There’s nothing like the end of one year and the start of another to bring out the armchair fortuneteller in me. So assuming the Mayans were wrong – and the world will continue past this Friday – the next two columns will discuss some of my small business predictions for 2013.
First, given that my (non-Mayan) investment adviser suggested that I liquidate all the stocks in my RRSP before December 21, I suppose I can’t help being a little skeptical about 2013. The never-ending financial crisis in Europe, the so-called ‘fiscal cliff’ in the United States and tensions in the Middle East do not instill much confidence in the world’s economy.
Ironically, I do see further growth in franchising in Canada in 2013. I still expect to see more U.S. franchisers expand into the Canadian market, particularly Ontario, Alberta, B.C. and even Saskatchewan. In part, this may be because the U.S. is saturated with franchised concepts that have nowhere left to expand, so they have to go ‘international.’ Canada is close and not all that different.
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