Introduction

In 1993, the Sector Councils' Steering Committee, based on the requests of its member Sector Councils, entered into an agreement with Human Resource Development Canada to carry out an occupational analysis of the small business owner/operator. They wished to identify the knowledge, skills and best practices for individuals managing small businesses. There were four objectives for conducting this analysis.

First, and foremost, occupational standards, or a competency guide would provide the basis for appropriate education and training either through existing programs, or through the development of new materials.

Secondly, the competency guide would provide small business owner/operators with a standard against which they could evaluate their weaknesses and strengths, and seek training and development experiences. As a consequence, they would be better able to conduct business operations, improve the prosperity of their businesses, and create more jobs.

A third objective of the Sector Councils' Steering Committee was to provide a basis for small business owner/operators to assess training offered by private and public trainers, to ensure that scarce funds were invested in training which delivered the results sought. Concurrently, with such a competency guide in existence, private and public trainers would be able to review their offerings to determine if existing courses and training are properly structured to meet the needs of small business owner/operators.

A final objective of the Sector Councils' Steering Committee was to provide a basis by which the prior learning of small business owner/operators could be assessed by educational institutions, and recognition be given by these institutions for prior learning. This would permit small business owner/operators to realize a tangible return on their investments by reducing or eliminating duplication of time and effort, which often occurs currently when obtaining degrees and diplomas.

The members of the Sector Councils' Steering Committee Small Business Management Skills Project Working Group believe this guide achieves these four objectives. The publication of this Competency Guide marks the completion of a multi-phased process carried out over the past five years. In this time, several hundred small business owner/operators have participated in the development of this guide, and it is their experience and their hard-earned wisdom which we have sought to reflect in this document.

We know that no guide can guarantee that a small business owner/operator will be successful. However, we hope this distilled wisdom will assist thousands of small business owner/operators over the coming years to be better managers. To the extent that the guide is used, and people benefit from its contents, the efforts of the volunteers who made this guide possible will have been rewarded.

The Network of Sector Councils

Contact:
Canadian Tourism Human Resource Council
170 Laurier Ave. West, Suite 1104
Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5V5
E-mail: cthrc@cthrc.ca
Web Site: http://www.cthrc.ca

Small Business Operator Standards Project Participating Sectors