Why you should care about financial literacy

Cathy Yeomans, Imagine Public Relations, White Rock, BC, imaginepr@shaw.ca

Entrepreneurs are usually characterized as creative, independent, innovative and hard-working but how many entrepreneurs are financially literate?

According to Industry Canada, 85 percent of new small businesses survive their first year but that number drops to 70 percent after two years, and dives down to only 51 percent after five years. Common reasons for this are that business owners:

• Didn’t learn how to track and manage finances in their first year;
• Underestimated the amount of time needed for financial management; or
• Lacked the right tools to get the job done – meaning they didn’t take advantage of powerful financial management solutions.

Don’t let your business fail because of a lack of financial knowledge. Take advantage of the resources available to entrepreneurs. Here are a couple to consider:

1. FCAC (Financial Consumer Agency of Canada) has developed several educational programs and materials to help increase financial management skills and knowledge. Many of these are free of charge.
2. CCFL (Canadian Centre for Financial Literacy) provides online learning. Share information, resources, and learning opportunities while accessing relevant tools, networks and support.