Canada Small Business Financing Program (CSBFP) Awareness and Satisfaction Study

Corporate Characteristics

This section presents key corporate characteristics of the businesses included in this research, both the SMEs and the CSBFP borrowers, as well as characteristics of survey respondents.

Position of Respondent

Respondents who participated in this survey on behalf of their firms held very senior positions. Substantial and similar majorities of CSBFP borrowers and SME representatives were owners of their companies (72- 75 percent). Most of the rest were presidents and/or CEOs and other senior managers and executives responsible for financial matters^{Footnote 1}. Included in the ‘other’ category are managers and administrators (unspecified).

Firm Size

Borrower and SME firms were similar in size in terms of the number of employees. The large majority have 2-4 employees (35-36 percent) or 5-20 employees (42-45 percent). Most of the remaining firms (13-14 percent) have only one employee (i.e. the respondent). Relatively few have more than 20 employees (6-7 percent). The number of employees included full-time and part-time staff in all locations in Canada, the latter calculated as the number of full-time equivalents. This did not include contract staff or outsourced work.

Age of Business

There is considerable variety in the length of time that businesses included in this research have been in operation. Well over half the borrower firms are ‘start-up businesses’ (defined as firms that have been in existence for three years or less for the purposes of this research). Among these ‘start-up businesses’, over one-third (37 percent) are very young firms, having been in existence for less than one year, while one-quarter have been in existence for between 1-3 years. Over one-third of borrowers (38 percent) have been in existence for more than three years.

The situation among the SMEs was quite different. The large majority of these firms are not start-up businesses. Most (56 percent) are over 10 years old. One in five SMEs are ‘start-up businesses’ (i.e. three years old or less)^{Footnote 2}.

Company Revenues

All businesses included in this research had annual revenues for 2006 of $5 million dollars or less before taxes and deductions. Beyond that, however, there was considerable variety in revenues, although the two sample populations are very similar in terms of their revenues. Half the borrower and SME firms (50-51 percent) have annual revenues of $300,000 or less. Of these, one-quarter of borrowers (24 percent) and one-fifth of SMEs (21 percent) earned less than $100,000. Among the rest, relatively similar proportions of borrowers and SMEs (14-18 percent) earned between $300,000 and $500,000, $500,000 and $1 million, and $1-5 million.

Sector

CSBFP borrowers are most likely to operate in the food and drink services sector (22 percent), followed by the retail trade sector (15 percent) and then transportation and warehousing (10 percent). Following this, in descending order, are services (unspecified), mining/oil/gas, construction, manufacturing, professional/scientific and technical services, agriculture/fishing/hunting/forestry, health care/social assistance, arts/entertainment/ recreation, real estate and rental/leasing, finance/insurance, and administrative/support/waste management services. Included in the ‘other’ category are accommodation services, educational services, utilities, and wholesale trade.

Industry/Sector: CSBFP Borrowers

Q5. In which industry or sector does your business operate?

Industry/Sector	%	Industry/Sector	%
Phoenix SPI; Industry Canada - June 2007
Food & Drinking Services	22	Agric./Fishing/Hunting/Forestry	5
Retail Trade	15	Health Care/Social Assistance	3
Transportation/Warehousing	10	Art, Entertainment, Recreation	3
Other Services	9	Real Estate/Rental/Leasing	2
Mining/Oil/Gas	7	Admin./Support, Waste Mgmt.	2
Construction	6	Finance & Insurance	2
Manufacturing	6	Other	4
Prof./Scientific/Technical	5

SMEs are also most likely to operate in the food and drink services sector (19 percent), followed by other services (unspecified) (15 percent), the retail trade sector (13 percent), and transportation and warehousing (11 percent). Following this, in descending order, are manufacturing, construction, professional/scientific and technical services, finance/insurance, agriculture/fishing/hunting/forestry, arts/entertainment/recreation, health care/social assistance, mining/oil/gas, wholesale trade, and utilities. Included in the ‘other’ category are accommodation services, educational services, and real estate and rental/leasing.

Industry/Sector: SMEs

Q5. In which industry or sector does your business operate?

Industry/Sector	%	Industry/Sector	%
Phoenix SPI; Industry Canada - June 2007
Food & Drinking Services	19	Agric./Fishing/Hunting/Forestry	3
Other Services	15	Health Care/Social Assistance	3
Retail Trade	13	Art, Entertainment, Recreation	3
Transportation/Warehousing	11	Mining/Oil/Gas	2
Manufacturing	7	Utilities	2
Construction	6	Wholesale Trade	2
Prof./Scientific/Technical	5	Information/cultural	2
Finance & Insurance	4	Other	3

Region

For both sample populations, businesses were distributed across all regions of the country, with approximately one-third located in Ontario and the West, just under one-quarter in Quebec, and 10 percent in Atlantic Canada.

Rural-Urban Location

The large majority of firms in both sample populations, approximately three-quarters (72-78 percent), are situated in urban areas. Note that this information, based on the responding business’ postal code, was not available for many companies in the SME sample.

Language

Over three-quarters of respondents (79-82 percent) speak English.

Gender

Most respondents in both populations, between two-thirds and almost three-quarters, were male.

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Footnotes

1. ^{1 back to footnote reference 1} To be eligible to participate in this study, participants had to be an owner, CEO, president, or senior manager/executive in the financial area.
2. ^{2 back to footnote reference 2} There was a quota placed on SME businesses for this survey, where 100 needed to be three years of age or less.