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Be Your Own Boss​

Many people go into business for themselves as a way to manage their own careers. As a result, self-employment is growing rapidly in B.C. and can take a variety of forms, including:

running a business on your own, with a partner or with employees
owning and managing a franchise
working on contracts for different clients
hiring yourself out as a consultant in your area of expertise

Skills for Successful Entrepreneurship

In addition to providing goods or services, a successful entrepreneur needs many additional skills, including:

sales and marketing
business administration​
managing resources like time and money
interpersonal skills

Many entrepreneurs have a limited budget when first starting out and find themselves having to perform all of these business-related tasks. Once a business starts to become profitable, business owners may then assign these tasks to support professionals, assistants or employees.

Soft Skills

There are also many soft skills required for successful entrepreneurship, including:

self-confidence
being a self-starter and willing to take the initiative
optimism and positive thinking
being sensitive to opportunities
creative thinking and creative problem solving
being a good team builder and working well with others
being motivated by the desire to accomplish things
willingness to take calculated risks
community-mindedness
ability to build a business around interests and expertise

Self-Assessment and ​​Getting Started

The Entrepreneurship Potential Self-Assessment is a free online test that you can use to assess whether your current soft skills and comfort level are right for entrepreneurship. The questions asked in the test also provide insight into the qualities required and other considerations in successfully starting a business.

The Canada Business Network is a government service for entrepreneurs that provides tools for self-assessment as well as information on how to start a company that will be successful.​​

The B.C. government's Self Employment program offers financial assistance and entrepreneurial support to unemployed eligible individuals who are starting a business. To assess your needs and determine if you are eligible, use Employment and Labour Market Services to find a case manager who can work with you on gaining entry into the program.

Small Business BC provides information and seminars on starting and expanding your business, financing options, market research and more.

The Community Futures Self-Employment Benefits program is designed to reduce some of the financial concerns of self-support for new entrepreneurs who are taking their first steps towards self-employment.​​

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