Life Not Easy For Immigrant Entrepreneurs
Many small firms sprout, then fail. Dealing with established local companies can be a challenge for some new arrivals

JOANNE LEE-YOUNG
CanWest News Service
Monday, April 02, 2007
CREDIT: GLENN BAGLO, CANWEST NEWS SERVICE
James Jung, a former computer analyst from South Korea, imports gas masks and exports skin products from his office in Vancouver.

From his base at Admiralty Centre, a Chinese mall in Richmond, B.C., Samir Shah has seen firsthand a slew of small businesses spring to life, only to vanish quickly.

"There is substantial turnover of these businesses started by immigrants," he said in a telephone interview.

"Many only last two years at most because there is no volume of sales. ... You can't sell 20 leather jackets a year. You just can't survive on that."

There is increasing attention on skilled and professional immigrants who arrive in Canada and get stymied by the local job market. Often, they are forced to change tack and start their own businesses, only to find a whole new set of frustrations.

There is no shortage of examples.

Shah is a well-educated architect from Chennai, India. When his credentials from the respected School of Architecture in Ahmedabad weren't enough to get him beyond entry-level design positions here, he dabbled with part-time paper routes and working as a bank teller.

Then he turned to buying and selling leather jackets.

"The easiest business is to sell something tangible," he said.

His firm, AVC International Trading, now sells about 3,000 corporate promotional items - bags, T-shirts, watches - sourced in Asia, to U.S. companies.

James Jung's story is similar. He arrived in North Vancouver four years ago from Seoul, where he was a project manager for a U.S. company selling voice messaging systems to South Korean telecom companies.

The computer analyst did a short stint as a customer service representative at a call centre in Vancouver, but "discovered that this kind of promotion was not for me."

He quit and ended up straying even farther when he found a line of cosmetic lotions, creams and gels made from wild Pacific salmon collagen. Now, he is exporting this to South Korea.
At the same time, he is planning to import South Korean gas masks and market them to British Columbia companies that make emergency kits.

"A lot of new immigrants are very naive," said Thomas Tam, a director at S.U.C.C.E.S.S., a Vancouver-area immigrant-aid agency that offers courses to guide budding entrepreneurs.

"They sometimes ship a container of cheap products without knowing the size of the market, so the stuff has to be put into a warehouse.

"They just see a big price difference and think 'I can buy this for just 10 yuan in China, but sell it here for 10 Canadian dollars.'

"They are very excited about that, but don't know the market here and the cost of doing business. In the end, some barely can cover the cost of renting storage."

Negotiating and talking with long-established, local manufacturers and suppliers is another challenge for some of these businesspeople.

"In Asia, products are very different. It's very consumer-geared, mostly clothes, shoes, watches, things that are easy to understand. You can master product knowledge quickly," Tam said.

"In Canada, it's more about high-tech products or commodities like sulphur or wood. It takes time to learn about these. There is a lot of terminology for even something like lumber."

However, "entrepreneurs from Asia (in particular) are used to learning new things every day and (hopping) from product to product. So sometimes manufacturers don't feel comfortable talking to them," Tam said.

Conflicting business cultures also clash when it comes to closing deals.

"Asian business is very price sensitive. In Canada, quality and market demand are also considered. So when the two sides come together, they might be talking about two different things and very soon, the 'Canadian' side closes the door," Tam said.

All sorts of clouds loom in the real world of breaking into Canadian business, whether you are buying or selling. Sales can be paltry and the pace molasses-like, no matter what the approach.

Said Shah: "American customers will take a $1-million order instantly if they can see it is a superior product at a better price," he said.

"But in Canada, things move much more slowly. I have contacts that are now friends because I have been regularly visiting them so often over the years.

"We have even gotten to know each other really

Volunteers Hold Communities Together
Tuesday April 17 2007

http://www.independentfreepress.ca/printArticle/21703
Volunteers.
They are the lifeblood of caring communities like Halton Hills.

While their efforts go largely unnoticed, without volunteers the social and cultural fabric of our town would unravel, leaving many of our most vulnerable residents to suffer and many of our most cherished community events extinct.

Volunteers are the foundation of nearly every facet of community life.

This week (April 16-20) is National Volunteer Week, a chance to thank the legions of silent heroes who offer their time in exchange for the satisfaction of knowing they have in some small way touched countless lives.

Volunteers come in all shapes, sizes and abilities.

In its purest form, volunteering doesn't require a university education, endless hours of on-the-job training or even a specific skill set. All you need is a caring heart and a willingness to lend a helping hand.

Volunteers can be students working toward the 40 hours of community service required to graduate high school, or grandmothers who turn a lifelong passion for knitting into a contribution of sweaters, mittens and socks to their neighbourhood church.

Behind the scenes of just about every health-care organization beat the selfless hearts of small armies of volunteers, ready to offer a ride to and from doctor's appointments, often with the wisdom of having previously faced a similar ailment or perhaps just a sympathetic ear in a time of anxiety and uncertainty.

No matter what your interest, there are opportunities out there to give something back to your town and its residents.

Without the vital cultural contributions of volunteer-driven service clubs, sport leagues and community arts groups, much of what we value about living in Halton Hills would simply vanish.

We should always be grateful for our volunteers. Without them, our community would lose a large chunk of its soul. For your contribution to the quality of life we all enjoy, please accept our gratitude.

Dr. Alan Greenspan Calls for Baby Boomers to Take Action in Preparing for Retirement

NEW YORK CITY, April 24 /CNW/ - Dr. Alan Greenspan - U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman (1997-2006) - today encouraged Baby Boomers around the world to take more responsibility to prepare for their retirement. Dr. Greenspan offered his perspective as the keynote speaker at the MDRT Boomertirement(TM) Industry Summit.

"We have to recognize that what we're going through is unique in world history," said Dr. Greenspan. "Retirement is a relatively new phenomenon. As a society we've dealt with it successfully in the past few decades but we've never had such a huge group of individuals going into the system at once and then living so long in their retirement years."

Greenspan said the government will find it increasingly difficult to keep all the financial promises it has made through Social Security, Medicare and other programs in coming years. He added that the longer we collectively wait to deal with these key issues, the more difficult they will become to address.

Greenspan added that, as life expectancy continues to increase, Baby Boomers will likely look for additional ways to remove the financial uncertainties that will come from a longer retirement by analyzing their lifestyle, determining the resources at their disposal, and ultimately making decisions to best prepare for their future.

Currently being held in New York City, the Boomertirement Summit was convened by MDRT - a leading non-profit association representing 35,000 financial services professionals around the world - to help lead the development of solutions to the looming Baby Boomer retirement crisis. The event brought together top economists, scholars, financial services industry leaders and other thought leaders for two days of presentations and interactive discussions.

"The Boomertirement Industry Summit was designed to help facilitate solutions to the looming Baby Boomer retirement crisis - and to encourage the financial services community and Boomers to work together to implement those solutions. At the end of the day, taking any action to better prepare for retirement is better than doing nothing," said MDRT President Philip E.

Harriman, CLU, ChFC - a retirement, investment and estate planning advisor from Yarmouth, Me. "Dr. Greenspan's unmatched insight and unique perspective on economic issues - and his ability to create awareness and prompt action - will certainly help us meet that goal."

Global Goans Convention in Goa on January 4, 2007
The IGO of Ontario to hold a meeting on Sunday, April 29th, 2007

The IGO of Ontario will hold a meeting on Sunday, April 29th, 2007 at the Eatonville Library in Etobicoke (Burnamthorpe and East Mall) at 2.00pm to brief participants on the outcome of our delegate's presentations at the Global Goan Convention held in Goa from January 3rd to the 5th this year. Those wishing to attend should contact Al Mathias at almathias@rogers.com.

International Goan Organization of Ontario delegate Ms. Cellie Gonsalves presenting at the Global Goans Convention at Cidade de Goa on January 4, 2007. Also in the photo to Ms. Gonsalves’s left are Ms.Sujata Singh Joint Secretary Europe West Ministry of External Affairs, Ms. Vicki Treadell British Deputy High Commissioner, Dr.Wilfred D`Souza Deputy Chief Minister, Government of Goa, Mr. Eduardo Faleiro Hon. Commissioner for NRI affairs and Mr. R.R.Dash Chief Passport Officer


International Goan Organization (IGO) of Ontario, Canada President Ms. Zulema de Souza and Director Mrs. Cellie Gonsalves met with Hon. Chief Minister of Goa, Mr. Pratapsingh Rane on January 19, 2007 to present and review the report titled “IGO of Ontario Canada, Best of Both Worlds – Non Resident Goans” at the Chief Minister’s residence in Altinho, Panjim, Goa. Left to right are Mr. Tony Gonsalves, Ms. Zulema de Souza, Mr. Pratapsingh Rane, Ms. Cellie Gonsalves and Mr. Neves de Souza.

Goan Voice designed and compiled by Demerg Systems India for Silverline Technologies Ltd.,
Campal Trade Centre, Next to Military Hospital, Campal, Panjim, Goa-403001
Tel: +91 832 2420797 Email: info@goanvoice.ca