there are always new establishments and excitement going around with new ideas that are generating all the time and rent and taxes are very competitive.
So far im very lucky not to stay in 1 location, Vending Business seems to be very viable for the moment and anyone with as little as $2,000 can go buy a vending machine and try it out and where it goes right ?
I know as a vending operator, 1 vending machine doesn’t go very far but it can be a small spark and hope that your dreams on becoming an entrepreneur start and hopefully your creativity will jump start into many more ventures.
