While not a business owner myself, I’ve known more than my share. In every case, they’ve never bemoaned the competition, and only rarely complain about the market conditions. Their main target for ire? Canadian governments, at every level.
I know of one entrepreneur who was part of a group that had developed and patented a technology that could cleanly convert regular trash into electricity; in other words, converting something we have too much of into something we badly need.
The knowledge-base and equipment to build and operate the technology already existed in southern Ontario, and would have employed hundreds if not thousands of Ontarians in skilled, green jobs. The City of Toronto was looking for exactly this kind of technology, knowing that it had been proven safe and effective in other developed countries.
This businessman’s group was eager to build one in Toronto, but…
PS:
Canadian and Ontarian entrepreneurs are as aggressive and talented as any in the world. They have to be, just to make a living. A friend of mine, who runs a Toronto-based business that operates primarily in the United States, complained to me recently, “I’ve wasted the last two weeks proving to the government that I don’t owe them any sales taxes for products sold in Florida.” Those two weeks could have been spent growing the business, instead, hopefully employing a few Ontarians along the way.
