With a pot of gold at the end of the Starter Company Plus rainbow, 15 small business owners participating in the second round of this program delivered by the Peterborough & the Kawarthas Business Advisory Centre recently competed against each other for a share of the riches.
But a strange thing happened in their quest to secure a chunk of grant money up for grabs: they unselfishly helped each other in their bids to be one of seven participants taking home a cheque.
“The support and the feedback within the group was awesome,” says Shelley King, the owner of Puppeteria.
“We all came with our own strengths and experiences. There was a lot of sharing between participants in the development of business plans. Other people noticed things that might not have even occurred to me.”
Back in 2013, after several years working as a social worker and educational assistant, King called upon her expressive arts experience to use puppets as a means of connecting with others to assist them with problem solving, conflict resolution and other life challenges.
Buoyed by her plan to develop an online course component as part of her business, King was one of more than 30 who applied to be among 15 accepted into the second intake of the entrepreneurship program funded by the Government of Ontario.
On Thursday, September 14th at Elmhirst’s Resort in Keene, King will be among those anxious to see if their business start-up or expansion pitch impressed enough judges to secure a portion of the $25,000 available.
According to Starter Company Plus program co-ordinator Madeleine Hurrell, seven program participants will be awarded.
“Seeing the transformation of participants from the first workshop to the pitch competition,’ says Hurrell, when asked what aspect of the program brings her the most satisfaction.
“A lot of that transformation comes from the participants structuring and gaining a little bit of control over their business. We had a lot of participants where the business was running them, rather than them running their business.
“Having that structure, having processes in place — maybe they had to create new policies, maybe they performed a bit more market research — and then seeing them come up and pitch confidently, that’s the exciting part for me.”
King says she would “highly recommend” the program to any entrepreneur, new or seasoned. She admits to never having had a business plan when she started Puppeteria.
“I always thought ‘I know what I’m doing, I know what I want, I know how to get there’ — which is true to a point. But going through this process of developing a business plan and doing the cash flow sheet really forced me to to look closely at the actual cost involved in delivery, to re-assess that and make adjustments.”
Maureen Brand echoes a similar experience. The owner of Buckhorn-based Garden of Eden, which sees her create, market, and sell reusable cloth menstrual, incontinence, and nursing pads, Brand admits she started her enterprise last year with little to no business experience, her aim being to simply “keep the bank account on the plus side.”
“At first, Starter Company Plus was a bit intimidating. You’ve got this huge spreadsheet, this Lean Canvas [a one-page business plan template], these are all the things you’re going to do. You’re a bit overwhelmed. You just work through everything methodically.
“There were great conversations with the other business owners. It was a huge investment of time but I never felt like it was wasted time. There was something I got out of every class.”
Adding “it was nice to meet people who are doing really cool things,” Brand also came away very impressed with how supportive each participant was of each other — “We all wanted each other to succeed.”
With business partner Ben Carlsen, Devin LeBel owns and operates Rhyzosphere, which sees them grow and harvest vegetables at a half-acre micro farm in Cavan and deliver weekly, in a box they produce, vegetables to customers.
While searching online for local initiatives that help small businesses, he stumbled upon Peterborough & the Kawarthas Business Advisory Centre and applied for entry into the second Starter Company Plus intake just before the deadline.
“Coming from a university background, I was expecting a lecture where you would sit down and learn whatever you could,” LeBel says. “But it turned out to be way more interactive than that, with lots of people contributing to the information I was learning.
“There were lots of chances for specific questions that pertained to me and my business. There was lots of time to work on a business plan. Anything you were struggling with, you could brainstorm a solution. I was a little bit surprised at how nervous I was in front of the four judges, but it was a great experience to talk about our business in such a high-pressure situation.”
As he waits to find out if Rhyzosphere will share in the grant money, LeBel says the outcome won’t change the fact that he’s now equipped with a business plan “we can go forward with” — a tool that he says will prove invaluable in the pursuit of other grant opportunities.
Of the seven businesses that will be awarded grant money, Hurrell notes that two are new start-ups and five are expanding existing enterprises.
“Everyone competes equally,” she ssays. “There’s no preference given whether you’re a start-up or an expansion.”
As part of the announcement at Elmhirst’s Resort, Peterborough & the Kawarthas Business Advisory Centre will host “BAC At The Bonfire”, a networking event that will see both aspiring and established entrepreneurs share their stories and, as Hurrell puts it, “stoke the flames of inspiration.”
A third application period for Starter Company Plus opens in September 2017. Applicants are required to attend one of four Starting Point sessions, being held September 6th, 11th, 18th, and 25th, from 2:30 to 4 p.m. in the Greater Peterborough Chamber of Commerce boardroom (175 George St. N., Peterborough).
You don’t need to register in advance to attend a session, but you must be 18 years of age or older and not attending school, as well as interested in starting a new business or expanding an existing business that has been operating for five years or less. The deadline for third intake applications is Friday, September 29th at 4 p.m.
Successful applicants will participate in the program through October and November, with grant recipients announced in December.
“I highly recommend it,” Puppeteria owner King says. “It was so jammed full of information. There was a lot of work involved in between sessions as well. The learning that comes from that is certainly something I’m going to keep coming back to.”
Garden of Eden owner Brand concurs, if for no other reason “just to see if what you have flies, if it really makes economic sense.
“For people who are just starting out and have no formal business acumen, it’s so helpful. It told me that what I’ve got going on here is pretty good and this is how I can improve it.”
For more information on Starter Company Plus, visit peterboroughed.ca/small-business/starter-company-plus/ or phone 705-743-0777 ext. 2136.
All photos courtesy of Peterborough & the Kawarthas Economic Development Business Advisory Centre.
