Small Business Pulse August 2010

Business Starts: After declining by 176 starts between May and June of this year, the number of business starts rebounded by 344 in July to 4,728, a healthy 8% increase. The opposite is true for the same time last year. Starts dropped last year by over 732 between June and July to less than 4,000. There were 759 more starts in July 2010 than in July 2009, the greatest difference over the period.

There were 52,599 businesses registered over the last 12 months, 2,504 more than the previous 12 months, a 5% increase.

Source: Government of British Columbia Prepared by: Small Business BC

After a low of 11 business bankruptcies in May, the number of BC bankruptcies  increased by 7 in June  to reach 18 insolvencies.

There were 29 fewer bankruptcies in June 2010 compared to June of 2009.

There have been 280 business bankruptcies since July of 2009 compared to 484 for the 2008/2009 period, a 42% drop. The greatest monthly difference between 2008/2009 and 2009/2010 came in February  when there were 30 fewer business bankruptcies than in the previous February.

Source: Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcies Prepared by: Small Business BC

The number of self-employed in BC dropped again in July. There were 2,200 fewer BC self-employed in July than in the previous month.  442,800 were self-employed in BC in July.  After eight months of self-employment numbers hovering around the 450,000 level, the number has dropped towards the 440,000 level.

Compared to July 2009, there were 14,600 fewer self-employed, a 3% differerence.

The number of self-employed is slightly higher over the last twelve months compared to the previous twelve months. There were an additional 105,800 self-employed in the past twelve months, a two percent increase over the previous twelve months.

Source: Statistics Canada  Prepared by: Small Business BC

BC Small Business Employment dropped by 19,130 in the first quarter of 2010 to 653,493. This is also down compared to the first quarter of 2009. There were, 2,572 fewer employed in the first quarter of 2010 compared to the first quarter of 2009. This decline follows the pattern of the last three years.

Small business employment includes  companies with fewer than 50 employees. As you can see from the chart, BC small businesses  start out the calendar year with a low level of employment, increase in the second quarter, peak in the third, decrease in the forth, and continue to decrease for the first quarter of the next calendar year. This pattern is not affected by economic condition. The number employed, however, is affected by  economic conditions. In the years leading up to the latest recession, the peak of BC small business employment came in the third quarter of 2008 with 713,147 employed. The recession started in the fourth quarter of 2008 and reduced the next employment peak to 682,066, a 4.3% drop from the 2008 peak.

Source: Statistics Canada  Prepared by: Small Business BC

Drivers That Peak Small Business Employment

Construction is the main driver for peaks in small business employment.  For the latest cycle that small business employment data is available, small construction companies added 7,556 workers between the first and third quarter of 2009. There were 84,228 employees working for BC small construction companies by the third quarter.

For further information on BC small business statistics, contact Mark Eversfield.

Download the pdf version of the Small Business Pulse, August 2010.

About The Author: 

Mark Eversfield

 

Mark teaches the Small Business BC's Market Research seminars in addition to writing the monthly Small Business Pulse and providing market research consultancy to our clients. Mark has gained his experience through previous roles at MarCon Research, BC Stats and Western Diversification.

Follow Mark on Twitter @SBBCinsights

All Posts

• Small Business Pulse August 2010
• Small Business Pulse April 2010
• BC's 2011 Hot Businesses
• No Free Lunch, Or Start-Up Grants
• New Technology That Can Help Your Office Go Mobile
• High Tech, Low Tech, Any Tech: Know Your Target Market
• Business Directories: Not Just a List of Phone Numbers
• Do I Have to be Canadian to Start a Business in BC?
• Will Your Business Qualify for Innovation Funding?
• Small Business Pulse May 2011
• Small Business Pulse September 2011
• Small Business Pulse: BC Bankruptcies Down 15% Compared to 2010
• Small Business Pulse: Small Business Market Strengthens

Write For Us →