Wise Wednesdays - Dig Deep

Here is last week's Wise Trivia answer to the question, “What is the education level of people who start a business in Canada?”

According to a CIBC report done in 2004 (Start On Up: A New Look at Entrepreneurs in Canada) the education level of entrepreneurs is:
16% - not completed high school
26% - completed high school
36% - post secondary certificate/diploma (not including a university degree)
22% - university degree

According to Census Canada, 2006 report the education level of all Canadians (between 25-64 years of age) is:
15% - not completed high school
24% - completed high school
38% - post secondary certificate/diploma (not including a university degree)
23% - university degree

I noticed how almost identical these two sets of data are. Entrepreneurs reflect the population at large.

One of the things the stats don’t show is how business savvy someone is. An entrepreneur’s true test in education goes beyond textbooks and training.

I had a client who opened an immigration consulting business one month before September 2001. After 911 the immigration and refugee laws in Canada were re-vamped and would not come into effect for another six months. The business owner was at a loss. What could he do besides throw in the towel?

He decided to ‘dig deeper’ and get busy connecting with people and sending out updates on the proposed changes to Canadian immigration law (even though he knew he would not get any business for at least six months). These updates kept potential prospects interested as they wanted to know what the implications meant for them. Once the laws came into effect my client had a solid base of potential prospects who were ready to use his services.

Wise Question: When have you “dug deep” when things got tough? What areas can you now ‘dig deeper’? These situations can help you from being educated to being business savvy -- an experience worth it’s weight in gold.

Cheers,

Dominik