Small business continues to grow in Canada for three reasons:
  • The ability of small businesses to adapt quickly to a changing economy
  • Increased small business opportunities (particularly in the area of entrepreneurship)
  • Ownership benefits that only small businesses can provide

Often provincial and federal governments offer programs that promote youth business enterprises, or they provide incentives for small businesses to hire young employees.
Technology favours small business development. Developing products for a technology-dependent market requires creative thinking. Large companies can have less flexible environments. Small businesses thrive on creativity and flexibility.
The trend toward globalization also favours small business. Canadian manufacturers export more than half of their production. The small Canadian market forces businesses to look at both the domestic and export markets when deciding to introduce new products or to expand production.
Small businesses thrive on operational flexibility. A small business can develop products and services for smaller niche markets. Larger firms take longer to develop a product and are not set up for small production runs.

Small businesses can offer employees greater workplace flexibility (such as working from home, or staggering office hours to meet the needs of the employees' families). Small businesses can focus more easily on the work/life balance demanded by today's workforce.
Customer loyalty is an important component of small business success. A small business can react to changing customer requirements quickly. Small businesses are able to work with the consumer throughout the process, delivering products that exactly meet customer needs.

Small businesses frequently seek International Organization for Standardization (ISO) designation to assure customers that the quality of their products or services is comparable with the offerings of larger firms in the global marketplace.

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