SBEC Success Stories

Ruth Plumb Portraits - Starter Company Plus Participant 2018

A few years ago, Ruth Plumb began a new chapter in her life. She’d worked for 10 years as a dental hygienist, then was a stay-at-home mom. It was now time to see if she could channel her talent for portrait photography into her dream of running a viable business.

“I thought, if I didn’t give it a try, when would I?” says Plumb. “I didn’t want to regret not trying. It was a huge turning point for me.”

She’d been taking photos since age 12, when she got her first camera. As a mom, she’d honed her portraiture skills by taking thousands of picture of her four kids. Word got around and friends started asking her to photograph them.

So in 2014, she launched Ruth Plumb Portraits, but the transition wasn’t an easy one. She’d never run a business before, and she’d struggled over what to charge for her services. “I felt like I was spinning my wheels,” she says.

Then, a friend suggested she might benefit from Starter Company Plus, a program that offers funding, training, mentoring and other assistance to Ontario residents starting or expanding a business in the province. She applied to the program through the Richmond Hill Small Business Enterprise Centre (RH-SBEC), which administers the program through funding from the Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade.

Plumb was accepted, and she attended a series of six weekly afternoon sessions led by seasoned entrepreneurs. The sessions helped her write a detailed business plan and project her business’s cash flow for two years — a valuable exercise she wouldn’t have done otherwise, she admits. Particularly helpful was the session on market research, which helped her define her target customers.

Plumb is experienced in photographing women, men and children, but her target customers are women who want beautiful “heirloom” portraits of themselves and their families to display at home. Ruth Plumb Portraits also specializes in professional headshots and personal branding portraits and offers styling by a professional hair and makeup artist prior to each shoot. “It’s a perk — clients feel pampered when they don’t have to worry about these details,” says Plumb.

As a successful participant in Starter Company Plus, Plumb received a $5,000 grant. She’s used these funds to purchase indoor lighting equipment and studio props, and to develop her website.

Just as valuable, if not more so, was the one-on-one mentoring she received in the program. “I specifically asked for help with networking,” says Plumb. “I’d been relying solely on referrals through friends and previous clients. I needed to get out of my comfort zone.”

And she has done just that. The RHSBEC connected her with a couple of networking professionals who boosted her confidence and helped her understand that networking is not about selling, but about building relationships.

“It was an amazing experience,” says Plumb, of the mentoring help. “I’ve since joined two networking groups and I attend networking events about every two weeks.” 
 

Kinetic Performance Movement Education - Starter Company Plus Participant 2018

Launching a business can be exciting. But as Adam Jongsma can attest, fine-tuning that business can be even more engrossing.

In 2016, Jongsma launched Kinetic Performance (now Kinetic Performance Movement Education) to provide continuing education for personal trainers. He had the professional cred — he’s a kinesiologist with a master’s degree in rehabilitation science — but no business training.

“I was flying by the seat of my pants,” he says of his first 18 months in business. So when he heard about Starter Company Plus, he applied to the provincial program, and was accepted.

Starter Company Plus offers funding, training, mentoring and other assistance to Ontario residents interested in starting or expanding a business in the province. Richmond Hill residents can apply to the program at the Richmond Hill Small Business Enterprise Centre (RHSBEC), which administers the program through funding from the Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade.

In the program, Jongsma attended six afternoon training sessions on subjects such as marketing, accounting and the legal aspects of running a business, all of which helped him write a detailed business plan, a requirement of the program. In one of the sessions, participants discussed their USPs, or unique selling propositions. “I didn’t have a USP,” says Jongsma. “The session really got me thinking about what Kinetic Performance Movement Education provides that nobody else does.”

That “what” are courses for personal trainers that teach them how to work with clients who are recovering from injuries and getting back into activity. “Most corporations are reducing their insurance benefits for physiotherapy and chiropractic services,” says Jongsma. “As a result, more people are going to personal trainers.” But because not all personal trainers are trained in rehabilitation, there’s a gap that needs to be filled. “That’s what our courses do,” he says.

After Jongsma had completed the training sessions, he took advantage of the mentoring part of Starter Company Plus. At RHSBEC, he met with a lawyer who helped him draft terms of service and a privacy policy. “Two days later, I had those up on our website,” he says. A search engine optimization (SEO) specialist helped him understand how he could improve Kinetic Performance Movement Education’s website profile on search engines such as Google, while a marketing pro spoke with him about social media marketing. Says Jongsma: “His big thing was consistency: If you post more often, you’re seen by more people.”

In addition to training and mentoring, Jongsma received $5,000 in financial assistance in the program. He’s put these funds toward the purchase of a mirrorless camera, lavalier mics and other audiovisual equipment to help him produce marketing videos and, in time, instructional videos for online courses.

Right now, however, Jongsma is gearing up for the road. “In December, we became accredited by GoodLife Fitness for our Pain to Performance Core Concepts course,” he says. “We expect to be going all over Canada delivering the course in the next five months.”

For this energetic entrepreneur, it seems that 2019 is shaping up to be a banner year.

She has seen her company grow every year but the first year was tough. Amita got help from the Richmond Hill SBEC who provided business resources and a free review of her business and marketing plans. SBEC staff taught her about the importance of marketing and Amita focused on this during her first year of business.

Amita is considering a franchise business modelled after Cirque du Play, increasing awareness of youth fitness and adding more features to her current business to make it even more fun for kids. Contact Cirque du Play for more information.

"I would like to make it easier for parents and people looking for delicious gluten free products by supplying you with good tasting and tested products," says Martina. "I deliver them right to your door."

Martina worked with the Richmond Hill SBEC to get her business started. They helped her register her business, get permits and licensing and write a business plan. She continues to attend SBEC seminars and workshops and her business is growing every month.

Martina plans to expand her business by helping people adjust to a gluten-free lifestyle, especially in the kitchen. She also plans to find a commercial space where she can sell her products and offer gluten-free cooking lessons.

Contact Happy Tummy for more information.

Cellie Gonsalves, a Richmond Hill entrepreneur, owns Cyberflowers. She uses the services at the Richmond Hill SBEC to help grow her business. She regularly attends SBEC workshops and seminars and gets one-on-one assistance with expanding her company's Social Media presence.

"The Richmond Hill Small Business Enterprise Centre has been a great help to me and my business," says Cellie. "I would recommend their services to any aspiring entrepreneurs or small business owners looking to grow their business."

Contact Cyberflowers for more information.

The academy offers a number of programs including:

• Art Combo, fundamentals of drawing, painting and sculpting
• Digital Art
• Comics and Animation
• Portfolio Development
• Summer Camp

Art One Academy was featured on the Community Connection show on RogersTV. The company is expanding in size and space, adding new classes such as Pottery and Fired Sculptures.

Contact Art One Academy for more information.

Ivana Pejakovic's lifeSense coaching works with women, teens and young adults who are dealing with issues including:

• low self-esteem
• poor choices
• bad habits
• lack of values and goals
• sibling rivalry
• feelings of inadequacy
• poor self-image

Ivana helps people become aware of their potential and develop their focus and passion. Running her own business has been a source of happiness for Ivana as well. "After starting my business, I've experienced both personal and business successes. Personally, I have gained or developed self-motivation skills, greater belief or faith in myself, a greater respect for myself, pride in myself, and confidence to step outside my comfort zone," she says. "Professionally, I have gained or developed: an entrepreneurial mindset, sales skills, marketing and advertising skills, accounting skills, time management skills, search engine optimization knowledge, business clarity, and administration skills."

Ivana is writing a book, plans to get more involved with the media and plans to expand her business throughout the Greater Toronto Area. Contact Ivana for more information.