“I haven’t seen my family in four months and haven’t had a vacation in seven months,” Kakon said, referring to the 18-hour days she puts in baking and running her new patisserie, Cho’cola Bake Shop.

Kakon was a stay-at-home mom who went back to school at 40 to study family education, then decided instead to fulfill a 30-year dream to launch her own business “making cupcakes.”

But it hasn’t been easy.

“You give up a lot when you start your own business,” said Kakon, whose shop opened on Monkland Ave. in Notre Dame de Grâce at the end of May.

“It’s a huge tradeoff, I didn’t expect it to take as much of my life,” the 50-year-old married mother of four (one still lives at home) said from the busy shop.

Her experiences mirror those of many of the 345 Canadian entrepreneurs recently surveyed by one of the country’s largest mortgage brokerages.

Eighty per cent of the respondents (72 per cent of Quebecers) indicated they have made various personal and financial sacrifices for their small businesses.

The entrepreneurs were polled online by Harris/Decima for Mortgage Intelligence Inc. between Aug. 30 and Sept. 6.

The sacrifices range from taking fewer vacations to foregoing medical/dental benefits to having less retirement savings to having to postpone real-estate purchases.

But the “most startling” finding, according to Mortgage Intelligence president John Schipper, was the view female respondents had that they have more difficulty securing personal financing - 44 per cent, compared with 30 per cent for men.

“We expected some difference, but not as large a gap versus the men,” Schipper said in an interview from his firm’s Toronto headquarters.

“We don’t know if that view is real or perceived.”

On the overall results, Schipper observed: “The self-employed are a critical segment of the Canadian workforce, so it is unfortunate that they’ve had to make substantial personal and financial trade-offs in order to run their businesses.”

His company has about 1,000 independent agents (about 150 in Quebec) and commissioned the survey “to get a better understanding of what’s becoming a growing client base.”

Survey says...

What financial trade-offs have you personally made as a self-employed individual?

Answer Atl. Que. Ont. Prairies B.C. National

I take fewer vacations than I would like 51% 51% 57% 33% 49% 51%

I have not saved as much as I would like 43% 43% 51$ 39% 38% 46%

I do not have extended medical or dental benefits 37% 28% 40% 37% 41% 37%

I do not own a second home/cottage 26% 35% 43% 13% 38% 34%

My partner//spouse has to work 20% 18% 21% 13% 16% 19%

I do not have retirement savings 11% 12% 10% 11% 16% 10%

Not able to fully fund childs

post-secondary education 14% 3% 10% 7% 19% 10%

I do not own a home N/A 9% 11% 6% 16% 9%

I delayed home ownership 3% 5% 9% 4% 3% 6%

I have not made any trade-offs 20% 28% 12% 31% 24% 20%

N/A: Not available

Source: Mortgage Intelligence, Small Business Survey

Montreal Gazette Friday, October 19, 2007

Page: B2 Section: Business Byline: MIKE KING Source: The Gazette