My friend Chris recently shared some information produced by ATB which documents the growth trajectory of Canadian businesses. In short, the data shows that 95% of businesses in Canada fail to grow beyond the threshold of 1-3 employees and gross revenue of $250k. Another 4% of Canadian businesses rise to the level of $1M in revenue with 10-12 employees.
I was shocked to discover these facts about the Canadian economy and amazed at how much small business truly sustains the wealth creation in this country. I was also dumbfounded to find that Transcend Coffee falls into the 1% of Canadian businesses! While a part of me was proud to know that over the past fourteen years Transcend has survived and evolved to find itself in that rarefied company, another perhaps bigger part was reminded of how getting to this place was built on luck and groping in the dark.
Building a business is damn hard. Just ask anyone who has done it. I recently read that being an entrepreneur reduces one’s emotions to two; either the feeling of euphoria or terror, both of which are enhanced by the lack of sleep which accompanies them. Frankly, I have experienced a good deal more terror than euphoria during the past decade, and it is startling to live in that place of tenuous stress - still - after so many years. The cliches abound when it comes to business. “Cash is King”, “It’s a win-win situation”, “Grab the low hanging fruit”, “We need to think outside of the box”. The list goes on and on. And frankly, all of it is mostly true and almost all of it is bullshit.
Building a business is a roller coaster ride, where most of the ride is done in the dark, not knowing where the tracks are going, and not knowing how the ride will ultimately end. Despite all of the business advice out there, I don’t think there is any recipe for success. The problem with business is that you don’t know what you don’t know, and no matter how much data you have, or planning you do, external circumstances hit you blindside and create chaos. They can be small bumps (the loss of a significant customer) or large bumps (the frenzied fear surrounding COVID19) but regardless, preparation for either is nearly impossible. And so the life of the entrepreneur is comprised of learning to react, and hoping that your reactions and corresponding adjustments along the way don’t sink the business you are trying to build.
I think it is true that those of us who venture down the path of business building have higher tolerances for risk. Or perhaps that is just a nice way of saying that we are thick. No matter how successful or lucky you are, failure is always lurking around the corner, ready to pounce. So the question hanging awkwardly in the room is why do we do it?
Take Richard Branson for example. What drives a man who is rich beyond measure to start over 200 businesses? Hint - it’s not the money. I don’t think it is the thrill either. In truth, I can’t speak on his behalf in regards to what motivates him, but I can speculate, and I know what motivates me. It is an insatiable need to create, to be creative, to build something; and not possessing the skills of a painter or a sculptor, I find that business is my medium of choice.
Frankly, I am not sure why I felt the need to write on this subject. I commend you if you have hung with me this far! But in conclusion, I do want to encourage you to support the small business where you can. I am not dogmatic about this, because in our economy it isn’t always easy to do, even if we are only talking about less than 1% of the big companies out there - they tend to demand our attention. You are, after all, looking at an Apple devotee and junkie. Maybe my goal with this piece is also to give credit where it is due. Our nation’s economic engine is built upon the staggering efforts of enterprising individuals who slog it out every day hoping beyond hope that their efforts will feed their families, and maybe even yield just a tiny bit of profit. The reality is that their efforts sustain our economy and enable the services which we have all grown to rely upon.
The one thing I know, having survived the past fourteen years, is that from the outside, business building can look sexy and appealing, but just like the seemingly effortless sailing of a duck on a lake, there remain two frantically paddling feet underneath the surface, which no one ever sees. A life composed of only terror and euphoria is not really a choice, but almost always a compulsion to be bridled.