Summer Company in Bruce County Wraps-Up

Summer Company in Bruce County 2012 held its Wrap-Up last week  in Port Elgin in the Rotary Hall in the Plex.  With friends and family and mentor, the students mixed and mingled and sat down to some tasty food prepared by Harrigan’s 100 Mile Food Market .  Corrina of Serda Digital Marketing was unfortunately unable to attend.

After eating, Jill Roote, Program Manager, thanked the mentors and the family and friends who supported the young entrepreneurs.  The mentors all spoke about their own personal enjoyment of helping younger people overcome new challenges.  Jill then went on to ask a series of questions to each of the students, pertaining to their achievements and challenges.

Devan, of Dynamic Dance and Fitness Studio, felt her greatest achievement was taking all the lessons she learn in college and applying them in the real world. She was proud that she focused on ensuring each client made progress towards their fitness goals. In doing things differently, she would ensure that she had her marketing tasks complete before she ran her courses. “I tried to do everything at once and it was too rushed”, she said.

Derrick, of Derrick’s Smoked Fish, said he can now fillet a fish like a top chef. His big achievement was raking it in at the Pow Wow.  His biggest challenge was transportation. He did not have reliable transportation to make it to the various markets in Bruce County. However, he felt he did pretty good selling his product only at Cape Croker.

Laura, of Fabulous Fish, felt that she gained a lot of self-confidence and independence from her mom. “This was my first job other than babysitting.  As I only have a G1 license, I needed my mom to come to the markets with me, and she would help me out. But through the course of the summer, I found it easier to put myself out there and sell my fish by myself.”

Luke, of Forever Deck Company, was very proud of creating a company that can last. “It took some time to get going, but I feel that this is something I could do next summer.”  He felt that his biggest mistake was not paying attention to his marketing soon enough. “I really didn’t get all my marketing material soon enough. I was relying on the trade-show too much. I should have printed my flyers earlier”

Tyce, of Lavalley t’s, was happy that he learned how to get his art on t-shirts. Jill made note that of all the kids, Tyce had to work hard to re-adjust his business plan, because his found a cheaper method of imprinting the shirts himself, compared to his original concept of out-sourcing the imprinting.

Connor, of the Computer Shoppe and Repair, was happy to develop his communications skills. “I really had to work hard to talk to customers in their own language, and at their level of technical skills.” He wished that he met the mentors before he went through his start-up stage.

When asked who is considering entrepreneurship as a career, Connor and Devan have plans to keep their company going at a limited capacity while away at school. Tyce wants to keep his momentum by learning how to do silk screening, instead of iron on patches.  Luke is planning on running his company in summer, even after he lands a teaching job. While Derrick sees entrepreneurship in his future, his summer company definitely must end with summer– he needs fresh leaves to naturally smoke his fish. “Oh, and I don’t think I can bring the smoker to business college.”, he said with a grin.

Only Laura felt that maybe entrepreneurship was not for her. While she enjoyed the experience, there is a lot of things to do and plan. Also, she worked much more than 35 hours a week. Jill admitted that it is common amongst entrepreneurs too put in more hours than employed people. Devan said she did too, but she enjoyed the freedom of making her own decisions and reaping the rewards of her hard work. Laura rebutted “with all those hours, I didn’t even make 5 bucks an hour”. Connor with his long hours in his downtown store quipped “I wish I had made that much per hour”.

And this is what Summer Company is meant to be, a chance to experience of all the highs and lows of building a company out of an idea.  Although program has a lot of educational aspect, it is still giving these students the opportunity to experience the real world of business. There is no magic formula for financial success, but at the end of the program, all young entrepreneurs agreed that they learned a lot and enjoyed the entire experience.

Meet the Students – Luke

Luke MacLennan – Forever Deck Company  

 The Business Enterprise Centre of Saugeen Shores is pleased to announce that Luke MacLennan of Lucknow has been accepted into the Summer Company Program. This program is sponsored by the Ministry of Economic Development and Innovation. Luke will be receiving an award of up to $3,000, as well as business training and mentoring to start up and run Forever Deck Company this summer. In the fall Luke will be returning to University, going into his 4^th year and working towards a bachelor in Education.

 He will service the area of southern Bruce County, with his target market including home-owners with decks, cottage owners with decks and or docks and in particular owners of trailers in trailer parks who have decks.

 Forever Deck Company will renew the life of old, worn decks by resurfacing the deck with a wood colored and textured vinyl deck cover made by Plastibec Millwork. The tongue and groove plank system will give new life to the decking by provide years of low maintenance, eliminating the need to paint or stain. The vinyl deck cover is an affordable alternative to replacing a wooden deck and can often be completed in one or two days.

 For more information contact Luke’s Forever Deck Company at 519-540-8027, or check out his Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ForeverDeckCompany

The Saugeen Shores BR+E Final Report Presented to Council

The Saugeen Shores Business Retention and Expansion Project’s Final Report was presented to Mayor and Council at the May 28th Committee of the Whole.

 This project was a joint effort between The Town of Saugeen Shores, The Business Enterprise Centre of Saugeen Shores, The Saugeen Shores Chamber of Commerce, Saugeen Sustainability Volunteer and Resource Centre, and the Four County Labour Market Planning Board (the Partners).

The project surveyed 86 businesses, asking them 115 questions on all aspects of running a business in Saugeen Shores. The BR+E Task Force, made up of representatives from the project partners as well as business owners, reviewed the key findings of the data summary report. The group noted recurring themes that included, more focused Economic Development initiatives, streamlining some Municipal processes for business, continued focus on improving the vitality of the two downtowns, addressing workforce development issues and a need for enhanced methods for communication among all parties. The report also identified avenues for both the Business Enterprise Centre and the Chamber of Commerce to improve their support to business. 

 Both Mayor Smith and Deputy Mayor Charbonneau extended their personal thanks to everyone involved, especially the business owners and to the volunteer visitors who donated their time and efforts to the project.  The final report illustrates some key steps that can be implemented to improve the business climate in Saugeen Shores.

The next step of the project will be to develop a work plan for the implementation of actions brought forward in the report. Milestones of the implementation stage will be detailed on the Saugeen Shores web site. A copy of the final report is also available on the website at www.saugeenshores.ca/business

Meet the Mentors – Erin Zorzi

 “Meet the Mentors” is our blog on the professionals who volunteer their time to help our Summer Company Entrepreneurs build their dream company. These professionals have diverse backgrounds and offer unique insight into overcoming obstacles that all start-ups face. They are the reason that the Summer Company program is so successful – it’s about real students getting real help to make real money. This series is meant to let students understand who will be there to help them if they get accepted into the Summer Company Program in Bruce County.

 Erin Zorzi 

Erin is a long time resident of Port Elgin but has lived in a variety of places other than Ontario, including Manitoba, Pakistan and Taiwan.  She is married for 34 years to Paul who recently retired from Bruce Power. They have 2 children (both married), and Erin is also a grandma (if you can believe it).

 Formerly, Erin was the Branch Manager of Meridian Credit Union. She is now retired from banking, but is keeping busy with Zorzi Consulting, a company she and her husband started to provide variety of support services for seniors.

 Erin still finds time to volunteer as the Vice Chair for the Saugeen Memorial Hospital Foundation, Treasurer of Faith Lutheran Church, and is involved with the Rotary Club of Port Elgin. She also currently sits on the Business Advisory Committee for the Business Enterprise Centre of Saugeen Shores.

 A summer company mentor for three years now, Erin enjoys the experience immensely.  She is amazed at how thorough Summer Company students are to have thought through everything – from the viability of the concept, to start-up costs, to marketing, to procuring inventory.

 She finds it incredible to watch these young people take their plan and bring it to life as a business, placing a huge responsibility squarely on their own shoulders.  To assist them to work through their challenges and celebrate with them their successes is an honour that Erin treasures.

 Erin also believes that the whole program is mutually rewarding for the student, the mentor, and business in Ontario; it fosters appreciation of business ownership whether the student chooses to become an entrepreneur or chooses to work for one.

Aboriginal community profits from diversity, business success

Entrepreneurial spirit thrives in proper medium

Aboriginal business is a fast-growing sector of the Canadian economy. According to recent TD Economics estimates, aboriginal development corporations generated $8-billion in revenue in 2011, operating in sectors including airlines, mining, tourism, energy, manufacturing, environmental services and more. Small, independently owned businesses fared equally well, recording revenue of almost $1-billion, more than doubling their income over the past decade.

Statistics indicate that, despite ongoing social issues, there is growing business capacity in aboriginal communities and good reason to be hopeful about the future. According to a 2011 Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business survey, more than 250 economic development corporations are active in Canada today, with approximately 75% having been in business for 10 years or more. TD Economics’ forecast says combined revenue for development corporations and small business will reach $13-billion over the next five years.

Training and education remain high priorities, with several development corporations identifying employee training, recruiting and retention as important issues. Larger still were issues surrounding access to capital, with 60% noting concerns about access to credit.

Source: National Post, February 2, 2012

Going Global Workshop: An Introduction to International Trade – March 1st in Hanover

There will be a series of seven different workshops (please see flyers).

The first one (An Introduction to International Trade) will be held in Hanover, Kitchener and Thunder Bay.

Target audience:
The workshop is tailored to small and medium companies (SME). The workshops are sponsored by the Wood Manufacturing Council and the Ministry of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry. Preference will be given to participants of the woodworking industry, however we believe we have enough seats to accommodate every interested company.

Companies, considering starting to export in the near future, as well as companies with some export experience will benefit from this workshop. The content of the workshop is industry neutral, however some of the case studies are from the woodworking and furniture industry.

The content of the Introduction course will help owners, middle management, sales, shipping and finance staff to get a better understanding and will help preventing costly mistakes.

After participating in the introductory course companies can decide on the more detailed courses held in Toronto/ GTA.

When and where
The Workshop will take place
on March 1, 2012, 8am (for more details see website/registration)
at the P&H Recreation Centre
at 269 7th Ave Hanover, Ont.

Cost / Discount for Bluewater Wood Alliance Members:
The workshop is substantially subsidized! The fee for the workshop is $50, taxes (Certified International Trade Professional presenter, 100-plus-page takeaway references tool and breakfast included).

Bluewater Alliance members receive 25% discount. Additionally, a second attendee from a member company will receive 50% off.

To register for the workshop, go to www.wmc-cfb.ca/goingglobal/on, ‘Create an account’ (about one minute), then ‘Register’ for the workshop in Hanover. You will have a choice of payment through PayPal by credit card or by cheque.

GG Intro Contents

GG-Hanover-flyer

Online Retail versus Brick and Mortar

There are many decisions to make before opening your own retail business. One of them is whether to run an online only store or the traditional brick-and-mortar. Read this BizLaunch blog to review your options.

Online Retail versus Brick and Mortar.

Early Warning System in Effect After Robbery in Southampton

The Saugeen Shores Police Department is asking the Chamber of Commerce to initiate the early warning system this morning to make businesses aware of an incident that happened last evening. At approximately 9:30 p.m. February 13, 2012, while attempting to complete an after-hours bank deposit at the CIBC in Southampton, a lone woman was approached by a man with a weapon who demanded she turn over the money. She gave up the money to the assailant and he fled and is still at large.

Police are asking all businesses to practice extra safety precautions while making evening bank deposits in the community until after the suspect has been apprehended.

Our Office is Closed for Family Day – February 20, 2012

The Saugeen Shores Business Enterprise Centre will be closed on Monday, February 20, 2012 to celebrate Family Day. Regular business hours will resume on Tuesday, February 21 at 9 a.m.

Hope you’re able to enjoy some special “family time”!

When Business as Usual – Isn’t

What happens when you get sick? If you’re too sick to work, ensure that your small business can operate without you.

via When Business as Usual – Isn’t.