SBEC Success Stories

Sugarcrash Apparel - Summer Company Participant 2021.

Rachel was entrepreneurial in nature well before joining the Summer Company program, having started multiple initiatives in the past. With Summer Company, Rachel wanted to explore her passion for business and build on her experience. She chose to start a business that aligned with her personal values and launched ‘Sugarcrash Apparel’, an embroidery business that sources products in a sustainable and human-friendly fashion.

Having worked mostly in service-based businesses, Sugarcrash Apparel allowed Rachel to learn the process of setting up a retail business – from sourcing a sustainable manufacturer, designing products, connecting with influencers, and determining pricing. Richmond Hill’s Summer Company program connected her with mentors and previous alumni helped her navigate these topics.

Although Rachel had initially started the company as a learning experience, she’s decided to continue to build on her company while in university. Long-term, she hopes to expand into accessories as well. Rachel will be returning to university for a science degree and believes the real life experience of running a company will help add another dimension to her learning experience. 

Frostack Games - Summer Company Participant 2021.

Alexandria has long been passionate about working in the video game industry and saw Summer Company as a great opportunity to gain experience in the industry. With the help of Richmond Hill’s Summer Company program, Alexandria launched ‘Frostack Games’ – a woman-led gaming company whose goal is to create games that are accessible and affordable to customers.

For starting the business, Alexandria had the technical experience she needed to create video games. She had won multiple gaming hackathons in the past, but was still new when it came to operations and marketing aspects of running a company. While in the Summer Company program, Alexandria gained experience on how to manage employees, market her product, connect with influencers and create an online community that invites gamers.

Overall, the experience was positive for Alexandria. She was excited to have collaborated with multiple gaming influencers, host a hackathon and gaming tournament, and partner with two local charities.

Despite Summer Company being over, Alexandria is still working on projects and has games planned for future launch. Frosthack already has fans that are looking for the sequel of Alexandria’s first horror themed game, “They’re Coming”, and she hopes to deliver! 

Charmy Box Shop - Summer Company Participant 2021.

Zach entered into the Summer Company program with a deep entrepreneurial background, having opened his first business at 16. As a happy pet owner himself, he knew how important pets are in their owner’s lives and decided to launch businesses that catered towards them. In the past, he launched a board game business for pet owners and, in his latest venture, Charmy Pet Foods, Zach opened a business that focused on pet food and nutrition.

Despite there being many existing pet food companies, Zach saw a gap for food products that were tailored for each individual pet. To address this need, he opened Charmy’s Box Shop, where he sourced healthy pet food products and designed an algorithm that could help match pets to a diet that maximizes their health. Zach believes that each pet breed requires an unique nutrition plan to help avoid common health conditions associated with them.

Zach was looking for funding to catapult the growth of his idea and decided to apply for Summer Company. While in Summer Company, Zach saw an opportunity to expand his products into retail storefronts and was matched with a Business-to-Business sales mentor that helped guide him through the business development process. Zach was also connected with another pet food company for mentorship through YSpace – a local partner that specializes in serving the food sector.

Since launching, Zach continues to grow his company and has plans to expand the reach of his business into the United States.

Your Home Court Advantage - Summer Company Participant 2021. 

Michael was high school student with entrepreneurial aspirations who set out to launch a business over the summer so he could learn the skills required to run a successful venture. He decided to start an asphalt sealing company with a twist – Michael also offered to paint basketball court borders and logos on the client’s driveway! His business was an immediate hit with local dads, who were looking for things to do outside with their kids.

In order to ensure client safety and comfort, Michael decided to digitize as much business development and customer interaction as he could. He operated mostly off his website, gathered clients through online media, and processed his payments virtually.

Throughout his experience with Summer Company in Richmond Hill, Michael learned how to articulate his value proposition, market his services online, and connect with clients online. He entered Summer Company hoping to improve his sales and communication skills, which he felt he accomplished by summer’s end.

Despite this being his first business experience, Michael set high targets for himself for the summer, and managed to exceed his forecast. This is a business Michael wants to continue to build over the next few years, and has expansion plans for next summer. Michael can definitely see himself being an entrepreneur long term – as he greatly enjoys the freedom and creativity that comes with starting his own business.

Pretty Little Picnics - Summer Company Participant 2021.

Anaum will be heading off to University for a business degree in the fall, and wanted to start a business that would allow her to gain business experience while working on an unique idea.

She decided to start ‘Pretty Little Picnics’, a luxury picnic service for individuals looking to create memories and celebrate important moments with their friends, family and spouses. She bought all the equipment she needed to start by using the Summer Company funding, and learned about different marketing and sales strategies through mentorship.

Anaum learned a lot over the summer, and although she still thinks she will pursue having a career, she is open to entrepreneurship opportunities that may come her way.

Spotless Power Washing

Spotless Power Washing - Summer Company Participant 2021.

Prior to Richmond Hill’s Summer Company, William was well versed with business, but most of his knowledge was based in book smarts. His entrepreneurship class was centred mostly around theoretical models, and his business club, DECA, was a competition based around hypothetical situations. While still beneficial for his growth, they lacked depth in comparison to the real world. William wanted to take the next step in his business journey, and saw Richmond Hill’s Summer Company program as a perfect way of gaining real world experience by stepping into the market.

William decided to start a pressure washing business over the summer after taking note of Richmond Hill’s business demographics and identifying a local market niche. He was able to leverage the Summer Company funding to buy his equipment and then immediately began to reach out to customers and service his first requests.

William thought that the mentoring sessions were the most helpful part of the program, largely for the same reasons as the business training. Seeing how the mentor’s perspectives differed from his in some cases was very revealing, and the opportunity to ask questions and have a discussion in a more personal, tailored session was incredibly helpful for his experience in the program.

Williams primary goal entering the program was to experience entrepreneurship first-hand and broaden his horizons. In this regard he felt very successful in the program – as he was able to gain real life experience while gaining a nice profit to boot! William feels that he has gained an incredible amount of perspective from his summer as an entrepreneur, and now when he considers problems in the future, he will always have that alternative end with which to view them. 

Pen by Rach!

Pen by Rach! - Summer Company 2021 Participant.

Rachel has long had a talent and passion for calligraphy, and decided to leverage the Summer Company program to open a business where she could use her design skills to make to make products people love, and make her art more accessible to wider audience. For the purpose of Summer Company, Rachel decided to start with artistic stickers as they were easy to sell and scale.

The funding helped Rachel get started and buy all the material she needed. She was also excited to be matched to a mentor that also ran a successful calligraphy business. Mentorship provided her with a lot of insight – from helping her to explore new revenue verticals, to teaching her different ways to take advantage of her existing social media platform, and transitioning some of her social media followers into engaged customers.

Rachel felt the Richmond Hill Summer Company program really trained her to refine her business views by challenging her to think innovatively. Be it through group training sessions or 1-1 mentorships, she was always encouraged to think outside the box by considering needs and specific details about her target audience. The program also taught her to learn from niche competitors, and to fill present gaps through entrepreneurial solutions and personal creativity

Rachel sees entrepreneurship as a valuable exciting and continuous learning experience. She hopes to continue her art and calligraphy business part time while she attends school in the fall.

Rugzee - Summer Company 2021 Participant.

Rachel is set to enter university next year for a business degree, and saw Summer Company as a great opportunity to set a foundation for the upcoming program.

Being an art enthusiast, Rachel was captivated with the recent rug tufting trend that was viral on TikTok. She had tufted a few rugs herself, and decided to launch a business where she could tuft personalized rugs for others. People could submit a photo and Rachel would create a rug for it. With the help of Richmond Hill’s Summer Company program, Rachel launched Rugzee.

Through the Summer Company program, Rachel received the funding she needed to purchase a new rug tufting machine, as well as all the products she needed to produce products at a larger scale. Rachel learned about different techniques for marketing and shipping her products, pricing her products and managing her finances.

Rachel entered the program wanting to generate revenue, gain entrepreneurial experience working in all aspects of a business, and to continue to refine her technique in rug tufting. She accomplished all three while in the program. Rachel wants to maintain her business as a side hustle in the future.

Apex Affinity

Apex Affinity - Summer Company Participant 2021.

Roger had entered the Summer Company program having had some prior experience working for non-profit start-up and participating in hackathons. He had the idea for Apex Affinity after talking with landlords, where Roger had learned that common a pain point among landlords was managing communications with multiple tenants. To solve this, he created Apex Affinity, a mobile application designed to streamline tenant communications.

Through Summer Company, Roger connected with mentors that helped him with project management, app development planning, and coming up with tactics to connect with landlords. He also was able to leverage the funding to speed up his product development, launch his website, and fund his business development ideas.

 Roger saw Summer Company as an opportunity to develop key skills for running a start-up – from management skills, to learning to how to effectively allocate resources and capital. He’s happy to say he got a dose of experience in all of these fields, with the added bonus of having heard the stories and business paths of many individuals that he would not have been able to connect to if not part of Richmond Hill’s Summer Company program.

Roger is inspired by the agency and opportunity that comes from running a company, and definitely sees more entrepreneurship ventures in his future. 

Orange Juice the Brand - Summer Company Participant 2020.

Inspired by the changing world of fashion and women's rights movements, Josh started his clothing brand with his partner to help young women become more comfortable with how they express themselves. They decided to create a brand and style centered on getting out of one’s comfort zone. Without the necessary mentorship and resources, they anticipated that the brand would grow slow and steady. This all changed with the help they received with Summer Company.

The program provided an excellent opportunity to help their company properly set up operational foundations and improve their core product quality and packaging. Throughout the program, the duo created private label designs, re-invented their logistics channel, and launched their best-selling 'flaming duo' collection. All of these improvements were made possible with the push and support of Summer Company. 

The growth initiatives contributed to a massive uptick in monthly revenue from June to August. By the end of the summer, Orange Juice the Brand also received $24,000 in capital investments from Canadian owned ClearBanc and Shopify Capital.

Joshua believes that Summer Company has offered him a “steady foundation to commit to his journey towards entrepreneurship full time."

Josh's next goal at Orange Juice The Brand is to continue to build upon its community of customers and expand its marketing efforts internationally.

Adagio Lettering - Summer Company Participant 2020.

Vanessa Yu decided to start her business, Adagio Lettering, in the summer of 2020. Adagio lettering is a company specializing in hand-lettering and modern calligraphy, offering services such as customized goods, live calligraphy and event signage. Adagio is an Italian musical term meaning slow; the term is often associated with lyricism, grace and elegance. With her business, Vanessa strived to create the same ‘adagio’ effect: the slow, breath-taking magic of written grace; the smooth flowing of ink; the therapeutic loops of charm. Vanessa felt that there was a gap in today’s world for a calligraphy service.

Vanessa believes that, “In our modern, technologically-advanced age, there is something particularly endearing about elegant penmanship and customized gifts that shines through the monotony of the impersonal, digital haze. Adagio Lettering seeks to capture these precious moments and immortalize them through elegant calligraphy.”

Vanessa was able to grow her business in multiple ways. Her Instagram page has over 120,000 followers and features content on bullet journaling, art and lettering. Vanessa also held workshops, giving her the opportunity to teach over 300 students and collaborate with companies such as MUJI, Coursera, Arteza and Pentel.

Vanessa found Summer Company mentorship opportunities to be extremely helpful for learning to sell and market her products and services to clients. From cold-calling/cold-emailing strategies to social media outreach and email wording, Vanessa learned how to attract reader attention and convert leads to sales. Summer Company also taught her about the importance of making connections and maintaining relationships. This guidance was especially useful while she was creating custom menus and signage for local restaurants.

Her advice for other aspiring business owners?

“Go for it! It’s daunting, confusing, and sometimes frustrating, but you learn so much – not only about finance or operations, but about yourself, the world, and relationships with others. You start seeing things through different lenses as a creator, owner, and do-everything-worker. Wearing so many hats teaches you more than most entry jobs – it’s not so much about how much you make at the beginning, but the lessons you learn.”

“

Summer Company was the push I needed to take a step into the business world, as opposed to simply exploring a hobby and earning a little on the side. The program has helped me pursue my goal of turning this into a business I can build in university and beyond. While I had always wanted to do this, this program gave me the experience and motivation needed.”