City ranks high for entrepreneurs
Business owners reflect the gamut of reaction
Walter Strong
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, November 5, 2014
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
It's a tale of two entrepreneurs, one a seasoned veteran looking to get out of the game. The other, young, enthusiastic and optimistic on her new business' future.
Lily Mtomgwiza, co-owner of Elegance Shoes in the lower level of Yellowknife's Centre Square Mall largely agrees with the findings of the 2014 Canadian Federation of Independent Business report that ranked Yellowknife high compared to 121 other municipalilties in Canada for starting and growing a business. - Walter Strong/NNSL photo
Yellowknife in top 30 of 121
Yellowknife has ranked 22 out of 121 cities in the Canadian Federation of Independent Business 2014 survey of Canada's Top Entrepreneurial Cities.
"This report celebrates entrepreneurial places to do business," said Amber Ruddy, NWT senior policy analyst with federation. "This year, it was the first year we included Yellowknife in the report, and it did quite well. This is due to the economy having above average growth and business establishment for a mid-size city.
"The report is based on 14 indicators grouped into three categories: presence, the number of start-ups; perspective, which is optimism level; and policy, or red tape and that's where Yellowknife lost points."
Yellowknife scored 60.2 out of a possible 100 points, beating out municipalities including Whitehorse, Calgary, Vancouver, and Montreal.
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Lynn Huang, owner of The Diner on 50 Street will be reducing hours to weekends only, and just for breakfast, effective this week.
"I'm looking for work and life balance," Huang said. "I've been working 14 years here, 14 hours per day."
Huang recently completed almost five years of correspondence study and has qualified to take an office job in town.
Huang said the high cost of living, high property taxes, high income taxes, and difficulty finding reliable employees now that two of her three children have moved away have all added up to her decision to put the business and property up for sale or lease.
"The business is making money, but I have no life," Huang said of the decision to get out of the restaurant business.
Huang was surprised to hear that Yellowknife ranked fairly high in a recent Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses survey of Canada's Top Entrepreneurial Cities.
It was the first time Yellowknife was included in the survey, and it ranked 22 out of 121 cities.
"Is that from the bottom up or the top down?" Huang asked.
She pointed to the high cost of living for Yellowknifers and the impact that has on their budgets.
"With power bills so high - with the cost of living so high - families don't come out and spend money on restaurants that often," Huang said.
Lily Mtomgwiza, co-owner of Elegance Shoes in the lower level of the Centre Square Mall was, on the other hand, not surprised with the results of the survey.
"I think it's pretty accurate," Mtomgwiza said.
"The community of Yellowknife is very creative and hardworking. As a group of people - as a community - we're always looking for ways to fill the gaps."
Lily and husband Lovingson Mtomgwiza opened their lower mall location this August after a trial run in a tiny spot in the upper mall earlier in the spring.
Armed with consumer intelligence collected during the test run, and feedback from potential customers at the Yellowknife trade show, Lily said business has been brisk.
She said committing to a new business is intimidating, but she believes the risk will pay off.
"Anytime you do something like this, it is a leap of faith," Lily said.
"It's scary to start an new business, but we're looking forward to the upcoming year. We're very positive about the next year."
