We can Radically Boost SMEs’ Growth by Tapping into Canadians’ age 45+ Business Expertise through Gigs, Creating 350,000 to 520,000 new fulltime jobs
Successive federal governments have failed to improve our global economic competitiveness through centralized innovation strategies, as the Globe and Mail reported. There is a better and easier way to unlock innovation for economic performance.
The Canadian economy faces a well-known knowledge shortage (as distinct from the unskilled labour shortage), largely due to our aging population retiring. And yet, Canadians are living longer and healthier and are wanting to stay more active then ever before – which has been called “The Longevity Economy”. So while SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) face predictable and recurring types of barriers to growth, a massive amount of business experience is readily available to help them overcome those barriers. That untapped expertise is found among age 50+ Canadians. The challenge is efficiently finding those business experts and making them available cost effectively to SMEs. A new Canadian online platform does that matchmaking.
Why SMEs?
Small Businesses: 97.9% of businesses in Canada are small (<100 staff), employ 67.7% of our private sector labour force, and account for 37.5% of GDP from the private sector. But about 90% of start-ups/ new businesses fail, and only 0.1% of small businesses become medium sized.
Medium-sized Businesses: 1.9% of businesses are medium-sized (100-499 staff), employ 20.6% of labour, and account for 14.4% of GDP. But only 2% of those become large (meaning 500+ employees).
So together SMEs employ nearly 90% of our private sector labour force. Suppose we could double or even triple the number of small businesses becoming medium, and medium becoming large, as drivers of both employment and economic growth. Without depending on government orchestration or funding. Back of the envelope calculations using government of Canada SME stats, and assuming median number of employees for the definition of small and medium businesses, show that doubling or tripling the 0.1% of small businesses becoming medium and the 2% of medium becoming large would mean an extra 350,00 to 520,000 new fulltime equivalent jobs, or an extra 3.1% to 5.6% private sector job creation. Not only would these companies grow, but their probability of being a going concern over the long term would improve, meaning an improvement in net new business creation (openings minus closings). Could age 45+ experts help drive those kinds of increases annually?
Why do Start-ups fail and SMEs experience limited growth?
The main reported causes are an insufficient knowledge of their target market (little research conducted, and lack of industry-specific knowledge), poor marketing, few partnerships, and inadequate financing.
What if we could harness the power of age 45+ Canadian business expertise to dynamically accelerate SME growth and drastically increase SME chances of success?
Canada has an enormous “bench strength” of business expertise among retired/retiring Boomers and all those age 45+. They have come of age during recent decades of rapid growth, innovation, technology adoption, process improvements/efficiencies, and globalization. And they are living longer, healthier, and more active lives than previous generations. Age 50+ business expertise can clearly address all those key reasons why start-ups fail and SMEs don’t grow into larger companies.
Boomers have the motivation to continue some type of work during retirement (and 62% expect to), especially if they could use their skills rather than be underemployed (think security guards and fast food workers). The high cost of living, uncertain financial markets, high interest rates, and lack of defined benefit pensions provide financial incentives to do some amount of work. Boomers also know they need to have a purpose, stay active and engage with others if they want to age well. Many also want to pass on their knowledge to younger generations, as part of their legacy.
Why a Community of Age 45+ Business Expertise?
The problem is that, until now, age 45+ businesspeople are hard to find on-demand when specific expertise is needed. This is ironic for a Boomer generation, a large cohort from the post World War 2 baby boom, which has dominated everything socio-economically. It seems that as we retire we are disappearing “into the cracks” as individuals and may therefore have less clout from reduced aggregate influence. We need to re-aggregate age 45+ business experts into a community that shows the cumulative power of their expertise. This is not about “age friendly” accommodation of “seniors”. This is about economic vitality. And is consistent with David Cravit’s (CARP) themes in his new book “Super Aging”.
Imagine how much faster SMEs could scale up if they could selectively complement their in-house skills with age 50+ experience. They would need to be able to specify at least 6 criteria to customize the gig and the freelancer for their specific requirements:
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Sector
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Value chain role: raw material, processing/manufacturing, distribution, retailing
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Seniority: manager, director/VP, C-suite
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Functional area: HR, Finance, Accounting, Procurement, Product Development, Marketing, etc.
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Geography: for complex sourcing/ supply chain requirements, or market entry/international expansion
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Languages: experts who speaks the languages needed and understand the local business culture.
How can Age 45+ Expertise be Affordable to SMEs?
Gigs make expertise accessible for cash-strapped SMEs, who generally cannot afford assignments by high priced consultants plus the fees paid to recruiters to find and screen them. Gigs can be more tightly defined, to let SMEs cherry pick the most critical information they need to thrive, and reduce the amount of time required from age 45+. Gigs like these provide the incentive for older Canadians to keep working, as Gordon Pape says is so critical to do by providing “carrots not sticks”.
Introducing Elderberry.work: Matching Age 45+ Business Expertise with SMEs’ Requirements
Age 45+ expertise is all about value creation. Elderberry.work efficiently enables Canadian SMEs to find age 45+ experts that fit their requirements, cost-effectively on gigs. Those experts might even go on to join the SME’s management team or board, and certainly can leverage their networks. Elderberry.work helps fill in the gaps in discussions of national seniors strategies, such as the National Institute on Aging’s, and Age-Well’s, which identify financial wellness as a need but haven’t defined how to deliver on that. It helps overcome many of the barriers for older Canadians to participate in the workforce, that the Fraser Institute reported on.
What Are The Big Ideas for Age 45+ To Dynamically Help SMEs?
There are numerous high value ways for SMEs to use Elderberry.work by hiring multiple, complementary age 50+ experts at a time, to augment their in-house knowledge, such as:
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International Expansion - expertise functionally, linguistically, and geographically relevant to its plans.
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Organizational Effectiveness – HR policies and processes, performance management, etc.
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Complex Product Development - international supply chains, vendor selection and performance management, procurement, logistics, transparency, technology, regulatory, and geographic experience.
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Negotiating New Partnerships - complex/high value partnership agreements.
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Process Efficiencies - reengineer key cross functional processes.
Phased Adoption of Elderberry.work May Be Necessary
Elderberry.work delivers on a key recommendation in Employment and Social Development Canada’s report on promoting older Canadian labour force participation, by providing “employment services”. Most companies are not now purposely seeking age 45+ expertise. SMEs can often be more nimble, so with awareness of Elderberry.work they can simply define their gigs and then post them at Elderberry.work. Other companies, including larger ones, may need more time to work through their human resource planning, so adoption of Elderberry.work could come in 2 phases:
(1) post all relevant current jobs, open to anyone, where age 45+ business experts can easily find them, on Elderberry.work;
(2) with awareness of Elderberry.work, define and post specific gigs seeking experts age 45+.
Elderberry.work also provides guidance for onboarding age 50+ experts, including tips on setting up a freelance business for those who haven’t done so before.