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Posted on December 31, 2012 @ 10:12:00 AM by Paul Meagher
Winter is bearing down hard on me today. It is a blizzard outside and I'm finding it challenging to try to get anything done around
the farm today. I'm closing it down until early spring. Draining the water from the lines, fixing a door sweep that was letting in excessive
amounts of snow, adding lock bolts to the doors, and inspecting where snow is drifting and how the buildings are responding to the high
winds. Inland winds hit fairly hard yesterday (Noreaster), now the oceans winds are showing whose boss (Southwester). High force winds
are drifting snow over the lane on this grassy ridge top farm. I'll have to get the tractor out to plow myself out of here so I can
head back to my Truro home when the driving is safe to do so. The power went out around 2 pm last night but was on when I awoke. It
cycled twice today and if it fails, then my plans to drain the water will fail because I need a compressor to blow any remaining
water out of the lines.
All of this makes me wonder about entrepreneuring up north and how the winter season affects entrepreneurship.
The snow plowing industry kicks into gear and employs alot of entrepreneurs. Lots of winter sports and winter getaways generate winter revenue for entrepreneurs.
Entrepreneuring up north involves some costs that entrepreneurs in warmer climates do not have to pay for - winter tires, vehicle
aging from road salts, snow days, freeze ups, access maintenance via plowing, cold weather clothing, etc... These might be viewed as
productivity zappers relative to warm-climate competitors who do not face these business liabilities. Sometimes this is true (raising
beef in Brazil is easier than in Canada), sometimes our warm climate entrepreneurs have their own list of productivity zappers.
Oil industry workers, loggers, lineman, and many other Canadians work outside in the most extreme weather conditions. Another large
group of Canadians retreat into their offices and bear down to get the winter work done. They feel less distracted, less on-the-road, now
that outside conditions are less inviting. Time to bare down and work. The Black Berry 10 is supposed to launch at the end of Jan 2013 perhaps because the pre and post launch is during the winter season when Canadian tech workers like to work the hardest in the office.
Cold-climate influences and defines the character of Canadian entrepreneurship.
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